People's Recovery, Empowerment and
Development Assistance Foundation, Inc.

Background and History of the Aeta people of Zambales.
The Indigenous people of the Philippines are known by various names and exists all over the Philippine archipelago long before the arrival of the Malaysian. They are decedents of people from the African continent that migrated to Asia over thousands of years. Their diet of fruits, wild banana, honey, game and fish, and the need to live and move in dense jungle evolution gave them a small but strong and hard body structure.

They are the aboriginal people who first inhabited these beautiful tropical islands as long as five or six thousand years ago. In the Province of Zambales they are called 'Aeta' and until very recently, they lived nomadic lives inhabiting the lush forests teeming with wildlife, being hunters and gatherers. They live a hard but successful life.

Rare and valuable Knowledge of medicinal plants
They developed great knowledge of plant life, especially medicinal plants which has been their sole sources of medication for many years. These plants, herbs and teas are used by them to this day by these Aeta tribes. There are plenty of land and food and they had no conflict with each other. They developed peaceful and tranquil life and resolved differences among themselves through mediation and the wisdom of the elders. Until recent years, they had no fixed abode but made temporary shelters as they move from one part of the forest to another. With the arrival of the Malayans, they were forced to flee the coastal forests and retreat to the mountains. This more so when the spanish arrived and they became inaccessible in the remote mountain forests and resisted religious conversion and domestication by the invaders .

A oppressed and exploited people.
They Aeta people today have been reduced from a once proud independent tribal cultural separate group of Filipino people roaming freely the mountain ranges to scattered groups of impoverished people living small villages and have been restrained on reservations. They suffered the diseases of the invaders and their numbers were greatly reduced . Today, with the help of church, they have civil society and reclaimed their dignity and rights and are organising their people to establish their ancestral domains. New laws have been in their favour recognising the rights to the rain forests as ancestral domains. However much of the forests have already been wiped out by the loggers working for rich families and wood industries in the developed world.

The organised groups receives education and organisational abilities and are trying to resist further encroachments by illegal loggers into all that remains of their rain forests. Preda is their partner in this struggle and has helped them organise and established well managed and organised communities and villages. Preda has also negotiated between them and the military, paid by land grabbers who want the rain forests for themselves try to chase away the indigenous people. The Military backed by powerful land grabbers and loggers say the people are squatters and should be driven out when in fact the indigenous people's are the true owners. Preda is helping to protect their rights.

Establishing tree nurseries.
Preda has conducted training and seminars with them to establish tree nurseries and learn nursery management tree grafting and natural organic mango and fruit production methods. The first training seminar was held on January 26th at the Agricultural University in San Marcelino, Zambales. This university is also a partner of Preda Foundation in pioneering organic mango fruit production. There were three experts from the University that conducted the training for the representatives of the indigenous people.

The nursery training project continued with training grafting, selecting of the best seeds of mangos and other trees. There were demonstrations, questions and practice in actual grafting. At present the 15 trainees have returned to their villages and are preparing the plots and sites where they will establish nurseries. They are building seed boxes and are already beginning the seed collection phase of the project. All of this is funded by the VomFass project fund in co-operation with the Preda foundation who provided the administration need of the project. The seminar training was arranged by Preda staff.

Tree Planting and Mango harvesting.
Tree planting and harvesting. In order to help the trainees begin their reforestation project, Preda purchased 2 meter tall saplings (young trees) and delivered them to the villages of the Aeta people. Then last January, a group of youth volunteers went with the Indigenous People and planted more than a hundred trees. This year, the Aeta communities are producing organic mango. They were provided with natural insect repellent made from natural herbs and plants such as Garlic, onions , peppers which are powerful repellents and does not harm the trees nor the environment. They will also learn how to make this themselves.

Empowerment and hope through origination and education.
A community of marginalised indigenous people that were once harassed and threatened with extinction are now finding a new strengthened dignity through this project. Their children are presently being prepared for the next school year, and then in June, the Scholarship educational project will begin. There is much for them to look forward to and when once they were in despair and hopelessness, they now find courage solidarity and a new lease of life. Thanks to the Preda-Van Foss project.