Abra river: a living water

Posted by: philouise on: January 18, 2009

• In: abra | Igorot culture | igorots | maeng | philian weygan | Tingguian
• Comment!

Abra River: A living water

My visit to do consultancy work in Abra this week was through the invitation of Annie Baltar, the present manager of Manabo Development Foundation Inc.(MDFI). Our working relationship with Annie dates back during the Caritas Australia project, Northern Luzon advocacy for Indigenous People’s human rights advocacy and Anti-Mining Act. MDFI is rather different from those days of engagements, as I find her managing a foundation of an irrigation system serving 713 members in the 11 barangays. Rev. Roderick Ardaneil is the president of MDFI and the parish priest in the area. I had the pleasure of meeting two of the members of the Board including Mr Balisong, who happened to be a relative on my mother side. Manabo is reached from Bangued by one and a half hour travel through good cemented roads and one raft ride (balsa) over the Abra River. Through the years the municipality changed with more concrete houses, increased population, more sari sari stores, repair shops and roads. Those balsa rides are what makes traveling Abra rather a unique experience. Motor vehicles, people and animals ride a motorized or manually rowed raft to cross the river. The balsa leaves a dock and goes downstream a few meters than goes back upstream to the landing docks on the other side. Many years ago when we conducted research, conferences and starting community health programs, we would arrive in Bangued and together with our Tingguian team cross those rivers a couple of times, drive through the rough river beds, up dusty roads to the communities. But arriving in the communities those rides seem not a difficult one because of the warm welcome, the fresh air, the organic food and simply the goodness that one shares in community life. Abra rivers still teem with life as most of the time we would have dalit, lames, crabs, shrimps for food. Swimming or simply bathing at the river side would be very refreshing. And I remembered one visit to Luswak, a natural public swimming pool coming from a spring. Irrigation programs have improved their life as more fields were irrigated. MDFI is more that thirty years and is now due for a major repair in the main tributary because of siltation. In the upper villages of the Maengs, bamboo pipes have been used to bring water to the villages whether is its spring water for homes or water for the fields. At one time that we were in Tiempo, Tubo while crossing the bridge I noticed a PVC pipe in the bridge where drinking water is transported to the other side. There was a small spring water project assisted by Upland Development Institute in Luba. This was to repair a their water system including the tank as it was uncovered and falling leaves land in the tank which is the main source of drinking water for the village in Lipting. St John describes the LORD as the living water. Talking with the Samaritan by the well the LORD said “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him the spring of water welling up to eternal life.” And he furthers share to the woman of the kind of worship that the Father seeks; Worshipers in spirit and in truth. At the end of time, we will no longer be holding the positions, titles, addresses, the professions we seem to value so much. At the end of time, we will all end up as worshippers and towards that is to drink the living water that leads to eternal life. Not only living water but the water of life. The holy Eucharist or Holy Communion is a church tradition that is to remind believers to drink from that Living Water. This is simplistic thought but in it’s simplicity the life changing significance of the blood of Jesus is salvation. Salvation that does not only mean the forgiveness of sins, but also of healing power, life transforming process, breaking of curses and the release of blessings. Water does have a cleansing quality, quenching the thirst, and eliminating toxins of the body. Water brings life and when water projects like irrigation gets into the communities it transform lives and communities. But a lot of times, the spirituality of life changing aspects of water remains unexplored. One project BSBT Foundation, Inc implemented in Burgos, Ilocos Norte was a life changing experience for us and the community who drew the water from the spring of the mountain and bring it down more than 20 kilometers to fields and homes of the four barangays of the Municipality. There were no lives sacrificed but time, money and expertise were poured to the project to bring out community transforming results. There are more stories to tell of the Abra River romance like the misplaced bridge, the bamboo bridge, the longest bridge which I hope to tell my kakaanakan and apos in the years to come. And praying that water will remain to be free but the facility to deliver is what we have to pay. When turbulent times come, the still quiet water becomes a strength unsurpassed. (Jan 16,2009)

Tags: culture, environment, water