Last year at the first Filipino American International Book Festivalheld in San Francisco during Filipino American History month (October), the book Songs of Salanda (photo enclosed above) by H. Arlo Nimmo was highly recommended. It was the first book I read from the festival – easy and fun read.

when i was younger, the family would take an overnight barco (a large boat) ride from maynila to visit our lolas, aunties, uncles and cousins in cebu and bohol. i treasure those childhood memories – sleeping in cots not just with active children but also along with live animals such as chickens and pigs. our families are from poor origins but not an unhappy one. life is not easy but close family ties made it easier. my early encounters and memories of badjaus or ‘sea gypsies’ was during the barco rides. little badjaus waded in the water for passengers to drop coins from the barco into the water. the sun-bleached youth dove masterfully to catch the glistening coins underwater and place the treasures between their teeth. Growing up in maynila, i would see about 2-3 tattered-clothed, sun-bleached little ones in the street, together coming up on the car passenger window with outstretched hands. Recently in Baclayon, Bohol, I met up with a local teacher who continues to share internationally her work about local bajaus, seafarers sea nomads in bohol related to water based indigenous people’s issues. Click on links to read and learn more: Otherizing the Badjao: A Spatial Imagery of State Exclusion and Societal Otherization  (in pdf) and from a feminist perspective,

 (En)countering Exclusion in Policy and Lived Experience. Today, I found this blogsite that share different faces of the beautiful bajaus. I encourage you to view the photos of the beautiful bajaus. I especially love the photo (on the right), retrieved from the Beautiful Bajaus WWF site, with a description that ‘Canoes are like bicycles to every Bajau kid and adult.’