Bangka Journey Day 3 Bayanihan Spirit
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i never knew my grandfathers– as both maternal and paternal grandfather’s were taken during the war in the 1940’s. as the stories that i have been told, lolo moises amoguis, my mother’s father, was a farmer who once upon a time went out with his baka to farm, during the japanese occupation of the islands, in bukidnon, malay balay, mindanao, but one day the baka came home without him. his body was never found. lolo andres cahambing, my father’s father, was a barber in cebu city, cebu, on mango avenue shantytown; he was also a fierce looking body builder who hung out with escrimadores and later named his son, my father, laribo (another story). lolo andres was bitten by a rabid dog and died as a result of lack of access to healthcare, i was told that during war time, a curfew was enforced so that he was unable to get medical treatment after dark. both of my lolo’s lives were taken as consequences of war, they were taken from my parent’s lives, they were taken from my siblings and i.
fastforward to july 2011. paddle to swinomish, anacortes, washington (state)
the new doors to the beginnings of bangka journey
and future bangka journeys. when the chumash took the floor,
dr. darryl babe wilson – back then i learned at a healing circle after the chumash took the floor for protocol, was recovering from an illness in which a swinomish medicine man two weeks prior, but i would’ve not guessed that, what i saw that morning was a determined power walking as fast as a quarterback running across the field using a walker with the tennis balls covering the front two wheels with his twin sons running, and myself included, running breathlessly after him. the healing circle, i soon found out, was to give thanks to the swinomish shaker medicine man. for whatever reason, my friend, holly and i ended up in this circle after meeting with dr grampa babe dr. ‘lolo’ babe, as i call him, ‘lolo’ = grandfather in pilipino. we end up waiting with lolo babe as his attendants went to get his transport. dr lolo babe conversed with us with a question: “where you the ones laughing? causing trouble,” he says.
