‘Tribu Buhisan’ to give their all today
Who would have thought that about 100 out-of-school youths would have an active involvement with the firsttime performer in this year's Sinulog sa Barangay, the Tribu Buhisan?
The public's impression on them is that they are the type of people who are hard to deal with due to their wrongful deeds, spending their time on the streets with their friends.
However, the public may have been blinded that these individuals also need serious attention, so that they will not take the wrong path.
That is why Buhisan village chief Gremar Barete makes a continuous effort to educate, to give hope and to lead this out of school youths.
It has been a consensus among barangay officials to include the out-of-school youths in their Sinulog sa Barangay contingent, because all of them have the right to be treated equally by the government.
The officials want to show to the public that their barangay is a one real family, a family that helps one another to be good disciples of God.
What the barangay officials are doing to the outof-school youth is putting action on Barete's mantra that "active partnership with young people would build a better community."
Of 330 individuals who compose the contingent, around 100 are out-ofschool youth.
Barete found out that allowing the said individuals to join the team is an efficient way to unite them considering that the youths came from different groups.
With the involvement of out-of-school youths also, the barangay can address the conflict of various youth groups in his barangay.
Barete prompted to include the underprivileged youth to be part of the team to console their heart and to give them opportunity to offer a dance to the blessed Señor Santo Niño.
"They have problems sa ilahang family and their outlet was sa gawas, ilahang grupo, magtambay-tambay. So ato silang giduol para moapil ani aron makaila sila sa ubang youths diri sa barangay ug aron magkahinigalaay sila," Barete said.
Just like the other contingents, they have also encountered challenges for it's not easy to form a team of performers.
"Challenging siya kay wala man gud ta kibaw sa ilahang intellectual nga paghuna-huna, naay mga bugal-bugalon so dapat taas imo pasensya nila," Andi Yu Busa, one of the choreographers of Tribu Buhisan, said.
Just like Busa, Barete himself does not want to give up immediately just because of the difficulty they have encountered with these outof-school youths.
In a span of three months, the choreographers were able to finish the dance routine and they are ready to show their capabilities to the Cebuanos today.
Third-year student Christian, 21, who admitted being a former drug dependent, believes that joining Sinulog will keep them away from rebellious act.
Christian is among the dancers of Tribu Buhisan.
In 2015, she was tempted to use marijuana so that her friends would not beat her if she would not take it.
"Sukad nga migamit ko ato, nigamay ako grado, nahagbong ko. Then, magsige nako og katawa. Pero naka-realize ko nga bati ako gibuhat kay education baya ako kurso so dapat role model," Christian said.
In order to redeem herself, she attended educational seminars to enhance her knowledge that using illegal drugs could destroy human lives.
"Ako message nila, it's not too late to change kay bati gyud siya. Bati ang mahatag ani sa imong kinabuhi," Christian said.