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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1972-08-17, Page 5Local girl cough in killer typhoon Margie Whyte plays a clapping game with Bebie Sibel, a negrito girl living in Kakilinjan. Because there is no schools in the area everybody in the village is illiterate. The bamboo "house on stilts" in which Margie Whyte and Heather Blair lived while on their Crossroads project in Kakilinjan in northern Luzon in the Philippines. The area was ravaged by a typhoon that killed 500 people and left thousands homeless. 4 swORT PENCIL a BETTER TI/AN A LONG Melee ARE YOU A MEMBER OF linton Community Credit Union )r Members Only; - Life insured savings Life insured loans - Chequing accounts - Term DepOsits Convenient hours Good dividend tate - JOIN TODAY LARGE OPP-STREET PARKING LOT EDITH ANNE Hair Fashions Corner of Rattenbury and Gibbings Street Clinton Phone 482-7691 JUST A REMINDER OF OUR REGULAR AUGUST PERM SPECIAL 1 0% OFF All Perms For The Whole Month of August Come in how and get your summer perm at reduced Weis THE ASE FACTORY OUTLET STORE Old Air Force Base Clinton, Ont. A TRUE FACTORY OUTLET STORE FEATURING SECONDS AND DISCONTINUED LINES FROM MANY CANADIAN MANUFACTURERS. OUR SELECTION WIU. INCLUDE KNIT SHIRTS. DRESS SHIRTS, DRESS PANTS, CASUAL PANTS, SOX, LEATHER GOODS, FOOTWEAR. SPORTSWEAR, UNGER'S, ITC. FOR AU. MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY.' MANY FIRST QUALITY LINES WILL ALSO RE OFFERED AT DISCOUNT PRICES TO PROVIDE GREATER SHOPPING VARIETY. SHIPMENT OF MEN'S WORK CLOTHES TROUSERS-SHIRTS OVERALLS, ETC, SIZES UP TO 52 AS A LOW $ E 7 AS "bIli I. ill •16. GIRLS & LADIES SANDALS MOST SIZES 20% OFF MENS, LADIES BOYS & GIRLS SUMMER WEAR ALL SIZES 20% us 33% - 50% OFF D ON'T FORGET WE REPAIR ALL MAKES OF SEWING MACHINES. ALL WORK GUARANTEED ONE WEEK DELIVERY STORE HOURS: MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY 1 P.M. TO 10 P.M. SATURDAY - 9 A.M.TO 6 P.M. BY MARGIE WHYTE iss Margie Whyte is port of radian Crossroads matioaol which has seat 56 dents from all across . ado, ord received earlier this k by her mother Mrs. yte of Senforth, indicates t Margie survived the boon that swept through the ipines earlier this month, storm killed almost 500 )ple and left thousands ieless. It was the worst m to hit the area in aver a .dred years. .,anadiqn Crossroads emotional is a private untory .organization aged in promoting motional understanding by ering Canadians the ortunity to live and work acid for three to six months. iss Whyte, who graduated t spring from the U. of elph, left Canada at the end May armed with film vided by the News-Record, t the present time Heather it of Saskatchewan and elf are engaged in a most iching experience, doing nteer work with Canadian ssroads International in the lippines. As well Allan Shaw Nova Scotia is doing icultural work in the wince of Tarlac, in Northern zon. This summer the ssroads program sent 56 tents from all across Canada rojects in Africa, India, West ies, Hong Kong and the lippines. his is a private volunteer anization engaged in an periment in munications" as well as to vide cross-cultural cation. It is based on the ief that by living and king together, people will n a mutual respect and erstanding. I certainly do that a great step has been en towards attaining these ctives, and with this in mind late to you my experiences. ur project sight is Kakilijan, ch is a reserve for a cultural ority group of Negritos, in province of Zambales. This e village is situated in the thills' of the Zambales ntains, on the west coast of largest island of Luzon in Philippines. elieve me it is quite an ted area. A main highway through San Marcelino, the est town, 23 kins (15 miles) y. This town is 74 kms (46 s) northwest of Manila, the ital city of the Philippines. t may be the nearest road m, is a rugged narrow io trail. It is on this trail we came by a four wheel weapons carrier for 18 (11 miles) and then by foot est of the way. As well, we to cross a four foot deep with a swift current. Thus, he time we arrived at our ct sight we were quite and drenched. until April 15 before Mr. Itho Minor, an ulturalist employed by the rch, and five Seminary nts arrived, the village fined their drinking water a spring about 1/2 km (3/4 ) away, and had to go 1 km he river to wash their es, but Mr. Minor and the nts made a water tank at pring, and set up a water m at two spots in the io. This group also ructed a four room bamboo se on stilts" which is what lived in, and in which we reside. This house built rding to Philipino dards is much more 'antial than the Negrito es, They also built a aoo comfort room, which is ;arable to our latrines, and ructed three stone walls around our water tap as a wash house. But Heather and I have found that