|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| SHELTER |
HEALTH |
EDUCATION |
LIVELIHOOD |
EMPOWERMENT |
GK News
BAILINDA EMAN: A WOMAN OF COURAGE & OF PEACE
by: Anna M. Wilk, GK News Bureau
Bailinda Eman is a young Muslim woman who has earned the distinction of being
the first Muslim full time worker in the Gawad Kalinga National Team. A simple
young woman dressed in comfortable jeans and the traditional Muslim veil, one is
immediately struck by the passion in her words and the steely determination in
her eyes. She is a disciplined and devout Muslim who always acknowledges the
greatness and generosity of Allah. She is only 25 years old but her youth
belies the numerous experiences she has gone through growing up as part of the
rebel movement.
When Bailinda was only 6 years old, she got separated
from her family during a military raid. She recounts one experience where the
military was pursuing the man who was her savior, carrying her on piggyback
firing at the enemy whilst the young Bailinda clung on for dear life.
She
lived in the mountains and in a bangka (small boat) among strangers for six
months until her father finally found her again. Her father was an imam and
ustadz, a Muslim teacher, priest and judge and their family was fighting for
peace and unity in Mindanao. During the height of conflict of the mid-1980’s,
Bailinda vividly relays how she would walk alone through the forest starting at
5pm to bring food to her father who was then in hiding in the mountains. She
would reach her destination at 2am, a little girl facing the darkness and the
dangers of the wilderness. She says that up to now, she still has nightmares
of those haunting memories of her solitary walks up the mountain. “Growing up,
I always believed that Christians were my enemies. My uncle was killed by a
Christian. I thought that if I don’t strike them first, they will kill
me.”
Escape from the abnormal circumstances of her childhood finally came
when she was 10 years old. Her aunt brought her to Marawi City where she saw
for the first time how other children lived: going to school, playing with
other kids, having secure homes --- everything that characterized a normal
childhood. Everything that she herself has not yet experienced. At that tender
age, she made a life-changing decision to get a proper education in Kidapawan.
She didn’t know a single word of the native dialect and has not even learned how
to read and write. But her solid determination and resourcefulness proved to be
her biggest assets. She asked her younger cousin to teach her how to read and
write. Using comics to help her understand, she learned the skills in two
weeks. But experiences of the past still haunted her. “I used to throw stones
at any Christian who came near me because I thought they would kill me” she
recounts. “But instead they brought me food.” An old Christian nun helped her
enroll in Grade 4 at a Christian school. She eventually pursued a college
degree in Notre Dame of Kidapawan College. Bailinda explains that she really
wanted to study there because she wanted to know if Christians were really the
enemies. She wanted to learn the root of the conflict. It seemed at first that
the school administration would not allow a Muslim to enroll in a Christian
school. She spoke to the President of the school and got in. At one point,
she attempted to borrow a Bible from the school library but she was forbidden to
do so because she was a Muslim. Undeterred, she stole the Bible from the
library and brought it home. She justified her action with her search for
enlightenment. Laying the Koran and the Bible side by side, she read and studied
them both through the night until the following day to discover the truth.
“After 24 hours, I learned that religion was not the source of conflict. You
will not be called a true Muslim if you do not respect the person of Jesus
Christ” she reveals. “Our differences are not as important as our basic respect
for one another. That is where we will find peace.”
Getting an
education in Notre Dame was not easy. Her father objected to the move for fear
that she was becoming a Christian. To prove her commitment, she continued to
serve the Muslim movement whilst finishing her degree. There were times when
she had to take a leave in her studies for a whole month. She never forgot the
plight of her people and the search for peace and unity despite obtaining a
college education.
When Gawad Kalinga first entered her village, there
was a lot of resistance from the local Muslim leaders. Bailinda herself was
skeptical. The kind of Christians who use to come to their place were only
those who came to shoot and kill them.
Then came an opportunity for
some women in her community to learn more about GK at a Mothers’ Circle event in
Cagayan de Oro City. Bailinda had to argue to get a slot as one of the
delegates because she wasn’t a mother. “I really wanted to know for myself what
the intentions of these people are” she says. In Cagayan de Oro, she saw Mayor
Totoy Paglas and his wife, Bai Giget talking about how Muslims and Christians
are working together to build peaceful communities for the poor in the town of
Datu Paglas. When she got home, she prayed to Allah that she would be given a
chance to help GK. Her family became one of the beneficiaries of the GK
Bangsamoro Village in Kidapawan.
Shortly after that trip, GK Chairman
Frank Padilla and GK Partnerships Management (PMG) Head, Issa Cuevas-Santos came
to Kidapawan for the Highway of Peace celebration in the Autonomous Region of
Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Issa approached Bailinda and struck a conversation.
Issa explains, “I just noticed her right away because she stood out from the
crowd.” Moved by Bailinda’s deep desire to help her people through GK, Issa
invited Bailinda to work full time as part of PMG in Manila. Despite the pain
of being separated once again from her family, Bailinda accepted the offer and
now handles some of GK’s key corporate partners such as Jollibee. While here in
Manila, she considers Tony Meloto, GK Executive Director as her surrogate
father. “I look up to him for guidance because he brought GK to my
hometown.”
“I grew up in Mindanao, moving to Manila is like being in
another world! But my belief in Allah has given me strength.” She admits that
she sometimes does not even know how to go about her tasks as a PMG coordinator
but she says that the other full time workers have been very supportive in
showing her the ropes. “I just consider my work as an adventure. I used to give
the orders in the movement but now I know that I need to learn and to follow”
she explains matter-of-factly.
Bailinda Eman is a gift to the GK
community. Her mere presence in the national team is a symbol of the genuine
unity that we want to achieve. She is also a woman with a mission. She
believes that she can be an instrument to show others how to attain peace
especially in her troubled homeland. She wants to put across her message to her
fellow Muslims and to Christians. “I want to thank my Christian brothers and
sisters. I believe that Allah loves you because Gawad Kalinga came to us
through you. The Bayanihan between Muslims and Christians – that is the most
valuable gift of Gawad Kalinga.” And to her fellow Muslims, she has this to
say, “I hope you start believing in this. GK is not here to colonize or convert
us. I am here to show you that now is the time for change. We don’t need to use
guns just to achieve peace; instead let us build genuine peace through Gawad
Kalinga.”
Bailinda’s passion, her talents and her advocacy are the true
assets through which the Philippines will now be re-built. Despite the odds,
the political upheavals and bleak predictions, we look to the future with hope
with the likes of this courageous young woman behind the work of Gawad
Kalinga.
|
|
|
TORONTO - OTTAWA - MONTREAL - VANCOUVER - EDMONTON - CALGARY - WINNIPEG
|
|
|
