DUBAI: She lives in the mountains – the hinterlands of southern Palawan, to be exact.
She belongs to a tribe of what once were cave dwellers, the Taa’wt Bato, a Pala’wan indigenous peoples subgroup that lives in the rugged lands and jungles of Singnapan Valley in the Rizal municipality.
The Taa’wt Bato got their name because they lived inside the crater of an extinct volcano, hence the “stone people” or “dwellers of the rock.”
Curiosity about the outside world lit a fire inside Juda Diklay, and so, with relentless prodding by an advocacy group, the Youth with a Mission, she decided to go to the lowlands, with consent from her parents, to study.
She and a brother were the first to do so because other tribe members did not want any of their children to go for fear they may not come back again.
There were so many challenges – culture shock among them, aside from the distance and being away from her family and tribe. There also was the bullying Diklay had to endure as she immersed herself into a concept and a system completely new to her.
“Mahirap po ‘yong nag-aaral ka sa baba na hindi mo kilala kung sino ‘yong mga nakakasalamuha mo tapos malayo pa sa akin ‘yong pamilya ko. Lagi ko naiisip ang mga negative na bagay at sumuko na lang, pero napapaisip rin ako kung ano’ng mangyayari sa akin kapag susuko ako agad sa pag-aaral ko,” Diklay told Palawan News, which published a lengthy feature hailing her for her accomplishment.
(It was really difficult to study in the lowland since I don’t even know the people I am encountering. In addition to that, I was also away from my family. That always made me think about negative thoughts and surrendering, but I also wondered about what will happen to me if I give up my studies.)
“Juda went through a lot of challenges, but the burning desire to learn and discover the world around her has helped motivate her to persevere with determination to make history to be the first Tau’t Bato tribe member to graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education,” said Palawan News in its report.
Diklay was 10 when she started attending class at Ransang Elementary School with her brother.
“May mga nagsasabi sa akin noon na bakit daw ba ako nag-aaral, eh, taga-bundok lang naman daw ako. Wala naman daw akong silbi,” she said. (There were those mocking me for going to school despite the fact that I am from the mountains and useless.)
Diklay finished grade school a valedictorian, according to the Palawan News report. Graduating top of the class was something that further reinforced her will to go higher up the education ladder and amount to something for her tribe.
And so YWAM sent her to Puerto Princesa to study where, unfortunately the bullying did not stop and in fact exacerbated her predicament of living in the city.
She managed to pull through and go to college where she enrolled at the Western Philippines University (WPU) in Puerto Princesa City to take up elementary education, according to Palawan News.
And on April 11, 2018, Diklay received her diploma. She told Palawan News she will go back to their place to teach and show the Tau’t Bato that education is important.
“Babalik na po ako sa amin at magtuturo ako doon. Ipapakita ko sa kanila kung gaano kahalaga ang edukasyon,” she said. (I will go back home and teach there. I will help them realize the importance of education.)
Having gone through discrimination, Diklay vowed to share her learning experience with her tribe and teach them to read and write by way of an Alternative Learning System to help them improve their lot.
