First leap: three weeks back.
Spread out before us on a table are over 30 texts and photographs from Asia and the Pacific, Africa, and Latin America. To get here, we climb five flights of a narrow, wooden spiral staircase in an old apartment in Istanbul. Why are we even in this city?
Read MoreOn our first night and day together, the project team convening again after months of painstakingly chasing writers and photographers in order to put together the international sequel to the original anthology, Agam.
We are doing a first pass over submissions from Asia, the Pacific, Africa and Latin America. The initial reading even now haunts all our conversations and makes our hearts hum with grace and trepidation.
Padma Perez, Alex Walter and Rehana Rossouw enjoying the outdoors while hard at work for the next phase of Agam.
Rehana came from Cape Town, Alexandra from Cali, and Padma from Pasay. Feisty and boisterous these women, lovely writers deciphering clues and signs that will bind the submitted stories and allow them to sing.
Istanbul could not have been more appropriate for the task they have chosen to converse and wrestle with. Borders, edges, coasts: This is our setting and what comes to mind in this city is not just hüzün, fado, kundiman, Viennese melancholy, the duduk and the sehenai, but also sunshine and moonshine—companions that will guide the difficult enterprise of giving birth to a new anthology that will face uncertainty squarely, with honesty, and maybe, just maybe, offer durable hope.
Red Constantino and Alexandra Walter takes a stroll while brainstorming for ideas.
Before we broke up for lunch, we reminded ourselves of our mission by listening to a recording of the poet Marjorie Evasco reading in Cebuano her poem Farol de Combate, which she read again in English. Our feet firmly on the ground, yet gliding, we carry on.
Read MoreWell. Okay. Yes. We’re finally available. Sigh. But also – hooray! You can now get your copies of Agam in select National Bookstore, Powerbooks, and Abacus branches, which we’ve listed below. (Tip: when you ask for the book, try to spell out the entire title if you can – Agam: Filipino Narratives on Uncertainty and Climate Change. In National’s main branch in Cubao, it was displayed in the “General Science” section, with books by Richard Dawkins and Mary Roach. Excellent company, of course, but we asked for the book to be located with Filipiniana publications!)
Read MoreOn June 24, 2014, the who’s who of the literary world gathered at Victorino’s in celebration of the first Philippine literary book on climate change. However, Renato Redentor Constantino (Executive Director of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities and a contributor to the book) clarified that it is more than just a book about the weather. It’s not even really an anthology. It’s a book of interpretations and insights. Filled with poems and narratives from different perspectives, Agam: Filipino Narratives on Uncertainty and Climate Change is a work of art that breathes new life to the dying word unique. Reading through the pages offers an experience unlike any you’ve ever had in Philippine Literature.
Here are 10 reasons why we love it.
1. A giving book for Tacloban.
All proceeds from the sale of Agam goes directly to the Re-Charge Project, which seeks to build a renewable energy source to the devastated parts of Tacloban through solar panels, which would then be used to “fuel” a fleet of electronic jeepneys. The enterprise hopes to provide jobs for the survivors, while also creating a more sustainable and cleaner form of transportation service in the area.
2. The multilingual approach: poems and stories in eight Philippine languages
Stories written in Tagalog/Filipino, Waray, Maguindanao, Bicolano, Ilocano, Sinama, Cebuano, and English? Count us in. The book not only supports green causes, it also promotes Philippine literature, not just Filipino literature. More books in our local languages, please.
3. The impressive lineup: 24 critically acclaimed writers.
We were star-struck at the book launch, in the presence of these titans: Regina Abuyuan (also the Executive Editor), Merlie Alunan, Dr. Leoncio Amadore, Arnold Azurin, Romulo P. Baquiran Jr., Herminio S. Beltran Jr., Merlinda Bobis, Renato Redentor Constantino, Sheila Coronel, Honorio de Dios, Daryll Delgado, Grace Monte de Ramos, Ricardo M. de Ungria, Marjorie Evasco, Alya B. Honosan, Susan S. Lara, Padmapani L. Perez, Mucha-Shim Lahaman Quiling, Joel Saracho, Jose Enrique Soriano, May Ling Su, Ramon C. Sunico, Mubarak M. Tahir, Dr. Michael L. Tan, and Criselda Yabes.
Among these authors are winners of the Carlos Palanca award, a Magsaysay Awardee, a SEAWrite Awardee, the Chancellor of the University of the Philippines-Diliman, public intellectuals, and pop culture experts. All of them in one book.
4. The stories, of course.
As a rule, the writers were asked not to use specific words, including “climate change.” The results are a poem about a wife who wants to let her husband know that she is alright (but fearing that it is he who was washed away when the super typhoon hit), a tale of a child who comes home after a storm, and a rainbow-colored plastic sheet fashioned into a skirt for warmth.
5. Love instead of fear.
The topic seems grim but the book devotes an entire chapter to hope. In between sorrow and whatever feelings the inadequacy in disaster preparation/management stirs in you, Agam contain narratives that aim to inspire change. After all, it all begins with desire—to improve and to help.
