This page chronicles the life and activities of the Blaan and Tagakaulo students who are wards of the Claretian Missionaries at the Indigenous Peoples Mission - Sarangani: Datal Anggas Mission under the iHeart Datal Anggas Youth and ELEVATE program The INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ MISSION – SARANGANI: DATAL ANGGAS MISSION (IPMS-DAM) was born out of the Claretians of the Philippine’s commitment to give a co
ncrete expression in time and space to our prophetic presence on the front lines of the mission – the human, geographical, social and cultural peripheries. We consider it a priority to work with and accompany the poorest, the most vulnerable and marginalized sectors, one of which is the indigenous peoples and their communities. Since April 24,2013 up to the present, the Claretians integrated into the life of the community of the Bla’an and Tagakaulo indigenous peoples of Datal Anggas as they journey towards achieving self-determination, sustainable development, and cultivation of their culture and indigenous spirituality. ELEVATE is an acronym of how are we going to attain this goal: Equip, Lead and Empower (the indigenous peoples in Datal Anggas) thru Varied, Appropriate and Tradition-and-culture-sensitive Evangelization. Specifically we want to ELEVATE the entire community of the Tagakaulo and Blaan of Datal Anggas
from ignorance to awareness,
from subjection to self-determination,
from poverty to empowerment,
from insecurity to RESILIENCY. Our role mainly is accompaniment and guidance while at the same time amplifying their voices when need be and bringing to the fore issues relevant to their progress or downfall. Central to this project is Education and Formation. Confucius once said, “if your plan is for 1 year, plant rice; if your plan is for 10 years, plant trees; [but] if your plan is for 100 years, educate children.” Indeed, Education is critical to escape chronic poverty and to prevent the transmission of poverty between generations. According to UNESCO, education is a core lever for ending poverty in all forms. The UNESCO Roadmap for Implementing the Global Action Programme on Education for Sustainable Development (2014) asserts that “to create a world that is more just, peaceful and sustainable, all individuals and societies must be equipped and empowered by knowledge, skills and values as wells as be instilled with heightened awareness to drive such change. This is where education has a critical role to play.” The Incheon Declaration – Education 2030: Towards inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all (2015) reaffirms “that education is essential for peace, tolerance, human fulfillment and sustainable development…[and it is] a key to achieving full employment and poverty eradication.”
Hence our flagship undertaking is a wholistic engaging and rearing of the youth. We see that solving the problems and overcoming the challenges in their society requires not just the commitment and ingenuity of current politicians and decision-makers but the engagement and preparation of the next generation. The young population should be given the proper guidance and support in terms of their educational, physical, spiritual, mental, emotional and social well-being in order for them to properly assume their roles as productive members of their community. An empowered youth leads to an empowered community. hence, we initiated the iHeart (Intensive and Holistic Engaging, Accompanying, Rearing and Training) [of the] Datal Anggas Youth program. We built a domicile both in the mountain for the high school students and in the municipality for the college students who we support financially for their education and provide with a wholistic human formation. The domicile for our students in the Municipality of Alabel is called GUMSEL DI FUFUNG MARIA or the Forge of the Heart of Mary. The forge is a very significant Claretian allegory that describes the process of formation that one undergoes - the fire softens the hard iron and is hammered rhythmically by the blacksmith with all his artistry and skillfulness, transforming the iron into a thing of beauty and usefulness. The domicile and the students living in it are dedicated to Mary who in her young age said YES to God's invitation to conceive the Son of God and who throughout her life brings people to "do whatever He tells you", accompanies and cares for the apostles and disciples in their joys and sorrows, and remains steadfast in spite of all the sufferings she endured.
