千尺丨乇几ᗪ丂卄丨卩.
ㄩ几丨ㄒㄚ.
卩尺ㄖ丂卩乇尺丨ㄒㄚ.
卩乇卂匚乇
Four arches, four streets, four barangays, and four treasured values. Despite the Chinese aversion to this number due to its portent of doom, it didn’t stop the 24 participants who joined the first Jane’s Walk around the 44-hectare Davao Chinatown.
Dubbed “WE MOVE: Davao Chinatown Historic Food Crawl”, the event was designed to get Dabawenyos from different walks of life to gain new knowledge and appreciation of the rich history and culture of one of the significant places in the city through a pedestrian experience. The hope was also to spark new connections and build a sense of community in the pocket of this fast-changing urban space.
Organized by Design Davao Society and Placemaking Davao and connected with the international network of @WomenOnTheMove and @WomenInTransportLeadership, this landmark event also aimed to study the intersectionality of citizens using public transportation modes to identify opportunities for inclusion.
The high humidity was offset by the blessing of rainless skies as the participants ate, walked, and talked along the mostly arcaded sidewalks filling up with the Sunday afternoon crowd. Pointing out significant sites and relaying historical tidbits enthusiastically was Jose Martin “Mogi” Castrillo, whose commentary was projected onto participants’ earphones via the LiveVoice mobile app.
While most participants were Dabawenyos, one flew in from Manila to join. Almost half were women. Several worked with the local government, while three were architectural students. A pair of visual artists mingled with Chinatown business owners and members of the academe.
Despite the diversity, by the end of the walk, new FRIENDSHIPS were formed, UNITED by the desire to learn to live together in PEACE so that by working as a community, PROSPERITY can be achieved by all.
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Would you be interested to join a similar activity? Tell us about your Davao Chinatown experiences. Let us know below!
This event was made possible thru the generosity of:
NOTE: This event happily coincided with National Heritage Month