the privacy of the river has enticed us to bathe there, In this village there are annraainmtely a dozen families sharing seven homes. The standard house„.,typical is a one room enclosure (8' x 10') built two feet off the ground, on bamboo or timber stilts. This "house on stilts" is made of thatch from tall grass or banana leaves. with a bamboo slat floor, An opening in the middle of the floor gives way to a fireplace which is used to cook their food, heat their homes and ward off the mosquitos, There is absolutely no furniture, their bamboo floor serving as their table as well as their mattress, As we are 23 (15 miles) kms from the nearest town, transportation and communication is very slow and poor. After crossing the river the only methods of transportation are hitching rides with tractors from a nearby sugar cane plantation, or an occasional merchant passing through transporting goods via carabao and wagon, but most common is ones own two feet!! As there is no school here, this community is completely illiterate and thus their only possible mode of communication is by word of mouth. Therefore no mail system, no magazines or newspapers are found here. There being na electricity or telephone system here, their major source of communication with the outside world is one transistor radio. The climate in this area for these summer months is characterized by abundant rainfall, uniform humidity and high temperatures. We experienced the first typhoon of 1972 a few weeks ago. It consisted of high winds and very heavy rainfall. Many of the villagers took refuge in our house as it is more substantial than theirs, but our thatched roof was definitely not leak- proof. And we had nothing other than a few bags to close off our windows and doorways with. As you can likely imagine by the fact that there are no doors here, privacy is not an important factor in their life- style. It, was not uncommon to sit down to a meal on our bamboo floor with spectators at both doors. They were naturally curious about our food and eating habits, but since no communication was possible we felt uncomfortable, as I'm sure our rice and fish diet seemed abundant to them. Their diet consists mainly of ca note (sweet potato), corn, fish and lobster caught in the nearby river, bananas, and various edible leaves. There are several varieties of bananas grown in this area, one of which is a cooking banana. It is short and stubby, and very delicious when fried and dipped in sugar. Some of the more industrious families have a couple of fields to have sufficient amounts to feed their families. However, as one little old man said (translated from Zambal to English) "I'm sick of eating corn." Roast corn for breakfast, roast corn for dinner, and maybe for a change they'll have boiled corn for supper. Having no plates of any sort, they may serve the food on banana leaves and use cleaned cocoanut shells as drinking cups or bowls. They use their fingers in place of eating utensils, AGRICULTURE Very little rice is grown in this area as the land is not suitable for lowland wet. rice. The few fields of a farmer are on steep slopes scattered throughout the foothills, You can farm any suitable land you can find, as there is no legal land ownership. Clearing is done by the "slash and burn" method. Sometimes the rice and corn•are grown in alternate rows and all cultivating, planting arid weeding is done by hand. The most common weed seems tb be the bananas siplings. This "dry" rice is grown on the steep slopes in contrast to wet rice which is grown in the lowlands. Working in twos, they plant in strips working from the bottom of the slope up. The first partner makes many holes with a stick, and the other follows dropping five to eight seeds in each hole. They don't bother covering the seeds, leaving it to Mother Nature (rain) to take care of that. One day, I tried my hand at planting rice but sure don't hold a candle to the native women. They left me in the dust as they plant so very fast! A little bit of sugar cane is grown to eat raw (as a treat), and not processed into sugar. The tough outer layer is peeled off, then you bite off a chunk of woody fibres, chew this, suck out the juice and spit out the remainder of the cellulose fibers. The Filipino agriculturalist with whom we stay, is considering helping the natives extract the sugar if the cane production can be increased. He also found a plot that may be suitable for lowland rice, which he hopes to introduce in the near future. In general the agriculture is not very developed as the people are still at a hunting and gathering stage, Even today, most of the hunting is done with a crude bow and arrow made by their own hands. Poultry raising is very much part of household activity. They are usually left alone to feed themselves. They are allowed