Kamalayan is an annual art festival for awareness, where the theme changes every year, catering to different issues that need to be addressed. The theme for this year is Agriculture, shedding light on local flora, produce, and agriculture to benefit local farms & farmers, as well as other sustainable & environmental advocacies.
What Kamalayan aims to do is not just raise awareness but to educate and create sustainable action. In order to contribute to the development of agriculture and help our farmers and fisherfolk, Kamalayan plans to do it in two ways:
1. We Need to Pass Down Agriculture
We need to educate the next generation of farmers and fisherfolk that there are reasons for the importance of agriculture, which will be done through our book titled Aplaya.
The average age of farmers is 50-60 years old. They do not have all the time left in the world, so we need to pass agriculture down to the next generation too, and that’s how we are going to make a sustainable positive impact. Not just by funding, but by also passing down the value of agriculture. We also want to give emphasis on marine conservation because we are an archipelago and artisanal fisherfolk are a marginalized sector we forget about. Their kids no longer want to be fisherfolk because they think there is no importance in it. That’s down if we talk about sustainable ways of helping, we include in our beneficiary a means of passing down the importance of agriculture, and marine agriculture too.
Its implementation will begin in the public school kids of Siargao. TAYO has coordinated with Sir Alfred Coro, a previous mayor of Del Carmen for that matter. We have also talked to Marine Wildlife Watch of the Philippines and Reef Check Philippines. Our means of book distribution will be in partnership as well with UNICEF.
Moreover, the entire art exhibit will be explaining stories and facts about agriculture (direct transcripts of interviews from Oceana and fisherfolk included) and this in itself will already get the conversation to begin.
2. Funding Means to Farm
Donating our funds to Fund the Forest will be directly supporting the funding for the replantation of crops and fruit trees for a community in Yangil, Zambales. This will be done with the help of Fund the Forest and MAD Travels who are a sustainable agency that has been directly in contact with this community for many years. The best way we can create sustainable change is by starting with communities one at a time. By directly funding means of farming for a community’s livelihood. You may visit their IG and website @fundtheforest.ph to learn more.
TAYO Philippines cordially invites you to Kamalayan 2019! This will be on December 14-15, 2019, at the One Bonifacio Park, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.
TAYO Philippines continues to spearhead more projects and events as well as find new partners while maintaining current ones, to create sustainable change in our country. We hope that it wouldn’t be just NGOs and NPOs that would help make a difference, but corporate companies as well. By working together, we can truly help those in need. Its overall goal is to empower the everyday Filipino in hopes of creating new perspectives on why we should support local, and zero in on sustainability as something that can be achieved in everyday life.
Don’t forget to follow Kamalayan on IG: @kamalayanph and on FB: fb.com/kamalayanfestival
ADVT