PETS ARE NOT JUST FRIEND; THEY ARE FAMILY TOO : Goofy becomes Mommy Already!

Remember Goofy on my  post? A dog from my wife’s officemate. A very aloof puppy at first. If we call her, the more she will go away from us.  Last December 2015, she has this what we called  “she’s in heat”. Since we have four male dogs in our compound, LA,Alex, Wacky and Nigel, we did not encountered hard to find a male dog for her. After more than two months, Last February 22, around 11:55 in the evening, anew born puppy came out. Very thin and small creature.

Before my wife went to work, she fed the dogs first She even talk to Goofy why she did not eat all her food, very unusual for Goofy. Goofy’s appetite is not a problem from the very start we had her in our home. But that day, February 22, morning, she did not ate all her food.  In the afternoon, I noticed that she dig a hole in the ground. She’s so very noisy then, I even shout to her why she reacted that way.

After office hour, my wife came home and while she had her coffee, she noticed the hole and the same noise Goofy created. She came closer to the dog and massage her, asking what makes her uncomfortable, and why she’s uneasy. The dog became comfortable for a while, like having comforted by a mother. After dinner, while watching TV, around 10:00 in the evening, Goofy sounds like she’s uneasy once again. We became worried then. My wife again touch Goofy if she’s not feeling well, but while touching Goofy’s body to comfort her, my wife asked what if she’s not feeling well, or having stomach ache? How can she gave Goofy a medicine for the pain in case she’s suffering stomach pain? She’s pregnant. Worried of what is happening, my wife called her officemate who gave the puppy , and asked her what is supposed to do of Goofy’s pain. The original owner of the dog told us that may be Goofy is giving birth already. That is the reaction of a dog who is supposed to give birth, uneasy because she’s looking for a dark place for her to give birth of her puppy.  

Around 11:55 in the evening when my wife heard a puppy sound. We hurriedly went to other room where we put Goofy, and a big Ooh! Goofy had gave birth already of a puppy boy. We  waited for what will be the next step of our dog after seeing her baby. She patiently licked the small puppy until she cleaned all the puppy’s blood. We’re so amazed of Goofy’s being responsible of her baby. So we put them in a cloth and there Goofy continuously licked her baby until totally cleaned. The baby’s eye were still closed, brown in color with a little white at his nape, very tiny puppy.

The next morning we excitedly inform our son on Goofy’s baby, he hurriedly went to the room where the dog and puppy were placed by my wife and felt so happy of the new family member. He fed the dog before he went to school.

Observing Goofy’s way of nurturing and caring her puppy, I was so amazed. She always clean her puppy by licking the puppy’s body now and then, as if a mother don’t want her son to get dirty or smell bad. She put her baby near to her always, assuring the puppy can have his milk from her. What a very responsible mother Goofy is. After eating, she hurriedly go back to her place because her baby is waiting for her body’s heat to make the puppy body heat.

Observing Nigel and our cat Angel reaction on Goofy’s baby, they had just staring to the puppy and Goofy. They may be wondering why their sister had this another creature, from time to time licking on the puppy’s body.

Every morning before going to school and work, my wife and son went first to goofy and kissed the dog for they will see her on the afternoon already. 

K to 12 and Indigenous Peoples Education )IPEd)

Bridge to Empower Philippines Education

                Education is one of the major concerns of almost all government of the world. It is an acceptable fact that through education and individual capable of learning can be taught to become a useful citizen. The progress towards development goals in the Philippines education expressed in many ways, the community and its immediate environment must be correlated and integrated.

                In education, new approaches are tried; appropriate and relevant strategies are used for effective learning. The continuous  innovations and changes in curriculum, the K to 12 and Indigenous Peoples Education are adapted to meet the challenges of modern times and bridge to empower Philippines education.

                As what Secretary of Education Bro. Armin A. Luistro said,” I don’t know how critical we are of the education system… but that is the heart of the  K to 12 reform. We have been miseducated by a system that perpetuates cultural oppression which we need to change to undertake reforms. The heart of the K to 12 reforms  is about one’s culture, one’s sense of itself. The K to 12 is grounded on a conviction-IPs carry with wisdom mostly misunderstood. The K to 12 takes culture as a bedrock of education.”

                Ethnocide”… the loss of identity of a group of people with a distinct culture and identity because of policies that destroy their sources of livelihood, use of language, practice of their own system, traditions and crafts , religion, and beliefs. Looking back IPs and the school system, IPs perceived as having “no education”, indigenous knowledge seen as inferior, concerning school knowledge, the separation of learning from life.

                Sadly, general education system in the Philippines continues to the alienation of IPs to their roots, cultures and communities, and discrimination continues. Indigenous Peoples Knowledge System and Practices (IKSPs) are ignored, dismissed; or becoming worse, schooling erases IKSPs or contribute to its end. In many cases, schooling seen in conflict with life and community activities that are actually knotted with indigenous learning systems themselves.

                Listening to aspirations and assertions , education that is culturally-rooted, nurturing the identity, maintaining intergenerational ties aligned with maintaining the well-being of the ancestral domain. With ancestral domain and community at the center, in harmony with the community and life cycle seems to bridge to empower our educational system. K to 12 is culture-responsive and culture-sensitive moves on educational system that enables the stability and development of learning systems of and for IPs from within. This will be difficult unless we bring back the community and the learner at the center.

                The flexibility of the k to 12 Program is in keeping with the constitutional mandate of schools to encourage non-formal, informal and indigenous learning systems, as well as self-learning, independent, and out-of-school study programs particularly that those respond to community needs (Article XIV, sec. 2). It is integrative and contextualized, for holistic learning, subjects are taught using the interdisciplinary  and multidisciplinary approach that learners do not learn isolated facts and theories separated from their lives.

                In line with the country/s commitment to achieve its Education for All (EFA) targets and the Millennium  Development  Goals (MDGs), and in the chase of the Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda (BESRA), the DepEd is adopting the enclosed National Indigenous Peoples Education (IPEd) Policy Framework (DedpEd  Order No. 6, s.2011). The policy framework is intended to be a tool and eye opener for promoting shared accountability, engagement, and collaborative partnership among government. DepEd urges the strengthening of its policy on IP education and develop and implement an IP Education Program. This program subscribes to the rights-based approached, which gives primary importance to the principles of participation, inclusion, and empowerment.