"Inasal:Blackened Dreams"
Kara David's documentary for I-Witness
AIRING DATE: April 20, 2009
Benjie and Roxanne are practically living like orphans. Their father died when they were still young while their mother, who works in the city as a housemaid, rarely visits them. The two kids take care of their four younger siblings but to do this, Benjie and Roxanne have to leave them on their own for almost a week to work. Their only source of income in their village: charcoal.
Watch Kara David trek the mountains of Sipalay in Negros Occidental to document the lives of these young charcoal makers. There, she discovers that hundreds of trees are being cut, buried and burned to produce charcoal. The collected charcoals are then sold to "inasal" restaurants in Bacolod City . Kara joins the kids as they search for wood to burn, eat, sleep and live like nomads in the mountain for one whole week.
Despite being indebted to the land owner, these children still choose to bear their miserable lives to pay for the carabaos that bring down their sacks of charcoal to the village. But in the midst of their dismal situation, the kids still hope to finish their schooling. Every time they go down from the mountains, teacher Myra Palasuelo is there waiting for them, eager to teach the kids in their once-a-week study session.
Join Kara David as she visits the world of the Sipalay charcoal makers in her documentary "Inasal:Blackened Dreams" on I-Witness, airing this Monday midnight on GMA-7.
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