‘Boat of Dreams’

I was one of the 2 Filipino participants of the International Visitors Program of the US State Department in 2003. The other one was Elin Anisha Capal Guro, a professor at the Mindanao State University in Marawi and who is currently pursuing her doctorate degree at the University of Melbourne. We have considered each other as sisters for more than 11 years now and counting. She recently called my attention to the plight of young athletes in Marawi who are about to compete in a dragon boat race. We hope to raise awareness and much needed support for these dragon boat racers. Here is their story written by Anisha:

Instead of being at a university taking up courses that would determine their fruitful future careers, they are mostly living their lives on the boat. They start their day at 6 pm rowing the vast expanse of Lake Lanao—from Caloocan to Ramain—until 4 am to fish for a living. Sometimes the catch of a combination of udang, tilapia and aruan is plenty enough to ensure more than a day’s expenses, but most of the times, their catch is not enough. “But, what else can we do? We have not gone to school and there is nothing else out there for us,” Basher Macunti, one of these young fishermen said.