21 November 2020

#ripplesworld

interculturalroots.org/ripples

Day 252 of Community Quarantine in the Philippines

Separated by glass, we are slowly reshaping our salubong rituals (staying up until midnight to welcome a new day).

New gestures are being born every day to say “I love you”.

At midnight, I offer you glass greeting cards. Yakap (embrace in Filipino)!

7 November 2020

#ripplesworld

http://www.ripplesworld.com

interculturalroots.org/ripples

When I was 4, I would record myself singing and telling stories on cassette tapes and my mother would send them to our loved ones abroad. She said that those tapes would make our families happy.

When I got a job, I would save up money to visit my siblings and cousins, and their children abroad. This year, I saved up to experience 3 summers: one in Manila, one in California, and one in Melbourne. Unfortunately, those family reunions didn’t happen.

With the travel ban restrictions due to the pandemic, my siblings and cousins would just send me videos of my niblings. On weekends at 5:00 a.m., my niblings would call to play and chat with me online.

Time zones are making my body clock crazy but my niblings are adorable. I savor these moments when they still need me and think that I’m the cool aunt.

Sometimes I worry that they would forget me. Silly me. I still remember Tita Bengga and Uncle Cris, and every little gift they gave me. #ripplesworld

PH Remote Learning

24 October 2020

#ripplesworld

http://www.ripplesworld.com

https://interculturalroots.org/ripples

Schools and higher education institutions in the Philippines have implemented remote learning as the response to the community quarantine due to the global health crisis. Understandably, this has brought about challenges to the different sectors – students, educators, and administrators. The drastic and radical changes have also brought in new concepts that everyone had to absorb at a limited time. As in most communities, whenever a new concept is introduced, the tendency is to borrow the term that represents it. New concepts are packaged by coinage (neologisms, e.g., Zoomustahan) or existing terms re-contextualized according to the needs of the new concept (e.g., share screen). Adapting does not necessarily mean that people automatically conform to these changes; at times, they come up with strategies to cope temporarily and after adjusting, come face-to-face with these challenges, expressed by phrases that call to more inclusive and grounded solutions.

Hinga—breathe

Pahinga—rest

TATAG UP—Tatag University of the Philippines (UP) is a play of Tatak-UP or stamped with the UP brand. Tatag means “resilient, firm, determined”, a call for the University constituents to respond to the growing needs of the community amid the crisis due to the pandemic.

Acad Freeze—is a call for an academic freeze to give ample time for students and teachers to attend to immediate needs in the time of a global health crisis.

#NoStudentLeftBehind–is a call for access to equal resources to implement remote learning.

Solusyong Medikal, Hindi Militar—”information, not force; medical and financial support, not guns”

Malasakit—compassion

The Team:

Olive Nieto is a performer. She is currently an assistant professor at the Department of Speech Communication and Theatre Arts, University of the Philippines Diliman. She is one of the seven Initiating Artists for Ripples.

Jem R. Javier is an assistant professor at the Department of Linguistics, College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of the Philippines Diliman. His research interests include Philippine structural linguistics, Bahasa Indonesia/Malaysia, and culture studies.

Thea Tolentino has over 14 years of experience as a music educator and preschool teacher in the Philippines and abroad. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education at the U.P College of Music, Diliman. She is a classically trained guitarist and has also composed music for various educational and media projects. Thea is currently a Master’s of Music Therapy student at the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Fine Arts and Music. After graduating, she intends to bring the practice home to the Philippines with the focus of using music therapy to support mental health goals.

Camilo De Guzman is a 4th Year BA Theatre Arts student from UP Diliman. He has been involved in various productions under Dulaang UP during his time in the program. He is also part of different advocacy and leadership organizations in the university as well alongside serving in the student council in his college.

Video Contributors from UP Diliman, Ateneo de Manila University, and MINT College:

PIA CRUZ
VJ PARREÑO
SINA JOSE
ALY LOVERES
HAZEL TOQUE
MAMEL PALAGANAS
ALLELIE BOBIS
CJ CORREA
DENISE MILARION
RICA ALCAZAR
BLESSY DELFIN
ARCEL QUEZADA
DANICAH CHAVES
DAPHENE GIGA
LISSE DE VERA
MARGA ESQUILLO
PETE LAPUT
ETHAN VALENCIA
CZARINA ENDAYA
SOPHIA QUIBOL
CRIS ZANDRO RAMON
GEMIMA AURELLANO
KAYLA HUBILLA
LYNETTE MANAAY
RJ MACUTAY
KONNI DELOS REYES
GAB PEBENITO
SILVER RACCA
KRIS MIRANDA
DYASTIN ADARLO
JESSY SO
ELA FIGURA
JEMAY BRAVO
REGINA BUCO
DAVID ESGUERRA
ROBIN TRABALLO
KYLE LAPUS
FRANCES CHAN
JAEL GONZALES
ANNA CUBACUB
RONI FORTUNA
JANNA CORTES
CJ BARIMBAO
FRANCES FERNANDEZ
BELLE GINEZ
LUCKY SIMPLINA
ANJ SALUDES
JOHNNY MAGLINAO
KYANNA VILLALAUREL