Accepting One’s Origin

Ngayong darating na pasko, bigyan natin sila ng mga regalo. Isa nito — respeto.

Dear KNOT,

Ako po si Vina. Isa po akong espesyal na tao sa lipunan dahil miyembro po ako ng Indigenous People’s Group. Ako po ay purong Matigsalog. Ipinagmamalaki po ng aking mga magulang ang aming tribo, at ipinaglalaban po talaga nila ang kanilang mga karapatan bilang IP.

Nang ako po ay nagkolehiyo dito sa Calinan, parang ako po ay nahihiya na mag-open up sa aking totoong dugo. Sa katunayan, may nagtanong na sakin na classmate, “IP po ba kayo?” dahil raw ito sa kutis ng aking balat at pagkabrown ng aking mata. Ang sagot ko, ½ lang po. Hindi po ako nagsabi ng totoo, dahil baka i-bully nila ako.

Ano po ba ang dapat kong gawin?

Nagmamahal,

Vina

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Dear Vina,

What you are is God’s gift to you. You were meant to be born into the Matigsalog tribe. You are more than the color of your skin or eyes or texture of your hair, etc. You are precious in God’s eyes and honored and He loves you. This is where you get your dignity as a person and as a Matigsalog.

Sometimes fear gets the better of us, hence, we tend to tell others what we are not, so as to gain acceptance in the community where we find ourselves in. Doing so implies self-rejection since you denied that most vital aspect of your personhood – your identity. Indeed it is a risk to allow others to know who we really are but that risk is necessary to gain mutual understanding and acceptance. This is how you grow as a person.

With your giftedness as an IP, you have a lot to offer to the world. Take pride of your roots. Defend yourself from bullies, they can be dealt with by the school accordingly. Let the truth about you set you free. To yourself be true.

God bless you.

– DJ Cheng & Ate Emily

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