Educator wants to rebuild madaris for poor children in war-torn areas
ILIGAN CITY (MindaNews / 04 Sept) — Dr. Rasmila Macarambon Cosain may not have children of her own but she has so many surrogate children, especially those from poor families in remote areas whom she has been helping get proper education.
Doc Mye, as she is fondly called by close associates, has taught in various madaris for a total of 12 years, many of these in the hinterland municipality of Tangkal in Lanao del Norte.
It wasn’t easy for someone who grew up in the comforts of a city (Iligan in particular) and educated in a Catholic-run school. “English was our medium of instruction in school, and here I am in the mountains surrounded by children who speak nothing but our mother tongue,” she laments.
Good that Doc Mye is a Meranaw herself so spent hours upon hours translating the lessons – either in English or Filipino – into Meranaw to ensure her pupils could understand the lessons.
She became so good at translating lessons from English and Filipino languages and teaching them in Meranaw that she was recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2016 for her efforts at promoting the mother tongue. She was in fact featured in the UNESCO website.
Teaching the mother tongue was the easier part. Tangkal, being situated in the mountains, was often the site of armed clashes between Moro rebels and government soldiers during her stint there, from 2005 until 2009.
There she witnessed war first-hand, during the time of frequent skirmishes when the Supreme Court declared as unconstitutional the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) which was initialed by the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) but its formal signing was stopped by the high court.
“My father came to rescue me and brought me home safely to Iligan. But when things settled down, I had to go up Tangkal again for the kids,” Doc Mye said, to her father’s dismay. She found out that the rebels must have camped at her classroom because it was completely in disarray.
She rented a space while in Tangkal, a place so near (only 60 kms away from home) yet so far because it is not easily accessible, with some danger along the way.
She enjoyed the children’s company so much, and vice versa, such that when it was time for her to leave Tangkal for another assignment, her pupils cried.
Doc Mye was assigned to Kauswagan, also in Lanao del Norte, yet another strife-torn municipality even though it is situated by the sea along the highway. She moved a few more times within the province, always teaching children in the madrasah.
Doc Mye, now 41, was eventually promoted to administrative tasks after taking her masters and doctorate programs. Her official title now: Senior Education Program Specialist on Networking and Social Mobilization at the Department of Education’s Division of Lanao del Norte, based in the capital municipality of Tubod.
Her love for the children remains, especially the ones she left behind in Tangkal. But it hurt her upon learning that the madrasah in the mountain municipality is gone, already shut down for lack of support.
“It is my wish that the traditional madaris in the provinces of Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur would be given support by the government, especially in Tangkal and in the adjacent town of Munai which used to be conflict zones,” said Doc Mye.
She was hoping that Tangkal, as well as the five other Moro-dominated municipalities of Lanao del Norte, would be included in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) so these areas could get better support from the government.
But even though Tangkal, Munai, Baloi, Nunungan, Pantar and Tagoloan all voted in favor of joining the BARMM during the plebiscite early in 2019 –with Tangkal delivering 6,276 ‘yes’ votes against zero vote for ‘no,’– becoming part of BARMM was not meant to be. The Bangsamoro Organic Law requires that all voters in the entire province should have a say, too, if the six municipalities be allowed to join the autonomous government.
These days, because Doc Mye’s administrative duties at DepEd rarely allow her to go out to meet and directly serve the school children, she joined various civic organizations to be of service to the community, especially the children. Among these are the Girl Scouts of the Philippines-Lanao del Norte Council and the Inner Wheel Club, an international women’s organization “to create friendship, service and understanding.”
“I love to work in the community, especially with and the kids,” says Doc Mye.
She is using her ties at the Inner Wheel Club to help the madaris in the province, more so because the congressional representative in the second district, Sittie Aminah Q. Dimaporo, is the club’s president for the province.
Her other advocacies include setting up mini libraries in the two Lanao provinces.
During her birthday in April last year, instead of holding a party at home for friends and relatives, Doc Mye instead went to the remote Selinog Island in Zamboanga del Norte, about 22 kms north of Dapitan City, to conduct psychosocial activity for the residents who have suffered so much during the pandemic. While there, she and friends distributed hygiene kits, slippers, school supplies, and toys for the children.
When Typhoon Odette hit Siargao in December 2021, she organized and led an emergency relief team with the help of Inner Wheels and the Philippine Eagles in Lanao del Norte.
“She personally recruited volunteers and immediately carried out the emergency relief mission from January 20 to 23,” said Kyle Irish M. Regadio, Sangguniang Kabataan councillor of Barangay Mago-ong in Linamon, Lanao del Norte. Kyle was among the volunteers who joined Doc Mye in Siargao.
Fortunately, a Taiwanese organization, the Fo Guang Shan Foundation, helped sponsor the relief mission to Siargao because Doc Mye happened to have a friend who is also a teacher in Taiwan.
Doc Mye actively got involved in the elections last May, not as a campaigner for certain candidates, but as part of the DepEd’s Election Task Force that conducted orientations for teacher serving in the electoral board.
“As a supervisor, it is my responsibility to remind the teachers to observe the election process closely and ensure that it will be clean, honest and orderly,” she said.
The military took notice of Doc Mye’s involvement in the electoral process that the Provisional Battalion of the First Infantry “Tabak” Division invited her to orient soldiers to be deployed for poll duties in the two Lanao provinces.
Of all her accomplishments, Doc Mye still remains humble with a genuine heart in helping people, especially the children.
(Marivic Omandan Davis worked as a computer graphics designer and field reporter of the Marawi Cable Television Inc. from 1998 to 2012. She is presently a field marketing officer of The Post Publication in Iligan City and is a correspondent of MindaNews).
This piece was produced through a story grant from UNESCO Multi-Donor Program on Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists. The editorial process was left entirely to MindaNews.
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