Roosters sound the 4:00-5:00 AM wake up call for farming and fisher folk families in remote regions of the Philippines. Rural families begin preparing breakfast and doing chores such as fetching water, bathing, and getting the children ready for school. Most chores are done by the women with the children helping out. The men tend to have an erratic fishing schedule based upon the season, but will usually go fishing very early in the morning or spend time feeding and tending to their animals.
The children will usually walk to school, oftentimes a very far distance because their parents cannot afford transportation fare or do not have a motorcycle. Children may miss school if they are sick or need to help out with chores. Missing school is normal. During lunch break, the children will either walk home to eat or a guardian will come to the school to bring them food. Children in the most impoverished regions may be malnourished. It is also normal for rural families to eat some meals consisting of only rice. Depending on the fishing and farming season, an average meal consists of mostly rice and a small portion of vegetables or fish, to only rice, to skipping a meal.
The women will continue to do chores or part time jobs throughout the day while the children are at school. This includes gathering wood for fuel, fetching water, managing small in-home stores, cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, or being hired to do these chores for other families. The children will help with chores when they arrive home from school. The men will fish or farm, upkeep their equipment, or take up odd jobs such as construction. Sometimes the women and children also assist with fishing and farming through gleaning and gathering of mollusks, fruits, and vegetables. At night the families will often watch television, and the men will often drink alcohol and socialize with their friends. Most families sleep by 9:00PM.
Despite this simple life style and the endless struggle of working to put food on the table. I was walking through a small fishing village with my visiting Canadian friends Nikki and Dave and, without hesitation and with full intention of sharing, a filipino family invited all three of us to join them for lunch. This is the way of the Philippines: sharing what you have with others, even if that means going without tomorrow. Community is strong, even when life is hard.
A bahay kubo? I’ve only seen them in pictures and at attractions, my parents’ hometown is no longer a rural, rural area so bahay kubos aren’t a common anymore.
Another peace corps volunteer who lives close to me actually lives in a little bahay kubo built for him by the local community.
Wahoo! Dave and I are “blog famous!” 😀
Hi! May I know where is this small fishing village located? Thanks.
Looking forward to visiting Philippines. Its not so different from my country.
“DAILY LIFE IN RURAL PHILIPPINES” I know WHAT EXACTLY is like living in BOTH in rural and urban. Both have their PROS and CONS (which I don’t need to mention it here. We all know what it is) just like LIFE itself. The ‘best’ thing, perhaps, is how WE look at our life and Life in general and HOW we feel about them. Life is what WE make of it irrespective of WHO you live with, WHERE to live and HOW we live our life.