Sitangkai Tawi-Tawi, May 15, 2026
Building a garden in Sitangkai is no easy task. With homes and pathways built above the sea, fertile soil is scarce, making conventional farming nearly impossible. Yet volunteers at the Sitangkai AMR Learning Center believe that limited land should never limit the opportunity to grow food and nurture hope.
To address this challenge, we began developing a hanging organic garden using simple, locally available materials. The project aims to demonstrate that families in coastal and floating communities can sustainably produce vegetables, even without access to farmland.
While passing through the Floating Market, we noticed workers constructing a small grocery store beside a large pile of sawdust. Knowing that sawdust can serve as an excellent organic growing medium, we asked if we could have it. The workers gladly agreed, pleased that the material would be put to good use instead of being discarded into the sea.
The following day, we filled nine sacks with the sawdust—an unexpected blessing that will help launch our hanging garden.
As we gathered the materials, curious residents stopped to ask what we were doing. We shared our vision of creating an organic garden that will provide free seedlings and encourage the Sama Dilaut (Badjao) community to grow nutritious vegetables using affordable and accessible resources.
When asked whether the project was intended only for our learning center, we explained that our dream reaches beyond Sitangkai. We hope that this small beginning will inspire neighboring barangays to establish gardens of their own, transforming discarded materials into sources of food, livelihood, and hope in a resource-limited island community.
For us, the nine sacks of sawdust are more than construction waste. They are a reminder of God’s providence—that sometimes the simplest gifts become the foundation for a healthier, greener, and more self-sustaining future.
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