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| (L to R) Mr Noor Saada, MILAB project manager talking with Sama divers in between the latter's SCUBA dive exercises. |
Zamboanga City (November 26, 2021) – Among the participants of the ongoing WBA dive training this week are participants from the Sama ethnic group and including Nomer Manisan (Aquaculturist II) and Komonie Janalhatib (Community Affairs Assistant) of Sumisip and Ramil Pakkari (Statistician) of Hadji Muhtamad. The Sama people are a maritime ethnic group that is spread across the Zamboanga Peninsula and the Sulu Archipelago in the southern Philippines. In Basilan, they are found in the island municipalities of Hadji Muhtamad and Tabuan Lasa and along the coasts of the mainland municipalities.
Their swimming and diving skills are passed down from one to another generation, from the elder to the younger, from the fathers to the sons. Sons start with frog swimming, homemade goggles, and in the nude. As they become adolescents, they are still shirtless, but with underwear or shorts by this time. They can swim further and dive deeper mainly to catch fish and other sea products they can sell for livelihood. As they dive deeper, they use stones as sinkers and rope for signal. They also use compressors to be able to dive deep. They resort to deep diving in order to catch highly-prized species, such as kamun (sea mantis), kaulang (lobster), lapu-lapu kubing (leopard grouper), and bat (sea cucumber).
The Sama participants lament the beginning loss of indigenous knowledge especially on safety, prevention, and mitigation from the kaomboan (elders) as fewer among the new generation Sama youth venture into traditional fishing in favor of other non-sea livelihoods and for greener pastures. Partly because of this loss, repeated dives had made many of them oblivious to the dangers of abrupt ascent and absence of safety stops, changing underwater current, decompression sickness, and nitrogen narcosis, which through time and frequency had been accepted in the community as part of the hazards of seeking livelihood from the sea; without realizing that these can be prevented with safety and proper training.
For the past five days, Sama trainees Nomer Manisan, Komonie Janalhatib, and Ramil Pakkari were exposed to the proper techniques of swimming, diving, and finning; as well as the rudiments of SCUBA diving. Nomer says, he now realized the value of suits. He has come to appreciate the importance of safety beginning with proper breathing, being alert about the environment. He saw that diving can be safe and fun simultaneously if proper prevention, pre-planning, and rules are observed.
Ramil expresses his observation about the importance of weights and sinkers which greatly stabilizes the diver's position underwater. He likes now the ability to swim and dive comfortably and with balanced. Komonie notes the crucial points of having a dive buddy and sign communication underwater. With this new ability, he shares that diving can be comfortable knowing that they have prepared safely and had ways to continue communicating underwater.
The Sama participants lament the beginning loss of indigenous knowledge especially on safety, prevention, and mitigation from the kaomboan (elders) as fewer among the new generation Sama youth venture into traditional fishing in favor of other non-sea livelihoods and for greener pastures. Partly because of this loss, repeated dives had made many of them oblivious to the dangers of abrupt ascent and absence of safety stops, changing underwater current, decompression sickness, and nitrogen narcosis, which through time and frequency had been accepted in the community as part of the hazards of seeking livelihood from the sea; without realizing that these can be prevented with safety and proper training.
For the past five days, Sama trainees Nomer Manisan, Komonie Janalhatib, and Ramil Pakkari were exposed to the proper techniques of swimming, diving, and finning; as well as the rudiments of SCUBA diving. Nomer says, he now realized the value of suits. He has come to appreciate the importance of safety beginning with proper breathing, being alert about the environment. He saw that diving can be safe and fun simultaneously if proper prevention, pre-planning, and rules are observed.
Ramil expresses his observation about the importance of weights and sinkers which greatly stabilizes the diver's position underwater. He likes now the ability to swim and dive comfortably and with balanced. Komonie notes the crucial points of having a dive buddy and sign communication underwater. With this new ability, he shares that diving can be comfortable knowing that they have prepared safely and had ways to continue communicating underwater.
They are in agreement that their exposure to the ongoing training enhanced their pre-existing swimming, diving, and finning skills, and importantly, showed taught them safety measures, and mitigative measures, to avoid dangers and stay on the safe lane.
The WBA 7-day dive training they are part of is delivered by the ZSCMST Dive Center and CMAS Philippines. WBA is the first inter-LGU cooperation in Basilan Province and is being capacitated by the Spanish aid agency AECID-funded MILAB 2 Project, implemented by the Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG) in partnership with the provincial and selected municipal governments.
The WBA 7-day dive training they are part of is delivered by the ZSCMST Dive Center and CMAS Philippines. WBA is the first inter-LGU cooperation in Basilan Province and is being capacitated by the Spanish aid agency AECID-funded MILAB 2 Project, implemented by the Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG) in partnership with the provincial and selected municipal governments.
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