6. The striking images.
Behind the lens is Jose Enrique Soriano, who took portraits of people he met. He imposed no story or caption behind their faces—no unnecessary drama, just “the people at the forefront of climate change.” In this case, it means those who live with its effects. There is no sweeping background of the devastation. The pictures are about the people, as the stories are too.
7. The cover: a mix of new and old typography by Kristian Kabuay.
It’s not very apparent, but the calligraphy is baybayin with modern techniques from the Hanunuo Mangyan tribe in Mindoro. (The black “squiggles” on the front cover reads “A-Ga-M” and on the back, the more traditional “A-Ga” is written.)
8. Revitalizing the role of literature in influencing social movement.
Beyond expressing one’s own heartaches, poetry and other forms of literature were always meant to not just capture emotions but to effect them as well. The collection of poems, stories, and photographs in Agam strengthen the idea that art is for the community. The readers benefit from the stories and those in need benefit from the purchase. That’s more than anyone can ask for from a book.
9. The impact it will have.
This is a first. We’re hoping it’s not the last. Nearly everyone involved in creating the book found the experience overwhelmingly pleasing, despite the heavy themes. The publishers gave the contributors room for creativity, the advocacies weren’t lost in translation, and, if enough people purchase a copy, it would shape a better Tacloban.
10. You get what you pay for.
The book is 10 x 10 inches and the 26 images by Jose Enrique Soriano are printed in crisp colors. There are 24 narratives for you to enjoy and be moved by and you’re going to help the rebuild of Eastern Visayas. That’s P1,600 spent well.
Agam: Filipino Narratives on Uncertainty and Climate Change is available in all Powerbooks branches and major National Bookstore outlets. Visit the official website, Agam.ph, for more information.
Editor’s note: This article is re-posted from Spot.ph.
About the featured image:
Tacloban, Leyte – June 28, 2014 – The Institute for Climate ans Sustainable Cities hosted the launch of their book entitled ‘Agam’ in the University of the Philippines Tacloban campus today June 28, 2014. Proceeds from the sales of the book will help fund Re-charge Tacloban project where they will bring in electronic jeepneys in the city as part of their mitigation project for the survivors of Typhoon Yolanda.
Photo by Veejay Villafranca for ICSC
Read Moreby: Kim Luces for GMA News Online
Electric jeepneys that double as mobile power stations — this is what one advocacy group is trying to make happen in Tacloban City in Eastern Visayas in an attempt to help solve both transport and power problems in the area as part of the RE-Charge Tacloban project.
“We’ll schedule visits to communities that have no power as of now because there are still communities without power. Of course we have to talk to the leaders of the community and see what their power needs are. People can bring their cellphones, laptops, rechargeable lamps, and they can charge sa electric jeepney,” Reina Garcia, project manager of the RE-Charge Tacloban project of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (iCSC), said in an interview with GMA News Online this week.
When it happens, it will be the first time that the technology will be applied in such a way in the Philippines, she added.
Enter the eJeepney
The iCSC released the country’s first locally-manufactured eJeepney in 2008 and a fleet of those jeepney now traverse some areas in Makati and in Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City.
Another fleet of six jeeps will be deployed in Tacloban by the end of July.
“Almost half of the fleet that we will be launching in Tacloban will be composed of multicabs that were damaged by Yolanda,” said Garcia.
Multicabs, smaller version of jeepneys, are the main modes of transportation inside Tacloban City. “We plan to take those multicabs and install electric motors because those have already been damaged. We’re going to install electric motors and revive those vehicles,” she added.
“We’ll be retrofitting some of the electric jeepneys as a power station. Each jeepney is a power station, and we’ll be adding more energy storage facilities,” Renato Redentor “Red” Constantino, executive director of iCSC, said in an earlier interview.
“We’ll start with one unit for that. We’ll convert one of the multicabs to electric and we’ll make it into a mobile power station,” Garcia explained.
However, since the effort is still in its early stages, iCSC has yet to provide a design model for the electric jeep/mobile power station.
The main difference between the retrofitted jeepney and the regular jeepney is that the former will contain more battery banks to meet the charging needs of people in Tacloban.
An eJeepney charging station will also be built in Tacloban where solar arrays or solar panels will be placed.
“The charging station is also a motor pool for the maintenance of the jeep, pero at the same time, the biggest difference is may solar array siya so most of the electricity will come from renewable energy,” said Garcia.
Constantino said that the eJeepneys will be traversing downtown Tacloban.
“In Tacloban, we’re already studying (other) routes na possible. At the same time, outside of Tacloban, in the Leyte area, we’re also studying which areas would benefit from the e-jeepney. That’s really our pilot, so we’ll work on that, make it happen, then hopefully we’ll be able to have a model which we can apply to other areas,” Garcia said.
The residents of Tacloban will also be trained to maintain and drive the eJeepneys.
To help with funding, 100 percent of the proceeds of the book “Agam” , which was launched this week, will go to the Re-Charge Tacloban Project.
Editor’s note: This is article is re-posted from GMA News Online..
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