By Loreta Castro, Pax Christi Pilipinas
Pax Christi Philippines (PCP) started celebrating the Mindanao Solidarity Week (MSW) some years ago (2018) to continue its support for the “Mindanao Week of Peace” (MWP) that was marked by the group since 2004. The driving force behind this week has always been the Pax Christi Youth and PCP’s secretariat since 2015, the Center for Peace Education of Miriam College (CPE-MC), which at that time had Jasmin Nario-Galace as Executive Director. In 2015, she was concurrently the PCP President.
Twinning project and fundraising
The Twinning Project started in 2004, then with its first twin school, the Rajah Muda High School in Pikit, North Cotabato, followed in 2022 by a second twin school, the Balong High School from the same province. Both are public schools attended by Muslims. The Twinning Project included workshops, the publication of a joint newsletter, and scholarships for the High School graduates so they could have a college education, aside from some physical/material assistance. In the fundraising efforts, the Pax Christi student organizations in MC and the teachers, as well as PCP members, stepped up to provide manpower.
Since 2004, the “Lugawan Para sa Mindanao” has become a feature of the MWP and then the MSW. It can be considered as a 2-decade tradition. However, it stopped in the years 2020-2022 because of the pandemic. In November 2022, the fundraiser was a virtual Peace Concert where Miriam College (MC) students contributed musical numbers. The MC alumnae contributed significantly through their donations. The concert proceeds were used to construct a classroom and two toilets in its second twin school, the Balong High School in Pikit, North Cotabato, now part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
The significance of Lugawan
The “Lugawan” tradition was revived in November 2023 and then again during the week November 11-15 2024. For both these years, a big portion of the money raised was given to UNICEF, specifically for its humanitarian aid efforts in war-torn Gaza. The main beneficiary is the Twinning Project that the CPE-MC/PCP secretariat is shepherding.
The choice of “lugaw” (rice porridge) as the fundraiser had 3 reasons: It is a usual food for people who have less in the material sense because it is low-cost; this food is symbolic of our solidarity with them. The idea is to pay a little bit more than the usual cost of a bowl of lugaw and to be aware that the extra is for an important cause. The second reason is of course the fact that a “lugawan” has the potential to raise a good income to fund the project because the monetary investment is small. The third reason: it gives an opportunity for greater participation of students and teachers to be involved in the “Lugawan” via making notices, pre-selling tickets, selling the lugaw, washing dishes, being consumers, etc. The “Lugawan” was not only able to raise funds but was also able to generate volunteerism’s joy from all those involved!
Ongoing efforts and looking to the future
The Mindanao Solidarity Week also reminds us about Mindanao issues which continue to this day. There is still a need to promote respect, acceptance and appreciation between and among our diverse cultures, that is, a continuing people-to-people peace process. The transitional government that is now in place in the BARMM needs our continuing support particularly at this time when it is headed for its first democratic elections in May 2025.
