Input during the Cordi-Bel 25th anniversary

Input during the Cordi-Bel 25th anniversary

(Note: Drafted for internal use only. May seem not for simple reading consumption as it needs further elaboration from the inputter in the light of the present community status.)*

A. Journey

From different individuals, we attained herdship. (Herdship is defined as “the movement of being a member of that community/organization and being and moving like a herd member, supporting the purpose of the community/organization through a combination of being, leading and following based on a few hard rules.” Source: www.herdship.com). Our end goal is towards a livable community. (Individuals  >  Herdship >  Community)

B. Gains and Pains

We could say that success comes hand and hand with failures and pains. The little successes that we attained could be counted as blessings and failures as pains. 

We could count as blessings and gain the increasing numbers of our children in the community. This is population growth by reproduction. By virtue of marriage, the partner of a member automatically becomes a part of the community. They too have a lot of roles to play. Along the way, new recruits joined the community. 

We could count as pains or hindrances our still limited understanding or short vision of a community.

C. Reciprocity

With the extent of 25 years, we undeniably received goods, helps, favors, and services from individuals or groups/organizations of which we may not have reciprocated them, but certainly we have passed those kindnesses to other individuals or groups/organizations. Within our community, we have given and received help and services from among us. One of the many ways to reciprocate the goodness/blessings that come to us is to continue to grow as an open and welcoming community.

D. We get deeper knowledge of our “who we are”

As we continue journeying and dreaming of a Cordillera Community in Belgium, we keep refining our “who we are” in the process.

Our “who we are” is known by our being:

1. Ingenious – being creative, imaginative, and resourceful. Instinctively, we have the inventive ability when it comes to survival. Having said so, we still need to improve.

2. Genuine – being honest and truthful or sincere. Being original here means no faking (pakitang tao). We do not hide on plastic faces.

3. Open-minded – we accept changes and open to new ideas, new perspectives but we also hold on to our own originality and ingenuity. We know how to listen, but we also do not just copy or follow new things around us.

4. Responsible – we nurture the attitude of behaving with respect and humility towards others, to mother nature and ourselves. We do not evade or deny our part in a failure.

5. Oriented people/community – we have focus. We have a goal. As we keep focused on our goal, we need to stay in the right direction. With teamwork and cooperation, guided by the principle of INAYAN, the community will be able to easily determine the right direction.

6. Transparent – nothing to conceal. Keep the motivation pure.  Motivation clouded by hidden agenda blocks the vision to stay in the right direction. 

7. Sensible – being practical. Doing things wisely. Taking wise advice and making wise decisions.

 

Our community is essentially composed of IGOROTS but at the same time non-Igorots too. This mixture of origins is an asset that sharpens our sensitivity to one’s background or origin. The interaction of the non-Igorots with those “Igorots-by-blood” (the second and future generations) should serve as the grinding force to continuously refine our identity or the “who we are” as we aspire to establish a Cordillera Community in Belgium. May the Igorot values passed to us by our ancestors be enriched as we and our children and our children’s children continue to reconnect to our roots/ their roots while assimilating other cultural values. (Ric Cuyob 03/August/2021)

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*While one will find inspiration in the text, the article was written as a draft for Cordi-Bel.” 

     About the Author

 
   

   Ric Cuyob 

is half-Benguet and half-Bontok, and belongs to the Kankana-ey ethnolinguistic of the Cordillera. He lives in Brussels with his wife, Alice, and their daughter, Marivonne.