Author Archives: Anoopjot Kaur

(Written – Jan. 7, 2015)

We are really getting into the swing of things. It has been two days since we have been here and I am realizing that it is probably best that I blog everyday so I don’t forget to mention anything important…lets see how much I can keep up. The last two days have been very eventful, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), our host in Mindanao gave us a very warm welcome. We were handed a hefty packet of information that we should know to be better prepared once we are in the field…slightly intimidating but super exciting thinking about the prospects of learning from different people. I really appreciated the overview they gave us because even after having read a good deal on various aspects of the conflict in Mindanao, it was extremely helpful to see how the locals deal with this day in and out.

If you remember from my last post, I had mentioned that I want to explore the displaced peoples in Mindanao, so I will start with covering a topic that CRS and other people we met mentioned that is very interesting in terms of displacement. The indigenous people (IP) of Mindanao are usually left out or not considered an important stakeholder when this conflict is viewed at a macro level. In other words, the IP usually become collateral damage when violence erupts between the rebel groups and the government. According to CRS, IP are first to be recruited by every side and tend to be the first to be injured or even die. That does not however mean that the IP join the fight without a cause, they are fighting for legal rights to land that they claim belonged to them before Muslim and Christians settled into those lands. Ancestral domain is a big issue for IP along with recognition for their way of life. The process to claim land under ancestral domain is difficult and only a handful cases have actually been recognized to be legitimate claims. Another very important reason that IP join the fight is due to poverty, the various rebel groups offer money (a minuscule amount) to take up arms. When you do not have a source of income or any prospects, one can’t afford to be picky about taking up arms or starving. Consequently, IP are joining a fight that is not getting them anything according to a religious leader we met, and still struggling with the legal system to get back what they have already lost. This leads to more IPs being displaced than any other group according to an academic research group we met. They do make use of the temporary displacement camps that NGOs and government agencies set up, however the uncertainty of their home ever being safe is always a question.

I would really like to know more about the patterns of what exactly happens to IP communities after violence erupts, in terms of joining the conflict and taking up arms, casualties, internal displacement camps and reintegration back in to the society. I am looking forward to an IP’s group we are to meet in a few days to learn about the specifics of their plight. That is not to say that the main topic has been the struggle of the IP in the last two days, most of our conversations with the four groups have been centered on the macro-level of the conflict. It is truly amazing how willing everyone is to share information with us and answer any and every question we have. I can see that the entire group is brimming with excitement as we all are tripping over each other to ask the million questions that run through our minds.

Empty street on my first early morning in Davao.

(Written on January 6th, 2015)

We have just arrived in Davao and thankfully I had two very lovely companions – Myshel and Zarina – that received a warm Davao welcome by Madonna’s “Material girl” (there is a certain irony to that). Our taxi driver was a bit terrified by the amount of luggage we (Me!) had and to load it into the car. The weather and the lush greenery is hard to put in words, you really have to see it for yourself. I think I was especially nervous because as I said in my earlier post, I had no idea what to expect. At that very moment when I was wondering what I think I will see or may experience, our taxi driver turned around asked the three of us: “Are you a missionary?” So many different emotions came up and I got a glimpse of what people in Davao may think of Americans coming into Davao, doing missionary work. We told him that we were students doing research on the peace building process and he gave us that look that said, “So you are missionaries!”

The reason for me writing about this is because it was striking to see the expectations others may have of us as we come into their community asking a myriad of questions. I am curious as to what the people that we meet will expect from us when telling us about certain aspects of this conflict in their community. May be I am being overly exhaustive over this subject of expectations of different people – the insiders and the outsiders – but I think it is important to consider because it can help in comprehensively understand the stories and information we will be told. I am very excited to see how different stakeholders present the conflict to us but at the same time I keep thinking what compels people to speak about such painful experiences with us? Then, off course, I am reminded of what Dr. Iyer had said to us in her Fieldwork and reporting class, that people want to share their stories because no one asks them about their struggle and when someone cares enough to learn about, they are very willing to give us their point of view.

I really have no idea how the question about being a missionary led me to thinking about the many different expectations of me. I hope I haven’t overthought this whole thing but I do believe this is going to be a very humbling and informative trip. I am excited to learn a lot and to put everything I have read into context. Depending on the availability of Internet, we all will post more on our experiences and what we learn. I should also mention at this point that I do have a topic that I have chosen to explore during this trip (along with the main topic of the class: “challenges to peace building in Mindanao”), I will be exploring the displacement patterns of people in the entire Mindanao region and how they have changed since the peace building process began.

(Written on January 3rd, 2015)

For some reason I am at the airport an hour and half early for my flight from SFO to Manila, and I think writing my first blog here is quite apt as I try to understand for myself what this trip means to me. So brace yourself for the most exciting explanation of why I want to learn about the conflict in Mindanao. I think conflict resolution and peace building are subjects that usually everyone is interested in right of the bat. By this I mean, that no one wants conflict (at least not anyone with their sanity still intact) and generally most people would like to see conflicts around the world resolved in a peaceful manner. The problem here however is, how exactly does one solve conflicts? What is the magic formula for peace? What are the different variables that go into the resolution equation and the constants? How do you even attempt to understand a conflict? This is the point where most of us will loose interest because to understand a conflict inside out requires an immense amount of physical and mental exertion, and truthfully who really wants to do all that work when you can take a theory class on conflict resolution in the comfort of your own school. For myself, when the opportunity came along after taking a theory-based class to understand a conflict first hand and to be able to see it through the various stakeholders within the conflict, I could hardly contain myself. The conflict in question here is (to put it in the most vague and abstract terms) the ongoing religious conflict between the Muslim and Christian community in the Mindanao region of the Philippines.

When I decided that I would join this research trip to travel to the Mindanao region, I only knew what the sad sentence above attempts to capture. I knew that it was religious conflict and the government had not had much success containing it but rather had served to exasperate it. After reading into it further, I quickly saw that this conflict is so much more than just a religious conflict. There are many different stakeholders, other than the government and the rebel groups and there are so many different variables that go back and forth as different events in the history of this conflict take shape. I am not sure exactly how much of the conflict I will be able to understand in two weeks time and if I will still see it as all these different variables interweaving or something I have not even thought of. All in all, I hope to have some grasp on what is at stake for each of the parties involved and how have they gone about protecting this. Please come back and read more about our understanding of this conflict or at least what we think we understand.