December 2015
As we approach the end of 2015, we have developed relationships and gained the trust and respect of the indigenous Aeta communities. We now know that every Aeta village is independent. One Aeta village can have a different need than the rest of the Aeta communities. Therefore, all community programs are intended to be village-driven and require a request letter of endorsement from the community leadership group or barangay council of leaders in order to proceed with the project to satisfy our ethical guidelines of Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC).
Our intentions and processes appear to be easily understood, conceptualized, and internalized by the Aeta communities. We learned how to help develop a concept that the Aeta can both internalize and understand in order to proceed with the proposed planned project with one hundred percent cooperation and confirmation from the Aeta communities. The indigenous Aeta people must feel as though they established and conceptualized the project in a way they completely understand to ensure their participation, involvement, and expectation of their roles and responsibilities in project implementation.
Our intentions and processes appear to be easily understood, conceptualized, and internalized by the Aeta communities. We learned how to help develop a concept that the Aeta can both internalize and understand in order to proceed with the proposed planned project with one hundred percent cooperation and confirmation from the Aeta communities. The indigenous Aeta people must feel as though they established and conceptualized the project in a way they completely understand to ensure their participation, involvement, and expectation of their roles and responsibilities in project implementation.