A Dream Called Kau-i

A DREAM CALLED KAU-I: ITS EVOLUTION AND THE STRUGGLE TO REALIZE IT The tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure. - Thomas Jefferson

Every new thing begins as a dream. Just like Kau-i, for instance. The social and cultural reality of our time dictates us that “taga-ilaya” will always be taga-ilaya while “taga-ilawod” will remain taga-ilawod; “taga-banwa” is taga-banwa and „taga-barrio” is tagabarrio. Most of us dared not to see otherwise. But a few of us begged to differ from this social mores. We managed to have a glimpse of that new possibility while “this few” of us were in sojourned in Manila. Manila has always been the place where the inarticulate begin to articulate their long repressed or suppressed idealism. Somehow, the ambience the city provides awakens in each of us the courage to manifest the inner striving of our hearts. And we let go of our fears and apprehension as if the aura of utter freedom and the shield of anonymity spellbind us. Manila, strange and alienating as it may seems to us Baleten-ons, always bid us to come to terms not so much with what we have but with what we are and who we are amidst the fast changing world. Maybe we were dreaming then. We dared to dream about a Balete which is borderless, where no divide separates the taga-ilaya from the taga-ilawod, where no mountain borders the taga-bukid

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from the taga-banwa. We dreamt that it can happen and we dared ourselves that it can be made real—we saw a new possibility dawning before us. We recall that one particular night. It was the Feast of all the Saints. The year was 1991. A good number of Baleten-ons were gathered together to celebrate with Engr. Butch Villaruel his “coming to age” at his residence somewhere along the “riles” near the City Hall of Kalookan. With us then were friends and our friends‟ friends (it is our custom, you know!)—taga-ilawod, taga-ilaya, taga-barrio and taga-banwa. The common feeling of alienation, the alcohol over our heads and the liberty to talk in our native dialect in that strange environment cemented our bond and awaken in us the desire to meet often. So we met at least once a month, either in the Riles, in Marikina, in Potrero or in Novaleches. We started to articulate our dream. We have to for it was not a dream that can be carried out by one or a few persons. Ours was a grand vision that can only be made real to the extent that we who first think of it are able to share it with others. We were determined that it would not remain “castle in the air.” Hence, this sharing of our dream, this building of the vision, hoping that with others we could work on creating something new for our beloved Balete. The manifestation of this sharing is expressed and articulated in the birth of Kau-i. It was earlier agreed that the movement would participate in the Sto. Niño Festival in Kalibo. Supposedly, it was a means to achieve certain objectives and to serve as venue for conscietization activities. But Euclid was wrong in saying that the shortest way from one point to another is through a straight line. At least, we learned that there will always be zigs and zags in the quest of realizing goals which sought to change orientations and values in life. In the middle of 1994, through our “ingenious” and “innate” ability to solicit (our society has trained us to solicit instead of looking for other means to generate income for our projects), we managed

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to pool a number of drums sets to pave the way for our participation in the Sto. Niño Festival on January of 1995. In an emergency meeting called for the purpose, we were confronted with a question, “What name the movement is to adopt for the Festival?” Several suggestions were raised: Nonok, Cau-i, Palhï, etc. Those present agreed to adopt the name, “CAU-I” and immediately, a design for our uniform was drawn for imprinting (the spelling was changed into Kau-i a year after when an entrepreneur appropriated for his own use the unpatented name). Why Cau-i? The movers in Manila were clear about its multiple meaning:  An enchanted place—in our dialect, Palhï, thus we say:

Magpanabì-tabì basì hipamaskan ka!

 A forest of enchanted trees—in our dialect, Kanunokan,

kagueangan.

 A movement/group of Baleten-ons aspiring for unity and brotherhood among fellow Baleten-ons The Sto. Niño Festival of 1995, just a few days after the World Youth Day celebration held in Manila, witnessed the birth and the participation of Cau-i as a small modern group led by Roy Villaruel and the rest of the Balete-based core group. A good number of the Manila connection were able to join the revelry and together with the Balete-based resolved to continue what was deemed a good start. Since then, the people behind the movement moved on through the processes of operational, priority and ethical doubts and into a renewed resolution to hold the banner of Kau-i up high—to rally ourselves to stand witness to what we really hold on to as a group and movement, to dream again a new dream… Oremus pro invicem! Prepared for Kau-i by: Kabuhi sa Aga-aga