Day #2 - Getting to Know the Villagers

I personally thanked our donor from Turkey for the Water Well exclusively donated for the villages that have no easy access to water. With this sort of project, every week I have to move from one village to the other to look if there is a demand of water in a certain place. Last year, we had implemented a total of sixteen water wells in Zamboanga City. 
This morning, I went back to Balicacas village to check the on-going project there. Before the clock hit 12:00 noon I was invited by a villager to get some rest in his house while waiting for the Friday prayer. It happened, the owner of that house is my relative. Her mother is a native of Lagasan, Sulu. Aside from making new friends, this kind of work, bring us closer to our long lost relatives. 

I prayed together with the villagers in a little Masjid donated by an Arab donor. The Khatib (preacher) tackled on the importance of Fasting. The Khutba only last for twenty minutes. After the congregational prayer, I had requested with the chieftain to take a group picture of the Jamaah (attendance of Friday prayer) right in the tap area of the water well project. This taking photo is part of the simple gesture of gratitude from the villagers to the donor. The Jamaah were cooperative.

The villagers, as I had mentioned, were mostly fishermen. Some of them have fine skill to craft a pumpboat. As I went around the village, I had noticed that most of their banca and pumpboat were docked. The time for fishing during Ramadhan, according to an old acquaintance, is at dusk when they have good catch in the morning. The fishermen only catch squid using a traditional way called hantuk. Before I went home, I bought half kilogram of under size squid for dinner.

As I went out the village together with my worker, I met three Tausug kids selling Bangbang Sug (confectionery) called Pasung and Pali Kambing. I normally eat these traditional stuff especially during Ramadhan. When I was a kid, I also sell Bangbang Sug in our village in Sandakan, Sabah back in the early 80's. 

The indigent Tausug children in the villages anywhere in Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi are used to sell food in the afternoon from one house to the other. Specially when the mothers of the children know how to cook Bangbang Sug.

May the spirit of the second day of Ramadhan teach this children how to live life in accordance with their standard. Fasting is not a hindrance for a Muslim to engage in business and any kind of works. 



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