#binhi

[thenamesnotatallrelevant]

Bardagul Type of Rice Seeds, What?!

Tatay being a farmer then, always talked about the different types of rice seeds (bin-i in Ilocano, binhi in Tagalog). But he never taught me the correct classifications so I can only look at the ceiling wondering what the hell was he talking about while he’s doing his monologues on how CL8 is not that soft, or the RC10 that doesn’t yield that much compared to others, yadda yadda yadda. Then…

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[kawalanngkalawakan]

Kaya't tahan na uWu

[istrawberijam]

Kaya tahan na, ooh

Sumandal ka, ooh

Hayaan mo na aking paglaruan

Apoy ng iyong labi, oh paraluman

[diwabelle]

Verse for today: “Tandaan ninyo ito, ang naghahasik ng kaunti ay umaani ng kaunti, at ang naghahasik ng marami ay umaani ng marami. Ang bawat isa sa inyo ay magbigay nang ayon sa sariling kapasyahan, nang walang pag-aatubili, at hindi sapilitan, dahil mahal ng Dios ang mga nagbibigay nang may kagalakan. At magagawa ng Dios na ibigay sa inyo ang higit pa sa inyong mga pangangailangan, para sa lahat ng panahon ay maging sapat kayo sa lahat ng bagay, at lagi ninyong matutulungan ang iba.” — 2 Corinto 9:6-8 
Sabi nga nila, the best investment is your faith and trust to God. Hindi tayo malulugi kung sa Diyos natin ilalagak ang lahat. Kaunting panahon nalang at wawakasan Niya ang lahat ng hirap at bagabag na nararanasan ng bawat isa. Kapit lang kapatid, malapit na tayo. ❤️

[huecarlyle]

Thank You po for always reminding us not to give up and not to get tired, even though you know how we want to surrender whenever we feel down and helpless.

You know our limitations, but truly never did You forsake us.

Thank You so much po, that through the Church Administration, You gave us additional strength and inspiration to go on with our journey and to fulfil all the more our duties.

Thank You Po!

[romvillaseran]

A few months ago i began playing with this piece. I'm sad that it's done. "Punla", Luna series, acrylic on canvases, 5m x 2.5m, 2020. #romvillaseran #seedlings #acryliconcanvas #punla #binhi https://www.instagram.com/p/B7dEYzsAVJU/?igshid=u31ryoywtmk9

[understandingpoli-blog]

binhi paper

As a student, the most active fields I am in now are in the Ateneo de Manila University as a whole, and a more specific extra-curricular field is the Ateneo Musicians Pool. I’d like to talk about my experiences in these communities as they hold most of my good memories as a college freshman. There is a reason why these are the fields I am active in. I will start by expressing my inhibitions before joining these communities. 

I believe to be able to be part of the Ateneo, you must either have the capital of money, and for scholars, a capital of knowledge. Ateneo also has this stereotype that it’s a home for the conyos—a term for the ones who speak in Taglish or combined Tagalog and English—and it is usually associated with the higher class. Locally, those who speak English are considered more sosyal or fancy, and those who can speak Tagalog are those who can get along with everyone else and be at their level. Since most Ateneans are conyo, this just means that the higher class usually go to college in the Ateneo de Manila University. This leads me to believe that the capital needed to rise above in the lifestyle of the Ateneans has to do with acquiring financial and social capital. Financial capital because the higher class who attend college in Ateneo are those who are essentially richer than the lower class, and social capital because those in the higher class are particular with their connections as well as the community may be very exclusive. 

As for the capital needed in Ateneo Musicians Pool, I believe talent, knowledge, and experience in music can bring you higher up the ranks since it is a musicians pool. These elements will give you an edge when applying to be part of the organization, or applying for a higher position. There really is a difference in skill for those who’ve had this before compared to those who are just starting out in college. 

I’m a freshman in the Ateneo campus whose family is not all that rich, which puts me in a low standpoint in this field. This is a fairly new environment to me because I’d be the last person you would see among these mostly rich students. I found myself having to act more prim and proper as opposed to my usual jologs self to fit in this field; I even went as far as changing the way I dress and the way I laugh when I got to this university. The habitus that I have brought to the school mostly is my work ethics. I study well and I know how to work in a group and a committee since in my high school, I ran for leadership positions and joined as many events whose production I can be part of. I got in this school with hard work from both myself and my parents since they’re also not rich enough to be completely comfortable paying the school’s tuition fees. I also was used to the drinking and going out culture and this proved to be useful when we go out as I knew how to take care of myself and others. 

I am also just a newbie in AMP, but I feel like I have more leverage or capital in this field. I have been exposing myself to music ever since I was little and I was able to apply this knowledge in this org. Though this is still an Atenean organization, and I find myself having to change myself quite a bit in the community, this organization still opens up the most passionate side of me. I feel like I’m at home when I’m in this org because it really does take me back considering I’ve been doing music since I was young and it’s what I am passionate about. I’d say though that even if I’m a newbie, I can contribute a lot here, which elevates me in the field’s social hierarchy.

