Evacuees learn new skills

Rugs made by evacuees are on display at Naga Central Elementary School. (Contributed by Maribee Tomimbang)

NAGA CITY

In a school packed with about 1,500 evacuees from the massive landslide that hit the City of Naga last September 20 — rugs, lanterns, candles and ounces of floor wax happened almost by chance.

Over a month and a half since the landslide, residents from over five barangays still remain at the Naga Central Elementary School (NCES) awaiting government clearance to go back to their homes which are located within a 1-kilometer radius from the landslide area in Barangay Tinaan.

At NCES, where they are cooped up, visitors can come across colorful rugs and lanterns made out of recycled materials.

These are outputs of a livelihood program launched by the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Naga City government so that evacuees could while away the time profitably.

Evacuees give a demonstration on weaving rugs and molding candles with assistance from the Naga Central Elementary School’s faculty. (Contributed by Maribee Tomimbang)

Classes

For 29-year-old Lorena Abalo, the rug making classes were a welcome relief from the growing boredom at the evacuation center.

Back at her home in Sitio Tal-ot, Barangay Mainit, Abalo grew a variety of vegetables and fruits, such as papaya and banana, in a small garden.

Before the landslide, her harvest was among her family’s sources of income.

Abalo has not been able to go back home since the landslide in the neighbouring village of Tinaan and her small garden remains unattended.

While waiting for clearance to go home, Abalo availed of free livelihood classes offered at the evacuation center.

“We did not expect that we would be asked to do these rugs but we were taught to make them and so now we know how,” she said in Cebuano.

The evacuees worked in groups.

“Usahay ako’y mu gunting, sila sa ang mu tahi. Usahay pod ako say mu tahi sila sad ang mag gunting (Sometimes I would cut up the cloth and they would sew and then there are times when I would do the sewing and they would do the cutting),” she said.

The classes on rug making, weaving, candle making, and floor wax making which run for a whole day, alongside the school’s regular classes, were organized by the NCES faculty.

The program is spearheaded by the DepEd City of Naga Division.

During the first few weeks of the landslide, NCES adopted the “Two SuDs” approach, a scheme which limits classes to only two subjects a day.

This meant that while half of the faculty conducted academic classes for NCES students, the other half facilitated livelihood classes for the evacuees.

NCES Principal Maribee Tomimbang said that the school started with rug making since the materials needed, such as used clothing and sacks, were recyclable.

“We were supported by the division office for the funding as to the materials and resources that we used,” Tomimbang said.

“Daghan man kaayo used clothing, mura’g gi biya biya lang ba, mao to ang amo gi (gamit) for rugs (There were so many used clothing left lying around so that was what we used for the rugs),” she added.

A few weeks later, with the supervision of the Career Executive Service Board (CESB), NCES held candle and floorwax making classes.

The candles were either sold or used by the evacuees themselves during the All Souls’ Day celebration last November 2.

Meanwhile buckets of floorwax were turned over to the school.

Tomimbang said that the Naga City government also conducted its own livelihood activity for evacuees by making Christmas lanterns out of recycled materials.

The lanterns now hang temporarily inside a stockroom at the evacuation center.

The best outputs were awarded in a culminating activity where the winners were given additional relief goods as prizes.

Evacuees are busy weaving rugs and molding candles. They are being facilitated by Naga Central Elementary School’s faculty.(Contributed by Maribee Tomimbang)

Sustainance

Tomimbang said that it was difficult to sustain the livelihood program considering that classes at the school had gone back.

By mid-October, kindergarten and grades 4-6 classes were restored to their original schedule, making it hard for the faculty to facilitate livelihood classes for evacuees.

“The class schedule is now back to normal because we had to have the periodical tests,” said Tomimbang.

For classrooms occupied by evacuees, the Two SuD approach still remains, she added.

Another challenge, Tomimbang said, was the lack of materials to sustain the program.

The livelihood classes lasted until Nov. 2.

Prospects

Even though livelihood classes have yet to continue, evacuees fondly remember all the new skills that they had developed.

Abalo said that she was grateful for the things that she learned at the evacuation center.

“Di na gyud na malimtan. Kung boring sa balay, mag gunting gunting ta (It will never be forgotten. If it gets boring in the house, then we can cut up cloth),” Abalo said.

She added that while it was difficult to make the rugs at first, she now enjoys making them and may even make a business out of selling the rugs — something the livelihood trainers hoped the evacuees would do.

“Kon ila gyud gani ning padayunon, maka sapi gyud sila. Kay kani nga mga rug mao man ning mapalit nato’g tag P100, or 3 pcs. for P100 (If they will really continue this, they will be sure to earn. Because this rug can be bought for P 100 or 3 pieces for a hundred),” said Tomimbang.