Angels and Dragons of the Earth

Last Tuesday evening, Girlie and I had dinner with Beth and Tony de Castro at their new place near Tierra Pura. They invited us to meet their visitors from Laos - Sombath Somphone, the 2005 Ramon Magsaysay awardee for community leadership, and his wife Shui Ming whom Beth met during her work in Unicef.

Beth wanted us to meet the couple, especially Sombath, since he has been asking them about grassroots education in the Philippines. I was also eager to meet Sombath, since I wanted to but failed to interview him during my recent visit to Vientiane.

“Sombath is one of the few NPAs in Laos,” I said. As expected, Beth and Tony had quizzical reactions. I explained that NPA means “non-profit association” which is how the Lao PDR government prefers to call local Laotian NGOs. The term NGO usually refers to international NGOs.

Sombath smiled and added that the government and ruling party in Lao PDR do not quite know how to classify him: “I merely run a training center.”

According to the citation of the Magsaysay award, he founded the Participatory Development Training Center in 1996 “to foster sustainable, equitable and self-reliant development in Laos.” PADETC has a staff of 43, but its impact is much greater because of the teams of volunteers and trainees who work with them.

Tony also smiled, since he has also given up on his former NGO label. I had heard about his going into vermicomposting, but didn’t know that what led him to work with worms was because he had been pissed off by the politics of NGOs and funders. “It’s easier to work with worms than with people,” he says. “They are very simple life forms.”

He decided he would do work that he liked and believed in, without trying to convince others to bring about bigger changes through a movement or network. Ironically, his work in vermicomposting and organic farming has drawn increasing attention, and his network has expanded beyond his current capacity and inclination.

People come to visit his farm in Tanay, which has expanded beyond the original 1000 square meters to the four hectares that Odette Alcantara offered to him to use for free. They also drop by the empty lot near their house which has become a showcase of “urban agriculture.” Beth prefers to expand the concept to “urban healing garden.”

In fact the main reason for Sombath and Shui Ming’s visit is to see for themselves “Tony’s worms.” They also brought with them three PADETC staff who will stay on for 10 days to learn everything that they can about vermicomposting. Just that afternoon, Beth and Tony had come from a talk they were asked to give to the Philexport federation.

Although pleased at the increased attention and appreciation, Tony still does not feel the need to organize a network or spend a lot of energy on convincing others. I told him that his method is almost biblical, since Christ’s invitation to his first disciples was simply, “Come and see.”

The food at dinner was delicious. Sombath remarked that is is good to eat food that you know is safe. Beth shared some scary stories about the vegetables that are sold in Metro Manila. Farmers told them how many times they spray chemicals on their plants. Those who handle and sort them have to wear gloves to avoid getting rashes. To increase shelf life, the vegetables are soaked in formaldehyde!

The dinner conversation was even better than the food. It was mainly about the “angels the earth” which is what Tony calls his earth worms. He said that was how the Chinese characters for earth worms translate, but when he asked a Chinese delegate, he was told that it could also be translated as “dragons of the earth.” I suggested that we call them both - angels and dragons of the earth.

Tony explained that what the African night crawlers help plants grow not only by producing organic fertilizer from biodegradable garbage, but also by regenerating the soil. “How exactly do they do that?” I asked. He wasn’t quite sure, but we speculated that it may be related to helping more nitrogen-fixing bacteria do their work.

As the evening deepened, we related our conversations on worms to our shared concerns - education and sustainable development.

We agreed on the potential of of vermicomposting and organic agriculture, not just for food security in a time of rising oil prices, but for learning about health and development, including what I call the “rhythm of life.” We should not equate sustainability with the slower pace of agriculture and rural development, but it is a good corrective to the dominant tendency to associate development with faster pace and greater intensity.

Although Tony may not want to do it himself, Sombath and I agree that his experiences and ideas would be good material for “distance learning” modules, or more accurately - modules for “self-directed and autonomous learning.”

Sombath expressed interest in knowing more about the experience of the Education for Life Foundation in developing modules for our grassroots leader-learners. We talked about possible collaboration to produce the modules on vermicomposting and related topics. He showed me the video clips he took with his Sony Cybershot camera, which can be edited and burned on CD to accompany the print materials.

As I watched his various video clips, I said that if our collaboration pushes through, people would not associate the digital technology part with Laos, rather than the Philippines. That’s part of the stereotypes we have to deal with.

We could have continued the conversation, but it was getting close to midnight. Just before we parted, Girlie laid her hands to feel Sombath’s energy ( he had not yet fully recovered from losing his voice ), and gave him some advice on healing.

We arrived home after midnight. Our encounter and unfinished conversation with the two couples left us energized.

I needed that extra energy. I was about to sleep when I got a phone call from my aunt who is taking care of my mother in Mindoro. She was worried because Inay was sweating profusely but feeling cold. Could it be hypoglycemia, a lower than normal blood sugar level? I recalled the warning of Girlie’s sister-doctor about the danger from “opportunistic” pneumonia-causing bacteria.

My aunt asked me to talk by phone to Inay to help her relax and go to sleep. I did what I could, but it was difficult to hear her voice.

The night ended with two unfinished conversations.

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