The effect of this pandemic was severe. It's more than a year already. Many businesses closed. Many people lost their work. They lost their jobs. People can't go out to look for foods. People cried because of hunger. Because of this pandemic, many of us suffered. No foods, no money and no work. Life became much harder than before. Many people died because of the virus. Some died because of hunger. But because of the SAP, the hunger of people lessen. As months pass by, kind people start to donate to the needy. Some put up community pantry. At first, I don't understand what it means. There's this issue that became trending on social media. And when I saw, it's about community pantry.
I searched the web for more information. According to the google, a community pantry is a service that provides food directly to locals suffering from food insecurity. Some rely purely on local donations. Some coordinate with food banks and organizations for steady supplies of food and essential goods. Some also organize other socio-civic activities for patrons. The community pantry is not a new idea, as many have been established elsewhere as an immediate, local response to hunger, but in the context of the pandemic and millions of food-insecure Filipinos, the idea has proven nothing short of revolutionary.
Another source says that the idea behind the community pantry was that people could take as much as they need and donate whatever they can. For my understanding, you give what you can and get what you can consume. You can exchange what you have to the community pantry. But sometimes, others abused the "get what you can consume" order. They got more than what they can eat. But who knows, maybe they are many in the family. It's just a matter of considering others. Think twice before you do it. These are from kind people. We thank them for these.
We don't have community pantry in our hometown like in the city or other places.
As for our hometown, we have what we call "man-manok" or Thanks giving. When a family is complete, they do this. We have "gup-gupo" as well. This is after planting rice and after the "ap-apoy". Some do it on their own and some do it as a whole. They feed the community by giving rice and meat on a paper plate or banana plate.
People will gather one by one when they are called. They patiently wait until the"wat-wat" (meat) is cooked. There are men assigned to do it. It is voluntary, not pinpoint. After the meat is cooked, men will slice the meat into a portion wherein a person can consume. Below is our uncle cooking the meat. He's making sure that it will be cooked nicely.
While waiting for the food, people tell stories to each other. Some drink wine or what we call "vayash" (basi). "Iyapag" means you let them drink one by one by handing them the mug or cup and putting the wine in it. Some can skip if they don't want. Some also just go and drink where the wine is located.
After waiting for 2-3 hours, the food is served. There are two men holding the "liga-o" where the meat is.
Then some will fall in line to distribute the rice in a paper plate. They help each other to hand it over. They hold it carefully so that it will not fall.
The image above shows the process on how it works. The person will receive the meat after getting the rice. 2-3 slices of meat every person. Until all the people gathered have their own foods.
My wat wat. After receiving, I rolled and put inside so that it will not fall. Some ate their food right on their spot, some went home and some did what I did.
This is where the meat and rice cooked. The men cook the meat while the women cook the rice. They got the meat last night and the men were so early to cook meat. The women as well were early to prepare the rice. They watch it over until it will be cooked.
That's what we call community pantry. They share their blessings as well. Our kind of community pantry. I'm not saying that it really is a community pantry because this is our tradition eversince our hometown has been found.
Whiiw.. watwat is layp..