to roam about the village without restriction, The term market here is used to mean a system of exchange of goods or services without the use of money. Merchants from San Marcelino travel into this area on market day once a week, via carabao and bamboo cart in which they carry their goods. The marketplace is found down at the river where nearby negrito tribes may meet with the Filipino merchants. The natives hike from their mountain homes carrying baskets which are carried on their backs with a strap around their foreheads, and may weigh up to 300 pounds. The negrito people may bring to barter bananas, banana blossoms, bamboo shoots, camote, and corn in exchange for rice, tobacco, salt and clothing from the merchants. FAMILY To many of the villagers, the birth of a child is a much welcomed event. Children are considered as a blessing and are a sign of good luck and bring much happiness. During the early months of infancy, the mother carries the baby with a piece of cloth wrapped around her neck and she feeds her baby almost every five or ten minutes, each time it cries, There exists no modesty in breast feeding in public. The family, generally consisting of about 5 - 6 children is a very close unit, as they live and work in such close quarters. Anything attained by any member of the family is willingly shared with all. Even at the age of four, the child is expected to help with the families daily working activities which may consist of carrying water and baskets of goods, as well as gathering firewood and edible leaves. The older children help with the fishing and the weeding of the fields. Children may marry at an average age of fourteen. A marriage custom called bandi is generally practised. The bride's father sets a sum of a certain amount of goods to be given by the groom in order to marry the daughter. Common bandi wearing apparel, but for something special like a trip to town, they would often don a shirt and pair of pants. G- strings are a long and narrow piece of cloth worn around their bottoms, and would be comparable to an athletic jock strap. The women's clothing consists of a formless shift-like dress, or skirt and top. Many of the younger children go naked, Mr, Minor gave a mother two dresses for her two wee ones, but she put them away for special occasions, Shoes are not worn by the natives, since they are not practical; but several wear beach thongs or go barefoot. There is very little personal adornment. However some ladies do wear pierced ear-rings, and necklaces made of wood. One older lady wears ankle bracelets, Being illiterate, they'd of course, have no use for watches. Lacking a concept of month or year, they do not know their ages or birthdays. SUPERSTITION The negritos are very superstitious people, this fact being shown in a few instances during our stay, When the water system was being dug, one of the native men had a dream whereby he felt that the spirits of the water. were disturbed. As an appeasement, he slaughtered a young chicken and sprinkled the blood around the spring. A mother, in hope to cure her young child's illness, completely rubbed him in salt, and put a charcoal triangular mark on his forehead. Another family, after having moved to a new home were quite disturbed when their children cried continuously throughout the first night. They considered this a sign, and moved to a new residence. REFUGE IN THE MOUNTAINS During the first week of July Mr. Minor had to leave on business so Heather and I were left to fend for ourselves. As no one in the village spoke English and we spoke neither Ilocano or Zambal, the dialects of this region, communication was slow. Everything was going fine until the Sunday when two Please turn to Page 9 ch e SALES & SERVICE "We Service What We Sell" 267 VICTORIA ST. HWY. No. 4. S. CLINTON - 482.9167 Clinton NeWs-Record, Thwsday, Angst 17, 1972,-25 CLINTON CITIZEN'S HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY ANNUAL FLOWER SHOW (ovacil Cinnabars - Town Hall - Motu, Opt. FRIDAY, AUGUST 25, 1972 VIEWING TIME 3:00 P.M, to 9:15 P.M, RULES FOR THE SHOW; 1-Entrants must be paid up members, except in Junior Classes. 2-Membership fee of $1.00 may be paid when entering exhibits, 3-No Exhibitor may show more than one entry in each class. 4-All flowers must be grown by the exhibitor, except in the arrangement classes. 5-The exact number of stems or blooms called for must be shown. A bud on an entry is classed as a bloom if it shows colour. 6-A specimen rose must have the first row of petals open. It should have two sets of leaves attached. 7-If possible, variety names should be placed on the entry cards. 8-Accessories and any other live foliage, but not other flowers are allowed in the arrangements, 9- Candles may be included in Class' 43, and they may be more than 10 inches high. 10. Ali exhibits must be in place by 11:45 a.m. GENERAL PRIZE LIST 1. 