USTIA
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 Arlyn Daomani, Ustia is doing her best to finish her studies.
From Sitio Side A in Barangay Alaska, Mambaling, a community of 910 Sama-Bajaus, Ustia commutes daily in a trisikad to Gothong National High School on 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 Social Welfare and Development through the Comprehensive Program 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 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, “Our knowledge on things related to being youth leaders has been enhanced because of another training called Empowering Learning Sessions for Indigenous People’s Initiatives or Elipi carried out by the DSWD.
The Elipi consists of six modules or sessions, namely Indigenous Knowledge, System and Practices, Attitude and Capacities, Needs as Human Beings, Role Modelling, Traditional System of Organization and Rights Based Approach to Empowerment.
Ustia shared with enthusiasm that she will be discussing the module on the rights of children.
“Pipila sa mga katungod mao ang katungod nga maka-eskwela, mahatagan og pangalan, magpuyo sa limpiyo nga dapit (Some of these rights are the right to be educated, right to have a name and right to live in a clean environment),” Ustia said.
Ustia is a shy young lady, but her determination to help her community especially the youths encouraged her to speak before them last July 30 during the roll-out of Elipi in her community in Alaska, Mambaling.
“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 said.
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.
Most of them are out-of-school youths (OSYs).
“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,” Ustia said.