A Personal Account
by Genevieve Balance Kupang
A productive tree never ceases to bear fruits even in the hardest of seasons.” I received this meaningful message from a fellow researcher in the interfaith and peace movement after I recounted what my family, community, and I had been up to during this present-day situation of “Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity (VUCA),” exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. Locked down in an indigenous farming community surrounded by fruit-bearing trees, the statement rang true.
Bugnay fruit usually made into wine in Bila, a farming community in the Mountain Province (Image: GBK)
Cultivating and utilizing integrative intelligences was beneficial to us– unveiling our adaptability, versatile creativity, entrepreneurial flair, innovativeness, and productivity– during this difficult time.
Persons who are fully grounded and have a robust relationship with their inner true selves, others, creation, and the Divine Creator (for believers) are more able to transcend the negative impact of this virulent virus crippling the economic, educational, and socio-cultural systems.
“(Maseg-ang hi Kabunyan) God willing, this too shall pass!” Thinkers predict that the socio-economic outlay of recovery may well be immense and unprecedented.
There are 21 native intelligences that help one to transcend VUCA. According to my mentor,Felipe de Leon, the ability to rebound— aesthetic, artistic, communal, creative, ecological, entrepreneurial, existential, networking, poetic intelligences are among the many intelligences harnessed these days to thrive.
Truth be told, and acknowledging the via negativa after months of the prolonged lockdown, cancellations of speaking engagements one after another, plus termination of other economic contracts, (through no fault of their own), I was very much affected psychologically.
Providentially, four friends messaged to ask how I was. I told them “I am not okay. I am NOT GOOD. Please pray for me. I truly feel the brunt of this pandemic. I feel its human toll, the financial crash, the cultural and psycho-social effects, and yes, strong women do cry…” One of these friends and mentors (in Islam-I co-wrote a book in World Religions) send this response “…I know your very busy lifestyle in Manila, Genie… stop, be still, reflect, and dialogue with God and yourself in a deeper way. Face the mirror and talk to yourself…this challenging moment is teaching us a lesson to be more humane, to be more human! You have within you a reservoir of wisdom that spurs you to surpass this moment. You are blessed to be locked down in the mountains. You are in a refreshing environment; how could you be feeling down? You have an open book, an encyclopedia where you can interact and learn with nature, your family, and your community. Do not be sad, be humane, and radiate joy because your children and others around you will be affected if you give in to sorrow and the downside of this pandemic.”
I thanked that mentor for bringing me to the consciousness of “stopping, to be STILL, to be grateful, and to relate with God in a deeper way,” to “being more human, being more at peace with myself, and be joyous. That moment, I was shaken, but, really, I just needed those words to cope and to be reminded of how blessed I am despite the challenges of this unseen virus that has greatly affected all of us. Nurturing deep spirituality has greatly helped to harness integrative intelligences. Below are some examples of these intelligences which we harnessed in our community.
Plastics and used bottles were upcycled as plant boxes and planters.
Image: Danny Balance
Due to limited movement, hauling of used bottles, plastics and other recyclables brought at junk shops were no longer possible, so expressions of communal, ecological, and creative versatility are at work. My brother Danny Balance and my sister Marichu Cominga upscaled these junk and used them for landscaping the garden.
Co-creating a mini-peace garden
To mourn the death of a close friend and mentor, a nun who used to be a retreat facilitator, a husband of a dear friend, a grade school teacher, a neighbor, a father-in-law, and the many lives of people and front liners who perished during this pandemic, my family in this indigenous community co-created a mini peace garden to express gratitude for the gift of life, family, and community at the same time convey the grief and sorrow we feel inside as we are prevented from traveling to condole with friends and family.
These events greatly affect our psyche as a people because the pain of one is the pain of all. And so, the making of a PEACE GARDEN from a slope of a forest near Iyaman Homestay was one way of expressing integrative intelligences as a response to overcoming the Covid19 Pandemic.
Newly landscaped peace garden at the Iyaman Homestay. KAPAYAPAAN NAWA ANG MANAIG SA MUNDO (May Peace Prevail on Earth) in Baybayin script written at the side of the PEACE POLE. Image: GBK
Peace Sign and Peace Pole as centerpieces of the garden
The centerpieces of the garden are the PEACE SIGN and a newly crafted PEACE POLE carved by my brother-in-law Wayland Cominga, Jr. after the baybayin scripts were written by my daughter Ina Lucy and my son Matthew Henri Kupang. The integration of the PEACE and NON-VIOLENCE signs made from stones carried from the water tributaries of our barangay is another feature. The whole process of creating the peace garden was INFUSED WITH PRAYERS for all our frontliners, and for everyone so that during this moment of the Enhanced Community Quarantine and Social Distancing, our immune systems are strengthened, thus letting us safe, healthy and well. An expression of communal intelligence is the offering of thanksgiving for all the frontliners worldwide. We know that we are all interconnected, and we are all siblings.
The author arranging the stones for the peace sign.
The peace sign: May peace prevail within us, and the rest of creation.
Ina Lucy and Matthew Henri Kupang writing the message “May Peace Prevail on Earth” in four languages: Ilokano, Filipino, ancient Baybayin script, and English.
The non-violence sign made from local stones taken from the water tributaries nearby. Images: GBK
The Baybayin scripts are incorporated in the peace garden at Iyaman Homestay. Images: Matthew Henri B. Kupang
“Clearing the way for the new society and clearing the negative frame of mind” is part of the preoccupations this time of the lockdown. In a more personal way, and together with family members, I have spent a fraction of my energy creating, landscaping, gardening, in between reflecting, writing, editing, mediating conflict, and supporting a business enterprise. I believe that in due time, our researchers, medical scientists, and stakeholders will figure out the right solution to this crisis. Along with the entire human race, we can find a way out of this pandemic.
The author echoes the message “May Peace Prevail on Earth,” and believes that all are “shaping peace together” despite social distancing.
About the writer:
GENEVIEVE BALANCE KUPANG
Genevieve Balance Kupang (Genie) is an anthropologist, consultant, researcher, and advisor to individuals and organizations engaged in working for good governance, genuine leadership, justice, integrity of creation, peace, the indigenous peoples, preservation of cultures, and societal transformation processes. She is a peace educator, author, an interreligious dialogue practitioner, and resource person with a career in the academe and NGO.
