Dear ESSA Community,
We spent a day at Brgy. Salacay, Cabatuan for the strategic planning for the Central Iloilo Cluster. We were lucky enough to be hosted by our ever so loving and ever grounded Barangay Captain, Kap. Lida Libiano. It was quite an overwhelming experience to be surrounded by abundance and a strong sense of community.
The leadership and the strong community prepared a healthy environment for the strategic planning to go smoothly and at the same time fruitful. The strat-plan was done through the process of appreciative inquiry which is ultimately a different process. AI provides a more hopeful and more meaningful process for the community to dream and see where they want to be.
The group was also treated with an abundance of healthy food prepared by different groups who joined the nutrition month contest in healthy food preparation. Part of the criteria was to ensure that ingredients are locally abundant and indigenous, besides being healthy and tasty. We had our lunch in the barangay’s beautiful communal garden.
We also found out how strong the organic farming community in Cabatuan is and how they are well supported by the local government. During the weekly market, they have their own space for organic farmers that goes through validation from the community. We also met a few of them saw a glimpse of their foundations in terms of inner conditioning.
We hope to have more of these soulful gatherings where people come together, not only to envision a sustainable future but to also ground it. The Central Iloilo community will meet again this August 14 to finalize the planning.
