About KCPT: In the Community

Barclay Martin's New Mission

Good Works and Good Music in the Philippines

Story by Pete Dulin. Photographs by John Nosack.

Excerpt:  From the May 1, 2007 article originally published in PresentMagazine.com

Who would travel 16,000 miles round-trip for the sake of performing in one concert? Wait, there's more. The concert is dependent on the cooperation and participation of Muslims and Christians in the Philippines. Barclay Martin has already made this arduous journey once from Kansas City to Zamboanga, Philippines to prepare logistics for this undertaking. He departed again for a second two-week trip in late April 2007, another trip in September, and intends to return again early next year.

Make no mistake, Martin is a musician with a mission, but he is no missionary in the traditional religious sense. In order to achieve significant goals, he agreed to work with The Christian Foundation for Children and Aging (CFCA), an international organization that provides educational, medical, spiritual, and nutritional support for the impoverished. To share CFCA's message and to increase awareness of their mission, Martin and filmmaker John Nosack were invited to undertake and document an unusual effort: to write, create, choreograph, and produce a concert with and for the people of Zamboanga. Creating a concert from scratch in a third-world country under harsh conditions is a mighty challenge. To make matters more complex and potentially more rewarding, Martin and Nosack were asked to embrace the entire community in the concert by including Muslims, Christians, indigenous people, and foreigners. After returning from the initial trip, Martin shared details and personal insight into his experiences and plans.

Faraway Land

Zamboanga, known as the City of Flowers, is one of many places that Martin visited during the initial trip after arriving in Manila. "Zamboanga is a little peninsula that sticks out really far to the south," says Martin. The city's only port is a "home to schemers, travelers, and street peddlers of all kinds."

Besides the beautiful seaside view, the city serves as a key base of operations for both CFCA and Martin. Twenty-five years ago, CFCA established facilities and programs in the Philippines that have since grown to encompass five major projects and 212 small-scale projects. CFCA's presence and network within the community enables Martin to rely on available resources and established relationships.

"The objective for the first trip was to become acquainted with the project, communicate the purpose of the project within the community, and start taking trips into the various Christian, Muslim, and indigenous communities" says Martin. "Essentially, I have to open up the conversation and make sure they are comfortable with my presence there."

John Nosack, a Portland, Oregon-based freelance filmmaker, accompanied Martin to document the singer-songwriter's travels and experiences on film. Nosack has volunteered for CFCA previously and lived in the Philippines for a year.

The Philippines, a nation of over 7000 islands located in Southeast Asia, is divided today into eighty-one provinces, 117 cities, 1,500 municipalities, and nearly 42,000 barangays, the native Filipino term for village or barrio. Filipinos remain a diverse people with more than 170 languages and dialects, divisions of numerous indigenous tribes, and mixed ancestry. While the country's predominate religious populations are 90 percent Christian and 5 percent Muslim, a result of Roman Catholic and Jesuit missionary campaigns, native traditions and rituals still influence local beliefs and practices.

Given these differences, Martin and his cohorts in CFCA hope that music will unite communities.

Give and Take

For Martin, traveling from one barangay to another requires learning the nuances between communities. In addition, he will take nascent ideas for a music concert and incorporate local Filipino traditions. He was not interested in putting on a showcase of Western music, but working with native performers from different parts of the country. "I don't know anything yet about their musical heritage," he says. "I have everything to learn about it."

The coexistence of Muslims and Christians in some Filipino communities interests Martin as well. The film documentary and concert will demonstrate how to reach these different religious constituencies, but anthropological investigation must be accomplished first. "I don't what the Muslim influence has brought into their region," says Martin. "I am open to what I find and learn about it when I get there. There's only so much groundwork that you can do before you get there."

Regarding the Muslim and Christian conflict in parts of the country, Martin says, "There is conflict, yet they live amongst each other; yet, neither are indigenous to the area. I have to come across in a very unthreatening way to address a subject that people don't know how to address or understand and allow for a very easy dialogue to take place, internal or otherwise."

Martin suggests that fear of religious conflict is based on the actions of "a minute group of Muslim extremists. The same thing that can be said for Christianity; there is no shortage of woe at the hands of Christianity, too. I relish the opportunity to examine all the historical evidence of all this conflict, but at the end of the day what does it stack up to?"

As an American musician, he realizes that his presence will have an impact. "I expect to have a significant influence because people are fascinated by the West, for better or worse," says Martin. "I anticipate that simply by where I come from, I'll be creating a certain amount of attention. Aside from being the tall, lanky white guy, I think that bringing my own songs will be something that people will be curious about—particularly in places where tourists don't go."

Field Notes

From the Blog of Barclay Martin

February 5, 2007, 2:23 AM

At the beginning of any trip, I get a sense of being enveloped by the mystery of a place—so many cultural pearls to experience. Flying in a month ago, I was pretty weary and bore the weight of a new set of rules. It seems that since then, I've learned a few good lessons, had my eyes opened, by these most gracious and lovely Filipinos.

I just got back from the province of Rizal, no more than a suburb of distance away from Manile. Culturally speaking, it lies on the other side of the world. In Manila, the signs of progress are as ubiquitous as they are labored. Pollution fills the streets. The groans of an economy which cannot support its own underlies everything I see in the city.

The province of Rizal is the opposite. We were privileged to visit the Dumagat tribe who have inhabited the land for as long as anyone can recall. They have learned over the centuries that they are the same as Nature, rather than regarding Nature as an obstacle to dominate or overcome. These towns we were to visit are remote and only reachable on foot. So after a short, introductory walk, we found ourselves on the edge of Dumagat country, the town of Calowis. There, they began to tell their story.

To read the complete story of Barclay Martin's travel to the Philippines, view extensive photos by John Nosack, and listen to Martin describing his travels in a three-part podcast, visit PresentMagazine.com.

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