Last December 16-17, 2021, twelve (12) Bagobo Tagabawa women from Barangay Sibulan, Toril, Davao City were trained on Basic Sewing of facemasks by a TESDA trainer. They were given the livelihood materials as start-up capital from the Whiteheads Ark Project in partnership with Philippine Eagle Foundation.
They are the indigenous community conservation partners of the Philippine Eagle Foundation in the oldest nesting site located in Mt. Apo Natural Park, who were makers of the hand sewn rufous hornbill plush toys. Their plush toys livelihood was affected by the pandemic and now shifted to producing cloth face masks in order to help reduce waste materials from disposable face masks.
Initially, they sell it to their local community to educate them about the importance of waste reduction and management. Through this, their income is improved as they support the forest guarding activities through their husbands who are members of the Bantay Bukid Volunteers in Sibulan. (Jimbea Lucino, Philippine Eagle Foundation)
Whitehead’s Ark and this livelihood project is supported by Prince Claus Fund and Goethe-Institut through Open Call 2020: Cultural and Artistic Responses to Environmental Change. Read more about Facemasks for Conservation at Philippine Eagle Foundation’s website.