Zamboanga the Movie

4:30 a.m. headed to the Manila airport for the ride home.   

It Can Be

The great secret is the human capital and potential in the poor. 

The poor are ready and willing to do their part,

if we take one step, they will take three.

Another world is possible, when we realize our own poverty.

We need to see our brother and sister’s liberation and our liberation as the same.

We must expect more from our human race than the current condition of the world.

The great news is that no one has to do it all or alone. 

We all just need to do our part.The world is starving for decency.

We do not need heros, let us shoot for just being decent with one another.

It can be.

We’re just getting to Manila. We had a whirlwind just before and for a few days after the concert. There were many “endings” to the movie we lived through the last few days. The storyline will most likely be along the lines of “Bad News Bears,”,the rag-tag sons and daughters of tricycle drivers, carpenters, recyclers and fishermen – CFCA performers, pulled off a great performance at a really big event. Crowd size is estimated at something over 10,000. The professionals put on a great show as well and gave the CFCA community a shot of confidence. We had a few technical sound-system problems, but overall it was a miracle that the concert went off. Joey Ayala loved the concept of starting with an open field. We finished in the scheduled six hours, and the show moved along great. It didn’t seem like six hours. The audience was wonderful. No one got hurt and the initial reviews from folks here were great. I think Maribel (the CFCA Zamboanga project coordinator) is glad to get rid of us. It was a rather large undertaking … but the kind we’ll draw from for a long time. 

I think the film will have a chance of introducing people to these beautiful CFCA kids and families, paint a different definition of wealth, and show that one person or the “West” doesn’t have to do it all. The poor are plenty capable and willing to do their share, they just need some unconditional warmth and support for a while.  You have all been with us in spirit during this month of preparations and the concert night. It has been a privilege to spend these 30 days among the sponsored families in Zamboanga.  

To Abbas the Builder, Roy the Industrious, Amor the Serene, and all the other community members, we are forever bound by this adventure. We stand in awe of the gift you are to our lives and the community. May our loving creator continue to guide us.- Paul

When words just won’t do, God gives us tears. 

“This was different. We have never had so many people watch us. And they were interested in what we doing. This was the best experience for us.” – From one of the Kalumon performers 

A very fond farewell to Abbas and Jean at the airport. We will miss you daily.

Follow-up interviews with John Nosack. 

Watching the sun go down on the concert site, with a rich tapestry of gentle noises of birds, the repeat of individual crickets, a scooter in the distance, the moo of a cow. After about 30 minutes of sublime beauty and tranquility, and a peach-colored sunset, a jungle-based karaoke machine starts playing a popular Filipino song … after a short intro, a woman begins howling into the microphone – full tilt, and way off key, but she sounds beautiful, to her. We feel we are in a closing scene about music in the Philippines. The song goes on. 

Recording session with CFCA scholars. We convert Centro de Roberto into a recording studio to get a studio-like version of the songs for the film. The rains, which had held off for one week, arrived complete with lightning and thunder. It seemed appropriate that we could actually hear raindrops in the recording of the song Raindrops.

Discussion with Chief Rogelio of the Dumagat community and Sister Ina from the CFCA Antipolo project:Priority concerns for the Dumagat community

1. Progress on the ancestral land title process.
   1. Survey budget for ancestral land title process … $25,000. This would include the placement of official landmarks.
   2. Next step would be genealogy study – would welcome an anthropologist volunteer to help document their culture and genealogy.
2. Continue sustainable agricultural projects.
3. Expand education efforts to include community of Quinao. They have been working with the Tribal Center for Development. The center is providing a teacher for the Malasha community with a Dumagat curriculum. There are 38 students in the Malasha Dumagat school. The center provides the teacher, but the community is asked to pay the monthly salary of about 6,000 pesos ($150) per month. Part of the CFCA sponsorship is paying for this. There are 20 sponsored children in the Malasha school. They have the location, but they would like help for a teacher for the Quinao community.

The iron jenny arrives.

Rehearsals, sound-checks and camera position strategy the night before.

The concert site is taking on a mystical quality. Abbas’s stage design, along with the staff’s decorations in this natural setting, create a purposeful harmony. In this late afternoon photo, Julius and the emcees are rehearsing their lines. 

Mario Lim from Kalumon arrives for final rehearsals with scholars, and kulingtan tuning. The rest of Kalumon will arrive Jan. 28.John Story, the sound and recording engineer from Kansas City, arrives today. Final preparations for generator placement and hook up.

Day at the Centro with staff with last days of site preparation. Generator placement planning.