Caring for land, people and culture

AYAD Scott Graham spent 9 months on the island of Bohol in the Philippines. During that time he discovered great beauty in both the land and the people, which has inspired him to continue to work with them beyond his assignment.

Scott’s original AYAD assignment was for 6 months with the World Agroforestry Centre on Bohol. He was working with the staff of the Landcare Foundation of the Philippines to develop monitoring and evaluation tools to measure the success of their training on soil conservation, agroforestry, organic agriculture and livelihood improvement. But before he had even started, Scott recalls being called “the Australian expert on monitoring and evaluation”. This, and the excessive attention he received for the simple act of being white, made him think it would be a very long 6 months in the Philippines.

While the Philippines is off the holiday radar of most ordinary Australians, with over 7000 islands it would be impossible not to have at least some great destinations, and Bohol is certainly one of those places.

It took Scott all of a week to fall in love with his new tropical island home. His workmates soon became like an extended family, he met a group of Pinoy (Filipino) and foreign friends that became his ‘Barkada’ (i.e. “group of mates” in Australian speak), the monitoring and evaluation wasn’t as boring as it sounded, he found that he was able to use his skills more than originally planned, and he even started to enjoy the various unidentifiable parts of pig that dominate the menu!

Six months soon started looking too short rather than too long. After identifying some gaps in the Landcare program, Scott and his Host Organisation requested that his project be extended for another 3 months so that he could focus on his areas of greatest interest: soil science, organic agriculture and, unofficially, exploring the natural paradise of Bohol.

“The support provided by my Host Organisation and Australian Partner Organisation, the World Agroforestry Centre and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, made the assignment much easier” says Scott. “The staff of the Landcare Foundation, who I worked closely with, were friends, teachers and students to me, in that order.”

“There is something very different about Filipino workplace culture compared to the sterile environment found in most Australia offices. In the Philippines workmates are considered as friends or extended family and the line between personal and professional is often blurred. Staff gatherings are like a reunion of old friends and always accompanied by social events.”

With the help of these colleagues and his other Filipino friends, Scott was able to pick up some Visaya, the local language, and converse with farmers during trainings and monitoring visits. “For me the single most important advantage was to learn the local language,” Scott says. “A “taas ilong” (“long nose”) that can speak Visaya is still seen as a great novelty here, but as in most countries, you have a different relationship with locals if you can communicate on their terms”. This, Scott says, is one of the reasons he grew to love living in Bohol.

After his extended 9-month assignment Scott returned to Australia in May 2008 to manage his parent’s farm and run a small environmental consultancy. But even before returning to Oz Scott had made up his mind that he wasn’t finished with the Philippines. His experience in Bohol had left such an impression on him that he once again packed up his life and went back to the Philippines after only three months in Australia.

Scott knew that he’d been able to contribute something useful during his AYAD assignment, but he was certain that he had gained more than he gave. Was it greedy to go back for more?

Since August 2008 Scott has been working with the Landcare Foundation of the Philippines in his own right, this time training trainers in soil health and organic farming techniques so that they can pass on this knowledge to farmers. He is also keeping in touch with the AYAD Program by lending a hand to the Philippines In Country Manager and Host Organisations in planning for future AYAD assignments. He is hoping that this work will evolve into longer-term opportunities to keep working in Bohol and the Philippines.

Experiencing all the fantastic natural wonders in Bohol also gave Scott the idea for a new business opportunity in eco-tourism. “During my AYAD assignment I would take my motorbike out on weekends and explore the island’s nooks and crannies. I found so many amazing sites that were virtually unknown to anyone but the locals (and sometimes not even them!). When friends would come to visit me I would take them around to some of these sites rather than the tired old two or three tourist attractions that most people get dragged off to.”

Seeing an opportunity to fill this market gap, Scott started helping Filipino friends to develop a personalised tour operation that allows tourists to experience the ‘real Bohol’, the one that Scott himself fell in love with.

Together, Scott and his mates established ‘Barkada Tours’ that takes small groups to Bohol’s hidden beaches, rivers, waterfalls and villages – sites and experiences that would otherwise be impossible for brief visitors to the island.

“The word ‘Barkada’ basically means ‘groups of mates’, the people you like to hang out with. And that’s the kind of experience we are trying to create with the tour business – just like a group of friends came to visit and we are showing them around the place we love,” says Scott. “The whole ethic of the operation fosters social and environmental responsibility amongst visitors and locals alike. We are trying to lead by example for other companies that are sure to start cropping up in this burgeoning tourist area”.

By involving local business and individuals in the tours and showing the community that respect for the natural environment makes economic sense, Barkada Tours hopes to contribute to sustainable growth in Bohol.

Scott says that the AYAD Program was a great experience for him, and a gateway. “I have travelled in a lot of countries before” he says, “but my AYAD assignment allowed me to integrate a lot more with the culture and the place, which opened up a different kind of experience that has eventually led me to where I am now”.

Visit http://barkadatours.blogspot.com for more information about seeing Bohol in all its glory, and www.landcaremates.org to learn more about the work of the Landcare Foundation of the Philippines Inc.