Abra Conference, May 4-10

A farmer and his goats, Bangued, Abra

After getting back from Cordillera Day and having a few days to rest and re-pack, SIBAT headed north into the mountains again for a conference in Abra. 

In the province of Abra, SIBAT currently has 13 microhydro energy stations. They range in age from 1-20 years old, and serve communities as small as 13 households and as large as 150 households. For the first time, SIBAT held a conference to bring together community leaders from each of these project sites to share knowledge and plan for the future. 

SIBAT, pre-conference preparations

My role at the conference was concentrated in the 3 days leading up to the arrival of the guests, helping with the handout materials and audiovisual presentations. Once the conference began, everyone was speaking Ilocano which meant that Nathan couldn't be my translator, so I wasn't too involved beyond clicking through the slide shows.  I was really glad to have had the opportunity to join the team that went up early and be able to contribute something tangible to the event. As far as I could tell, it was a success! Communities met amongst themselves to discuss problems they'd been facing, and met with SIBAT to plan future upgrades and trainings. The event was supposed to culminate with a field visit to one of the communities that serves as a model for how to properly manage and operate a microhydro system. Unfortunately a prominent member of their community passed away during the conference so our presence would have been inappropriate.

Late night work session in the hotel before the guests arrived

No Filipino meeting would be complete without a solidarity night- these usually involve singing, be it karaoke or cultural chanting, drinking, and dancing. Representatives from each community delivered a speech in a singsong throaty style of chanting, played drums and demonstrated native dances. Some SIBAT engineers are from this part of the Philippines and joined in. I got a chance to demonstrate my newfound mastery of the Eagle Dance after all of my practice at Cordillera day. I still have a ways to go on my courtship dancing though- it's a dance where a man chases a woman in a circle to the beat of gongs, and at the end he catches her and they shake hands. I got elected for this twice, and I don't think saying no was an option. Unfortunately I don't speak any Ilocano, so I'm just hoping that I'm not now married to a microhydro system operator in Abra.