The habitus that was prevalent in my Binhi area was the ability to recycle materials. As I watched them teach us how to possibly make use of the materials, I noticed that it seemed like second nature to them already. As was told to us, not much of them grew up in a rich family, so I suspect that like me, they learned to be capable if reusing things to lessen their consumption. They were also very skilled in handicrafts and cooking as that's what they used to do in their household. I personally was not able to contribute much knowledge since I was raised with a helper who cooks for us, but it was a very fun experience since I was very willing to learn everything they taught us. The habitus I was able to manifest was the way I spoke with and understood the lolas. Compared to my groupmates, I believe I was more able to speak with them since I spoke a lot of Tagalog. It is notable that our habitus is very different from each other. In the setting of Binhi, they were obviously the ones at and advantage. But come when they have to be in our community, it'll be the other way around.

I was pretty confused because the lolas were not really communicating with us much except during the paper mache and the kutsinta activity. Even so, I was able to immerse myself in what they do and it gave me an idea of what they go through everyday. As unemployed lolas, they go to that barangay office to find a sense of purpose for themselves and to be able to contribute to society. This made me realize that aging may come with challenges with the identity, searching for a purpose and whatnot. We were also told of the conditions of the SSS pension. Some of the lolas only get 500 pesos monthly, which is not enough most especially if they do not have their children to support them. I was able to empathize with them and their struggles through this activity and realize that they are also experiencing some kind of oppression in the sense that they are neglected.

Social structures is a sad reality that unfortunately exists in our societies. It classifies us and our social standing and this is what shows us that we are unequal. The Binhi experience made me recognize my privilege because I was born into a working class family and we are able to get by fine and my future is secure. But those lolas were not able to completely secure their future. I was also able to connect how habitus is relative to social standing. Since I was able to study in the Ateneo, I gain more connections that may be an avenue for me to find high-paying jobs, while some of the lolas told us they only got to study until high school and ended up as housewives. Because of my education, I am able to achieve accomplishments in the business community, while the lolas are not really predisposed for that and they are not able to start their negosyos because of their lack of knowledge. I was able to apply intersectionality in the sense that they are experiencing ageism and social class oppression at the same time as well. This made me want to reach out to them even more because there is much to learn from them with regards to how the government treats them. It made me want to fight for their rights. 

[littlehalaman-blog]

Worlds Within a World

          A world can be composed of many unique stories. Just how every star in the sky has a story, so does every community and every person existing inside a community on Earth has. The small things, the growth, the dynamics, the ups, and the downs — all of these are just a part of the beauty of it. Having the opportunity to delve into another world, and take a peak at the unique stories imbedded within it is what the Binhi experience has given to me. In this opportunity, I was given various options to choose from and I chose to take a step inside of the world of the Philippine Children’s Medical Centre or PCMC.

          After being oriented about the place, the people we may interact with, what situations we may face and how to deal with them, a few thoughts popped up in my mind. Firstly, how will I have a meaningful interaction with these children who were sick and secondly, what may I find out about this part of the Filipino community? During our entire interaction, me and other people who signed up for PCMC were split into groups and each of the groups interacted with a room of children and their older family members (mostly parents). At first, it was really hard to figure out what to do as the children were of different ages and they were either sleeping or shy to interact. As time went by, my group and I figured that we try to interact with the children through colouring or playing cards and interacting with their elders.

          At one point of the interaction, I had experienced a child being brought to the ICU. It was terrible because he was having a hard time sleeping because of the pain and he didn’t want to deal with any check-ups anymore. It really broke my heart seeing that and that me and my group weren’t able to interact with him at all. As the interaction continued on, I learned about different stories of the people through having a “kuwento” (story) session with the elders of the children. I learned about where they came from, a bit of their life stories, what happened to their children, and how they were. Most of them were from the poor communities in the country and they traveled all the way to Quezon City to find a treatment for their children. Most of the children I interacted with had dengue and a few had rare diseases. All I felt from this entire experience was sadness but I also strived with hope to make their stay at the hospital much better and give them a glimmer of hope as well.

          Within the Filipino community, there are various worlds that exist within them. My world just so happens to be almost completely different from the worlds I learned more about through the children and their elders that I have interacted with. My lifestyle has been influenced by having an abundance of many things while the lifestyle of my ka-Binhi (the children and their families I interacted with) are completely different. We are all Filipinos with only our resources and cultures (depending on which part of the Philippines they came from) separating us into different worlds. I have only learned so little from this interaction that could’ve been longer and yet I know how different their habitus is from my own. These children are a part of families who may not afford many things of high quality and may not enjoy the luxuries people with more money in their pockets have.

          Knowing that there is a “rich” side and a “poor” side to the Filipino community has been on my mind for a long time. I’ve learned about this through school, my family, the news, and observing the society around me. I can consider myself very lucky to not have to deal with a lack of basic needs but that makes me concerned at the same time on what I can do to help those in need. If the habitus of the people I interacted with is to live simply with what they can afford and strive to achieve success and dreams, mine may be to give what I can from this life filled with an abundance of blessings and strive to solve problems in society and in the environment using my resources. I shall strive to have my unique story in this world as one that is good, fruitful, filled with love, joy, service, and growth.