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Sustainability and Synergy in the Philippines
As Karen, Founder of the Global Good Awards, packs up her home in preparation of an impending move, living out of only a few boxes, she reflects on her time in the Philippines, away from her possessions and home comforts. The trip was a welcome escape from technology and her life in the UK.
In the Philippines, residents on the remote islands live off the land and sea; men fish, women weave and the children, sadly, play with the plastic waste washed up on their beautiful white beaches. These islands could be considered a slice of paradise, but for Karen, this trip was all about something more. Gladly sacrificing her possessions for island life, this experience gave Karen an opportunity to walk in someone else’s shoes – or, in this case, sandals – while sharing her knowledge of sustainability and women’s empowerment. Karen noted that some people, “might find it difficult to comprehend not living with daily communication to the outside world; no phones, internet or the materialistic commodities that we have become accustomed to in Western society”. Despite any preconceptions you may have, all the locals were well-fed, healthy, happy and were multilingual.
As you may have read in our previous article this trip wasn’t your typical 5-star hotel resort experience; it was an experience of a lifetime!
Arriving in the Philippines
From the windows of the twin prop plane that carried the visitors from Manila to El Nido, hundreds of fish farms were visible, dotted around just a handful of the 7,641 islands that make up the archipelago of the Philippines. Unfortunately, none of these farms are sustainable, leading to overfishing and risking the jobs of 1.6 million people in the fishing industry. In the Philippines, methods such as dynamite and cyanide fishing have massively contributed to the decline of fish stocks and destroyed coral reefs. But with the country being so reliant on fishing, and people living ‘hand-to-mouth’ off the sea, do they understand that what they are doing is wrong?
Well that’s where Tao Foundation comes in. In 2006, two men formed a nomadic group of adventurers, business planners, boatmen, young fisherman and builders to develop a social enterprise with island communities as partners. Today, Tao is a community of over 200 islanders working with passion and a sense of pride, welcoming worldly travellers from all over the globe to offer a raw experience of undiscovered islands.
The First Taste of Paradise
The majority of the trip was to take place on a 74-foot traditional ‘Paraw’, native to the Philippines. Handmade by Captain ‘Hinhay’ in 2011, purely from wood, with exception of a few parts – such as the sails and engine- much of it made from bamboo. This would be the home of the 23 guests and 8 crew during the long journeys at sea for five days.
Karen remarked, “this trip is not for everyone… in the briefing attended the night before we departed, we were encouraged to have a digital detox and switch off our phones. With very few places receiving mobile signal and certainly no Wi-Fi, I couldn’t wait to ditch the tech for a few precious days.”
It seems the guests had an idea of what our living quarters would be like, but it wasn’t until they left the boat and swam to shore for their first night, did they get their first glimpse. With manual flushed toilets and a scoop of water from a bucket as your daily shower, everything was stripped ‘back to basics’. The facilities were ‘raw’, with guests sleeping in a raised bamboo hut on the beach with nothing but a mosquito net and a canopy of palm leaves separating them from the spectacular, starry night sky.
Dining by the Sea
With breakfast, lunch and dinner being cooked and served by the crew either from the compact kitchen at the back of the boat or at a workstation under head-torch light on shore, “every day was a new mouth-watering experience of fresh fruit, vegetables, fish, or bananas served about 20 different ways”.
Karen recalls the meal served on the final morning, as the crew collected 20+ coconuts from the beach, filtered the water off and served it on the side with oatmeal and sticky sweet potato inside the coconut shell. How much fresher can you get?!
TAO Centre Camp and Farm
On Day 2, Karen and the other guests stayed at the TAO Centre Camp and Farm. Here, men and women are trained as chefs and taught to farm and fish. Women are taught to weave, make crafts and natural soaps and trained as massage therapists (which all the guests are treated to on their arrival). Most importantly, especially to Karen and her mission on this trip, all are taught about the environment and how to care for it.
A seven course dining experience
That evening, at their main Base Camp, the chefs prepared the guests a seven course meal ‘open kitchen’ style, all made from local, organic produce – almost all of which was from their own farm within view of where they dined.
They insisted on only using 100% organic products in their showers (which is a flowing stream and a scoop) to avoid the chemicals leaking into their water supply, with their whole ethos built on being self-sustaining; teaching all the villages in the region to be the same.
Our impact on the sea
During one of the long days at sea, after a conversation with the ship’s captain and crew, she found out that the biggest decline in marine life was the result of the 66 nuclear tests carried out in the Pacific Ocean during the Cold War. This, according to the captain, devastated sea life, more so than plastics, as he recalled memories of dead whales on the surface of the ocean, and many more in their skeleton form washed up on beaches. Although that may have had a massive impact, he’d also acknowledged that plastic has contributed to that steady decline over more recent years.
Binti International
For Karen, this trip was more than a getaway, it was an opportunity to contribute to something more, working on the ground to bring insights into sustainability, environmental synergy and women’s rights.
Prior to her trip, Karen contacted Binti International – a charity which is on a mission to give every women dignity during their period. Through the donations of personal friends, Karen was able to purchase reusable, plastic-free sanitary packs for the women on the island. Hygienic sanitary products are not easily accessible or affordable, even for the least remote islands. Most women use – often dirty – rags which is very unhygienic and can severely increase the risk of cervical cancer. During the course of the five-day trip, Karen successfully delivered thirty of these packs to the female villagers, and from the looks on their faces, they were extremely grateful.
Summarising her experience, Karen shares her final thoughts:
“I’d highly recommend experiencing this trip but don’t expect any materialist luxuries here. Your luxuries are the freshly prepared feasts, the sparkling aqua water, the white deserted beaches and being given the chance to recharge and experience life, a lot slower. Leave the make-up bag and the jewellery at home, you won’t need it and trust me, you won’t miss it!”
If you’d like to see more photos from Karen’s trip, visit her Flickr page.
Interesting in entering the Global Good Awards in 2019?
It’s not too early to register your interest in entering for 2019. Entries open on 2nd January.
Anyone wishing to be part of the Global Good revolution and this unique awards programme can contact Founder, Karen Sutton: karen@GlobalGoodAwards.co.uk
