"Bugas ug asin lang gyud ang among kinahanglan, naa pa mi makuha nga mga lagutmon sa lasang. “All we need is rice and some salt, we have other food sources in the forest” said Datu Romeo of Brgy. Cauyunan, Opol, Misamis Oriental when he called Samdhana Institute’s Erwin Quiñones.  The community is under quarantine due to COVID-19, their movements restricted, and there is no daily wage farm work. Their backyard gardens were destroyed by drought. 

Cauyunan is part of the Dulangan Unified Ancestral Domain. We have been working with the eight gaup of Dulangan (Indigenous Governance at the Forefront of Conservation (ICON) Project, supported by Forest Foundation Philippines), until the COVID 19 situation happened. Cauyunan is accessible via Cagayan de Oro City (44 km from the CDO city proper). Around 357 families, mostly belonging to the Higaonon tribe are going hungry without rice as a staple. Many had to go back to their forest farms or “kaingin”, to scour for root crops and other traditional food sources. The remaining forested areas, while providing the immediate food needs of the families, are also under stress.  We hope they will not need to clear any forests during this period of uncertainty.

They have not yet received any assistance from the government. Emergency assistance is crucial, both for the families and the forest.  They need rice and some salt as staple immediately.  They can then supplement this with produce like banana, root crops and other wild vegetables. 

A donation of one thousand pesos (P1000) will provide food for one family for two weeks and allow for delivery of these to isolated and predominantly indigenous communities such as Cauyunan that are not yet being reached by current sources of relief.  But we would also welcome more.  We appeal to your kind and generous hearts at this time of crisis to provide food for survival of 357 families in Cauyanan.   

For update on the emergency relief distribution conducted in Cauyunan last 08 April 2020, please see the link 

Responses to frequently asked questions: 

How will we get the rice and salt? 
The supply of rice and salt will come from traders mainly in Cagayan de Oro City and other major cities in Mindanao. Samdhana Institute will directly secure the supply.

How will we get the food to the communities? 
Samdhana Institute will arrange for transport for the goods from supply to receiving community.  This will be arranged directly and coordinated with the respective local governments and other kindhearted transport owners. It is important that this reaches this far-flung barangay at the soonest possible time. 

How will we ensure that these food items reach those who most need it? 
Beneficiary selection and goods distribution will be managed by the partner Indigenous Communities through their leadership structure and the Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative (IPMR). They shall closely coordinate with the respective municipal and barangay government units.  The Indigenous youth and women will be the responsible individuals in the frontline during beneficiary validation and actual distribution. They will be provided with face masks and disinfecting solutions and social distancing will be practiced during the distribution.   Goods will be delivered to each household or the nearest point of convergence per purok, zone of sitio, where social distancing can be practiced during the distribution process. 

Tracking and reporting?
Acknowledgement receipt per beneficiary will be filled up and signed. Photo documentation and video documentation will be assigned to the youth.  We will provide donors with copies of these and a full report.

Who is Samdhana Institute? 

Samdhana operates across South east Asia.  In the Philippines, it has an office in Cagayan de Oro City in Northern Mindanao and in Coron in Palawan. Samdhana Institute supports indigenous peoples and local communities to secure their rights to their territories and their wellbeing.   Our work is mainly supporting and facilitating Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs), and civil society organizations working with them, developing their capacities;  institutional mechanisms and next generation leaders, and supporting communities develop local innovations for community resilience. But the struggle for tenure security and resiliency is not a short term task.  We also provide urgent support for indigenous and local communities in far flung areas during critical times such as during disasters and this current COVID 19 crisis.  Samdhana Institute was registered in 2003 and 2005 as a not-for profit organization in the Philippines and Indonesia, respectively.  For more information, visit our website in www.samdhana.org  

For more information on Cauyunan emergency relief, please contact Erwin (erwin@samdhana.org, WhatsApp: +639175853817) or Joan (joan@samdhana.org, WhatsApp: +639258668477) or Aim Sylph (cane@samdhana.org, WhatsApp: +639175300255)

The Samdhana bank account: 
Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) Cogon CDO Branch 
Account name: The Samdhana Institute, Inc. 
Peso Acct. No. 9321-0045-36
Dollar Acct. No. 9324-0044-64

Maraming salamat po.

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