2. 3. 4. CLASSES PRIZES 3rd .25 .25 .25 .25 Asters, Giant Crego, 5 blooms Asters, Powder Puff, 5 blooms Cosmos-5 sprays Zinnias, large, Dahlia flowered-5 blooms st $ .75 .75 .75 .75 2nd .50 .50 .50 .50 5. Zinnias, large, Cactus flowered-5 blooms .75 .50 .25 6. 7. Zinnias, small-5 blooms Petunias, single, plain petal-5 stems .75 .75 .50 .50 .25 .25 8. Petunias, single, ruffled petal-5 stems .75 .50 .25 9, Petunias, double-3 stems .75 .50 .25 10. Pansies-10 blooms .75 .50 .25 11. 12. Snapdragons-5 stems Marigold, African-5 blooms .75 .75 .50 .50 .25 .25 13. Marigold, French Double-5 blooms .75 .50 .25 14. Sweet Peas, annual-7 stems .75 .50 .25 15. Phlox, perennial-3 stems .75 .50 .25 16. Gladiolus, white-1 spike ,75 .50 .25 17. Gladiolus, red-1 spike .75 .50 .25 18. 19, Gladiolus, pink-1 spike Gladiolus, yellow-1 spike .75 ,75 .50 .50 .25 .25 20, 21. Gladiolus, any other colour-1 spike Gladiolus, different varieties-3 ,75 .50 .25 spikes .75 .50 .25 22. Gladiolus, miniature varieties-3 spikes .75 .50 .25 23, Tuberous Begonias, any colour-3 blooms .75 .50 .25 24. 25. Dahlia, large decorative-1 bloom Dahlia, Cactus-1 bloom 1.00 1.00 .75 .75 .50 .50 26. Dahlia, semi-Cactus-1 bloom 1.00 .75 .50 27. Dahlia, Miniature, less than 5" in dia. (no pom-poms)-3 blooms 1.00 .75 .50 28. Dahlia, Porn-porn, not over 2" dia. 3 blooms 1.00 .75 .50 29. Lily, any type-1 stern or 1 bloom .75 .50 .25 30. Any other flower groWn from seed-1 stem or 1 bloom .75 .50 .25 31. Potted plant-African Violet .75 .50 .25 32. Lady's corsage 1.00 .75 .50 ARRANGEMENTS 33, Gladiolus-basket or container- arrangement to count 1.50 1.00 .75 34. Arrangement of assorted Roses 1.50 1.00 .75 35. Zinnias, basket or container- arrangement to count 1.00 .75 .50 36, Coffee table arrangement 1.00 .75 .50 37. Miniature arrangement, not over 3" high, including container. Florets may be used. 1.00 .75 .50 38, Arrangement of assorted garden flowers, in container 1.50 1.00 .75 39. Display of flowers in container same colour as flowers 1.50 1.00 .75 40. Mantel arrangement, one sided 1.50 1.00 .75 41. Arrangement in a small unusual container, originality to count 1,00 .75 .50 42. "Rustic Rhythm"-a design using decorative wood (driftwood; and other plant material. L50 1.00 .75 BEGINNERS ONLY 43, Dining room table arrangement, not over 10" high, Refer to rule no.9, 1.50 1.00 .75 CHILDREN OF PUBLIC SCHOOL AGE 44. Zinnias, large-5 blooms .50 .35 .25 45. Artistic arrangement of dried • flowers .50 .35 .25 46. Asters-5 blooms .50 .35 .25 47. Pansies-5 blooms .50 .35 .25 48, Snapdragons-5 stems .50 .35 .25 49, Petunias, single, plain petalled, 5 blooms .50 .35 .25 50. Table bouquet, not over 10" high 1.00 .75 .50 51. Make an animal, using fruits, vegetables, or flowers, or any combination of these. 1.00 .75 .50 SPECIAL PRIZES' ADULT CLASSES #1 to 43 1. Eaton's Trophy, highest number of points accumulated. 2. Clinton News Record, second highest number of points, 3, Durst Farm & Garden Centre, $5.00 voucher for bulbs, 4, Anstett's Jewellers, donating china vase. 5. Mrs. Mary Epps, cash award for best Dahlia in show. 6. Mrs. Viola Nelson, cash award for best Gladioli in show, JUNIOR GARDENER MEMBERS ONLY 52. Gladiolus, any coTourT spike 53. Artistic arrangement using pansies and other plant material. SPECIAL PRIZES .50 1.00 .35 .75 .25 .50 CHILDREN OF PUBLIC SCHOOL AGE - 'CLASSES #44 to 51 1. Bank of Montreal, highest number of points, $5,00 2. Mrs. Ron McCann, 2nd highest number of points, $3,00 Adults - Mrs. Cudmore Juniors Mr. Charles Cook Door Prize donated Entry Tags are available in advance of show by Mrs. Don Pollen from the president ot the secretary, PRESIDENT Mrs. Den Pullen Secretary treasurer. Mrs, Harvey Howard Mrs, Rog, Cudmere articles are clothing, weapons, radios or food. Arguments over unpaid bandis seem to be the major cause of tribal upsets. We have been told of two instances .' of unpaid bandi, whereby in the first case, the parents threatened to take custody of the first born child, and in the second case, the parents threatened to take the life of the young man if he did not pay up. Extended families are quite common as married children live in the same home as their parents for several years, until it gets too crowded, Due to the high infant mortality rate, (there being no doctors here) the life-expectancy of the negrito is lower than that of the average Filipino life expectancy of 45 years. CLOTHING Clothing seems to be a status symbol here. Even though most people have only two or three changes of clothes, the family that seems most self-sufficient and industrious has more clothes. Some of the women iron their clothes with a native charcoal flatiron. For the men and boys, 0- strings are a common everyday JUDGES