A glimpse in the life of an Indigenous

“Half of the world is sleeping, half of the world’s awake, half can hear their heart beats, half just hear them break”

This heart touching song of Lea Salonga best describes the ones who are deprived to utter their motions and desires in this kind of life.

In a place where simplicity continues to live on and where life is just like a waterfall – a never ending battle, lives a child who still stand tall regardless of challenges coming her way.

Jessalyn Bayota, 10, lives in the vibrant community in Porac, Pampanga which entails of the smooth living of Aeta People.

Aeta people are some of the country's earliest known residents. The majority of their population was able to maintain their cultural customs and traditions over the years. Unfortunately, while being one of the indigenous communities in the nation that is doing well, they still have to deal with problems like poverty, marginalization, and displacement.

Together with her four siblings and mother Jen Dominica, Jessalyn has the heart of a brave child who once experienced a tragedy that made their family go through a lot – but despite of brutal circumstances, they succeeded to surmount it with the help of people around her.

Before, just like most of the aetas, their family lives in a mountain where all of their livelihood was present. Primaries are the root crops which sustained their lives ever since. Unfortunately, due to unseen circumstances most especially by natural disasters, their livelihood was devastated and wrecked their houses.

Due to this havoc, they are left with no other choice but to bounce back from all these occurrences.

Because of that earthquake, their family was relocated to the community together with other Aetas to start a new beginning. The community was led by Captain Juanito Dela Cruz, brother of her grandmother Marlyn Guia.

Although they are relying on gift of nature when it comes to daily resources, they cannot escape the cruel reality of life – just like any of us, they are being victimized by militarization, deprivation, and unjust system.

Since they need other funds besides from food and shelter, they were compelled to sell their excess root crops for low price. For only 10 pesos per kilo, it enables them to earn 200 per day, but it wasn’t enough since most of the common goods are high-priced. It can only offer an additional sugar to make their food appetizing.

They also stated that they fear militaries due to high number of cruelties inflicted against their fellow aetas. Military and paramilitary forces have bombed Indigenous communities in recent years, destroyed Indigenous educational facilities and killed teachers, persecuted tribal leaders who criticize the government by claiming they are communists, and murdered tribal activists who oppose the activities of mining firms and other extractive industries.

It can be remembered that three Indigenous people were allegedly detained, beaten, and forced to consume human feces by soldiers in the Philippines' Zambales province, northwest of Manila.

According to Umahon, a nongovernmental organization that promotes land rights, the incident happened on August 21 after the Philippine military started counterinsurgency operations against the communist New People's Army in a region home to the Aeta indigenous people.

Despite of these fears, Jessalyn is eager to achieve her ultimate in life, to become a teacher in their local community. She thought that it is her greatest dream to teach fellow aetas to uplift their status in life. Jessalyn is a paradigm of a 10-year-old child who forgets the meaning of exhaustion, rather promotes the value of purity, hard work, and gratefulness.

The aeta community exhibits their gratitude to the people who never gets tired to lend their hands to the indigenous people like them.