Community Maps by the People, for the People
See… the crystal-clear sea crashing against the shore of blistering sand. Feel… the clean air as it rushes through your hair. Hear… the whisper of peace encompassing the hectares of land surrounded by plants and trees. Discover… yourself in Medina, a municipality located in Eastern Misamis Oriental; but…
While the travelers may see Medina as a great escape from their city life discomfort, the municipality seeks not an escape but a solution to their problem – rural poverty.
Prepare manila papers, pens, and coloring materials.
Although Medina is an agriculturally rich municipality, most of the families living here only earn Php4,000 and below every month. To prepare for solutions then becomes the key.
Having noted that the community has still untapped potentials, the College of Agriculture of Xavier University initiated a local capacity building and volunteer program entitled, “Strengthening Local Capacities’ Project in the Municipality of Medina, Misamis Oriental,” in February to June 2012. This aims to guarantee that municipality’s development could be attained through participation which in return, is relevant to the local population.
Gather participating community members in an open area.
One of the research methods that were undertaken to address the community’s problem is participatory community mapping. Community mapping is a map created by the people from the area, which is comprised of the community’s natural resources, houses, and buildings among others. Aside from that, the people are also tasked to indicate their important history in specific locations and even problems being experienced; which then makes it different from a technical map created by engineers that requires exact scaling and measurement.
According to the study’s terminal report, “Community mapping method was used to assess individual and community resources available in both the upland and coastal barangays.” With this, 19 barangays participated in the mapping namely: Bangbang, Bulwa, Cabug, Dig-aguyan, Duka, Gasa, Maanas, Mananum Bago-o, Mananum Daan, North Poblacion, Pahindong, Portulin, San Isidro, San Jose, San Roque, San Vicente, South Poblacion, Tambagan, and Tup-on.
The group should discuss and illustrate their community in a map.
The participative community mapping was done in the barangays by gathering a minimum of 20 willing community members. They are composed all the components of the area; such as barangay officers, women, education, the elderly, and the youth representatives. With the manila papers with writing and coloring materials given, they were asked illustrate their barangays followed by pointing out their main problems in specific areas represented by an “X”. Outputs were then translated into digital maps by the College of Agriculture’s Geoinformatics Lab.
Engr. Mark Sabines, the project’s Mapping Component Technical Assistant, describes that the community mapping conducted in Medina promoted dialogue to each other. “Makita nimo didto na naa silay [people from Medina] pamaagi sa pagbuhat sa mapa… mga barangay officials, magsturya-sturya pud sila.”
He expresses, “Naay mga experiences og mga kasinatian or kanang indigenous knowledge lugar nila, community knowledge, nga sila ray nakabalo pero naexpress nila through drawing.” Through their drawings then, experiences and history of the community can be tracked. They are then encouraged to articulate their suggestions to their problems connected to their experiences, to be addressed to the rightful authorities.
“Active kaayo sila [participants from Medina] in creating the map. Although dako kaayo ang map na gihimo, nag-cooperate gyud ang mga taga-Medina paghimo,” testifies Reggie Tolinero, one of the XU student volunteers in the held community mapping.
Indicate community problems with suggested resolutions on the map.
Although objectives of the project are stated clearly to the community, people’s doubts became a factor that affected the achievement of project results. Questions raised include, “What are the uses of the survey and the maps?” “Will Xavier University alleviate the status of the communities in municipality?” and “Will Xavier University provide funds for projects?”This has then caused unwillingness for some of the barangays’ community members to share full informationof whatthey know.
With the problems encountered in the project, lessons have also been noted. First, the building partnership for professional relationships is vital. Through this, project could continue for a longer time especially in creating community maps. Second, the respect of barangay officers to local governance should be practiced. XU team sees that this lesson is essential for the desired progress of a community. Third, in building local capacities, it should satisfy the people’s basic needs first. The project should be able to provide in such a way that volunteers can continue in offering their services.
Through the community map that the barangays in Medina have accomplished, their problems then can be presented to the rightful authorities. Connections should then be established. But while problems can be identified, it does not automatically mean it can be resolved. In solving the brought up problems, Engr. Sabines affirms that it will all boil down to the governance of the community.
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Prepare manila papers, pens, and coloring materials. Gather participating community members in an open area. The group should discuss and illustrate their community in a map. Indicate community problems with suggested resolutions on the map.
With four steps, a community map is created— a map that would not only the way to a community’s place, but also the way to development… not only for Medina but also for all the other communities who wish to uplift their situation.
