Last
Saturday, my parents, a cousin, and my nieces travelled to Angat, Bulacan to
visit the Gawad Kalinga Enchanted Farm.
For the past month, my mom and I were dying to go and we finally got to
do it.
For
those who did not know such a place existed, here’s a description of the place
from GK Enchanted Farm’s FB page:
"Named after the place of its origin, Bulacan’s Barangay
Encanto—which connotes images of the supernatural and magical in Filipino—the
Enchanted Farm is the canvas for Gawad Kalinga’s second phase of the 2024 road
map to end poverty in the Philippines. Once idle and unproductive, the area is
being transformed into a landscape of vast potential that will sustain
communities for generations to come. The first of 24 CSI sites around the Philippines, The
Enchanted Farm in Bulacan follows a template that fuses three different
concepts.
First is a Village University for sustainable
community development where classrooms are connected to communities. An ideal
site for any university student, the Enchanted Farm will expose students on how
to start social enterprises and communities from the ground-up attracting
students from all sorts of disciplines. Young children will come to the farm to
learn and appreciate the growth of plant and animal life through explorer
parties and camps. Residents of the GK village will be exposed to social
entrepreneurship that can open a world of opportunities locally and globally.
The second component of The Enchanted Farm is a
Silicon Valley for social entrepreneurship where young entrepreneurs are
provided a supportive business ecosystem and an enabling environment to help
them launch Filipino brands. Fifty of the most innovative social enterprises in
the Philippines will not only be conveniently located on the Enchanted Farm to
showcase their brands, but will also share in the resources of the farm and
facilities.
The third component is a Disneyland for social
tourism in which visitors from other parts of the Philippines and abroad can
get a first-hand experience of the Gawad Kalinga community, and gain insight to
the social problems that face millions of Filipinos. Through the magical
stories of the Enchanted Farm, enchanting not only through stories of fairy
tales of duwendes (Filipino for elf) but also real life experiences, tourists
can see how dreams can become a reality in a nation where its people were once
provoked to find solutions and greener pastures elsewhere.
Setting the tone for innovation and possibility in
the Philippines, The Enchanted Farm is a development that will forever change
the future of a nation consistently promised a better tomorrow but perpetually
waiting for that day to come. A new dawn has arrived and it will continue to
take shape in Barangay Encanto, at The Enchanted Farm."
The tour package included a tour of the farm, social enterprise demonstrations, and a buffet lunch. The Farm currently houses a community of 50 families, most of whom work in the farm, and they also welcome interns. The day we were there, there were business students from France and the UK who were completing their 3-6-month internships.
Aaaahhhh....the farm life!
Our group was bundled with two more groups for the tour. Ever since the farm was featured on Kris TV, they have been receiving guests everyday. We were shown around the Hyundai Center for Green Innovation, Tita Cory's Garden, and the Multi-Purpose Hall as well as the homes of the Gawad Kalinga community members.
One thing we especially took note of were the light fixtures. They were stapled plastic cups around a LED light.
We then proceeded to the Dairy Hut for a cheese-making demonstration.
But even before the demo started, we were already drooling over this basil-flavored puto with ube and kesong puti which the farm produces too.
Goes well with their Bayani Brew -- lemongrass and pandan tea! Real tea!
That's my niece making kesong puti!
Lunch was served at the Grassroots Kitchen. I was super famished that I forgot to take photos but the spread included chicken curry with peanut sauce, sauteed green beans (it was the best!), sauteed squash, fried bangusm and camote tops. Dessert included were bananas and pineapples.
After lunch, we proceeded to another social enterprise -- Golden Duck. Seeing how unhealthy salted eggs are made in the country (artificially red and too salty), the farm decided to produce their own salted eggs.
Instead of color red, they dye their eggs using turmeric; hence, the golden yellow color. And we all know how healthy turmeric is. :)
Next stop! Plush and Play! Perfect for a budding soft toymaker like me!
All these fruit and vegetable plushies (named after celebrities like Anne Kamatis, Buco Martin, Sili Crawford, Jessica Saging) were handmade by the women of the community.
My nieces stuffing a banana. :)
Their Karpentoys are made from bamboo which are also grown in the farm.
Just before the tour ended, we took a whiff of fresh farm air at the Bamboo Palace and stocked up on farm goodies to take home. GK Enchanted Farm admits a lot of work still needs to be done at the place but what they already have is enough for curious folks like me to be introduced to social entrepreneurship. If you love the farm life (you know me and my love affair with the provincial life!) or if you want to know more about setting up your own social enterprise or if you simply have kids whom you want to veer away from their iPads and gadgets, head over to the farm. Like, right now. :)
