21st to 23rd April:
Sagada is spectacular and spiritual. Nestled into the mountains of Mountain Province. It is known for its calming mountain valleys, cascading rice terraces, limestone caves, waterfalls and organic coffee. Add to that the friendly and staunch Igorot indigenous locals. Valeree Nolasco is Spirit’s Ambassador to Indigenous people. She connected us to Maria Aplaten in Phnom Penh, Cambodia who pledged to bring The Ball to her people in Sagada. She kept that promise. And so The Ball was part of the festivities on Earth Day – 22.4.2023.
Spirit of Football and a crew of 5 from Baguio F.C. ran two FairPlay workshops and a litter clean-up with children in two Barrios in and around Sagada. The highlights were being part of several indigenous ceremonies including being a guest of honour at an indigenous wedding – which had been purposefully scheduled to take place on Earth Day.
Outcomes of the visit were the groundwork being prepared for the setting up of a football for development club, to be supported by Baguio F.C. and to be based in Angkileng school (where one of our workshops took place), as well as their participation in upcoming Earth Days. The organisers of Sagada Earth day are collaborating with the Municipality to make sure that Earth Day will be officially celebrated across the city and region in the coming years.
We were especially grateful to meet several powerful and majestic indigenous women, who shared some of their wisdom with us about how we can live in harmony with our planet. This indigenous knowledge is vital for the future of all humanity. People need to learn how to live simply and sustainably on our planet earth. We were reminded of the deep knowledge held by the indigenous communities of the world.
The organiser of Earth Day, Dom An Macagne took The Ball in her hands and spoke these indigenous words of wisdom:
We are so happy that SOF came to Sagada to co-celebrate international Earth Day. We are happy to connect with this Spirit as we also recognise it as the Spirit of Planet Earth. There is a great Spirit that acts as the steward of the planet. It draws life from the planet and circulates that life in different forms: In the form of the plants, in the form of the waters, in human form and in various forms just like the rainbow. As indigenous peoples we have to live in harmony with all of the elements of life that sustain us. The feminine energy is speaking out for the healing of the planet and for the balance of relationships among people and nature as well as the ancestral and divine spirit that gives us life.