ADELFA helps women blossom

MANILA, Philippines - When 60-year-old Samha Sali stepped into Tubig-Samin Primary School, clutching her notebook, pencil and other school supplies, she could only muster these words: “Bukon pa huli in maglawag-ingat. In paghagdir ko ha class ko landuh ko hiyahalgaan iban landuh tood ako makuyag sin nakalamod ako ha pag-iskol ini (It’s never too late to learn. Attending my class is a priority now and I feel so happy to be in this class.)”

This is Maimbung, Sulu, a town populated mostly by the Muslim Tausug tribe. On a typical Monday, the Laum Maimbung Public Market transforms into a brisk trading center. Women clad in their traditional sambra and tadjong and men in their worn-out rolled-out shirts, looking weary after spending long hours under the searing heat of the sun, haggle in a language familiar only to the traders. 

A typical breaktime could be dull, but not with these busy folk, who know a great deal of what went on during the recent national polls. Stories, in particular those about how some local politicians took advantage of people who could not read nor write, have become staples of the conversation.  

This is because the literacy rate in Maimbung is only 32.3 percent, compared with the national average of 95 percent. Young boys and girls, with ages ranging from six to15, lack complete education, and usually cannot even write their names. Parents are not capable of guidance because they have not experienced school at all.    

It is not a choice they made, but is unfortunately a common scenario in Mindanao. 

With the advent of literacy classes funded by national agencies, non-government organizations, foreign donors and civil-military operations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, women here are enrolled in classes teaching basic literacy and numeracy. 

The Mindanao Integrated Resource Development, Inc. (MIRD), through the assistance of the Australian government-funded Philippines-Australia Community Assistance Program (PACAP), implemented the “Adult Education, Livelihood and Food Adequacy for Women or ADELFA in the five barangays each in Maimbung and Tawi-Tawi. In Maimbung, the identified five barangays are: Poblacion, Duhul Kabbun, Patao, Tandu Patong, and Tubig Samin. Each class has 30 women-learners, except in Patao where a man begged to attend class.

ADELFA is a one-year project for Sulu and Tawi-Tawi to provide opportunities to enhance women’s potential so they could contribute to household economic and social developments and to the larger community in general. 

Nurisa Bakil, a community organizer of MIRD, recalled how Nannay Majid, 60, of Barangay Tanduh Patong, was able to write after attending ADELFA classes.

“Majid wrote ‘10’ on a piece of paper then ‘ten’ on the blackboard, when at the start she could not even recognize a single letter of the alphabet. Can you imagine how ADELFA instilled a life-long knowledge that had now become a legacy to her?”

Insih Igasan, also in her 60s, wrote her name after six months of attending ADELFA classes. Igasan said: “Bukon pa huli in umingat sin mga undang-undang alphabet. (It is never too late to understand the alphabet).”

Samha Sali, 59, talks about the value of the ADELFA class. “These (pointing to her notebook and pencil) are my priceless possessions, I could not sleep without making sure that these are out of my grandson’s reach.” 

Bakil said such incidents and comments occur regularly, and she can’t help at times but shed tears of happiness. “I see a picture of bliss etched on their faces and can truly appreciate that these women are not limited to learning only the English alphabets and Arabic numerals, but they now appreciate that the gift of knowledge can help them blossom in many areas. Many of the women who took ADELFA realized that years are not a deterrent to study, they only need commitment and the opportunity to learn.”