When most of her young neighbors opt to just beg on the streets as dictated by culture, she decides to defy and stays in school.
And she is already a few steps up.....
Education: A strong weapon against
poverty
At
16 years old, Ustia Daomani, a Sama-Bajau girl, knows where she is heading to.
“I want to be a businesswoman,” she said.Eldest among the five children of Edari and ArlynDaomani,
Ustia is doing her best to finish her studies.
From
Sitio Side A in Alaska, Mambaling, a community of 910 Sama-Bajaus, Ustia
commutes daily ina trisikad, a vehicle with three wheels that is moved by foot pedals,
to attend school at Gothong National High School at C. Padilla Street, Cebu City
where she is a junior high school student.
Ustia
is a recipient of educational assistance given by the Department of SocialWelfare and Development through the ComprehensiveProgram for Sama-Bajau implemented
in partnership with the local social welfare office of Cebu City.
Recently,
Ustia together with other 14 Sama-Bajau youths joined a leadership training
conducted by the DSWD.
When asked what she
learned from the training, Ustia, without batting an eye said,
“It gives us skills on how to lead a group and facilitate activities, which we will be doing as youth leaders in our community.”
“I liked the way the training was conducted because it was done through workshops and games. After each activity, we were asked to share our learning insights,” said Ustia in dialect.
She said their knowledge
on things related to being youth leaders have been enhanced because of another
training called Empowering Learning Sessions for Indigenous People’sInitiatives or ELIPI carried out by DSWD.
The ELIPI consists of 6 modules or sessions such as 1) Indigenous
Knowledge, System and Practices, 2)Attitude and Capacities 3)Needs as Human
Beings, 4)Role Modelling, 5)Traditional System of Organization and 6) Rights
Based Approach to Empowerment.
Ustia
shared with enthusiasm that she will be discussing the module on the rights of
children.
“Pipilasamgakatungodmaoangkatungodngamaka-eskwela, mahataganogpangalan, magpuyosalimpiyongadapit(some of these rights are the right to be educated, right to have a name and right to live in a clean environment),” Ustia voluntarily mentioned.
Ustia
is a shy young lady, but her determination to help her community especially the
youths encouraged her to speak before them on July 30, 2016 during the roll-out
of ELIPI in her community in Alaska, Mambaling, Cebu City.
“As a member of the Bajau Youth Council, it is my duty to involve them in our activities. I realized this when I joined the leadership and ELIPI trainings. I want to help the Sama-Bajau youths particularly in the aspect of education. It would be a challenging one, but I see the need to do it,”Ustia expressed.
According
to Ustia, her group surveyed the entire Sama-Bajau community in Alaska,
Mambaling and found out that there are 145 youths in their area.
More than half of the number or 81 of them
are out-of-school youths (OSY).
“That is why we have to motivate the Sama-Bajau OSYs to go back to school. I always believe that education is crucial in overcoming poverty among our people,” the seemingly shy but determined Ustia, expressed.
The Sama-Bajaus are traditionally from the
many islands of the Sulu Archipelago in the Philippines, as well as parts of
the coastal areas of Mindanao.
Most of
them have become beggars in the streets.
Education is one area that the Sama-Bajaus
need. Most school age children in Ustia’s community do not attend school
despite the fact that the public schools are free to attend.
Armed with her vision of becoming a
businesswoman someday, to help her parents send her siblings to school, Ustia
takes up Accountancy, Business and Management (ABM) Strand, which prepares
the student for a business course in
college by introducing the basic subjects in Accountancy, Business, Management,
Economics, Finance and Marketing.
“Kining ABM akonggikuha kay maonisiyaang mo-prepararsaakongamahimongnegosyante (I chose ABM because it prepares me to become a businesswoman),” Ustia proudly said.
For Ustia, education is a strong weapon
against poverty. This conviction guides her towards achieving her goal. Ustia
wants to share this belief with her fellow Sama-Bajaus so that together they will
work fortheir community’s development.(DSWD7, Regional Information Office)
