By Lauren Willis
First, a little background on this
project.
Before Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) hit Panay last year our friend and fellow PCV Tyler Hassig was assigned in Carles,
Iloilo. It's a beautiful peninsular community on the East most tip of Panay Island and the gateway to a series of spectacular small islands which are a popular vacation spot for the locals. The
storm hit this area hard, crippling the infrastructure enough that he wasn’t able to return and had to change sites. This didn't however change his love and devotion to the original community he was given.
Special grant money was allocated for affected areas hit by Typhoon
Yolanda and since Tyler, Alan and Lauren all qualified for this they were able to pool their allotted $300 each for one
project. This project was to rebuild a floating guard house for the Barangay Barosbos Management Association (BBMA), a community lead and successful marine protection agency in
Carles.
In the last week of September, after months of planning and grant writing, construction began.
The entire guard house was built in one week.
What can be done with nipa and nylon is amazing. Since nails rust so easily in the salt water and air the whole guard house was tied together with nylon line.
13 kilos were used to create this structure.
The Launch
Photos by Alan Willis
This past weekend the three of us were able to go back up to Carles for the official launching of the floating guard house. We were amazed at how high it sits in the water, a buoyant and sturdy design by Romel Marcelino, president of BBMA.
When we asked why he is doing this, he pointed to his children and said to help the next generation.
From left: Romel, Jolly (Municipal Agriculture Officer), Lauren, Tyler
BBMA is the volunteer fisherfolk association in Carles that patrols the local Marine Protected Area (MPA). They had a floating guard house before Yolanda hit but it was destroyed. It is much easier and more effective to patrol the MPA using this guard house instead of boats. Boats need fuel and many fisherfolk don’t have extra money to purchase this. This also allows fisherfolk to be near the area instead of on the shoreline, which is about 1 kilometer away.
The members of this organization don’t get salaries, they get a percentage of the fine and any equipment that is seized of from the illegal fishing operation. Common illegal fishing technics include net fishing in the MPA, but can even be as bad as dynamite and cyanide fishing.
Kids are the best test for structural integrity.
New MPA markers were built to warn fisherfolk that they are
entering a restricted area.
BBMA built concrete condos for fish aggregation.
Before they are hauled out to the MPA, kids use them to show off.
It was nice to see that Brgy. Barosbos is absolutely resilient while maintaining care for the environment. It is such a fine balance between feeding your family today and using environmentally friendly practices to ensure food for tomorrow. We are glad there are groups like this that care for the future food supply of their community.
