Connecticut organizations donate backpacks to indigenous Aeta children

For the past 11 years, the Aeta Ministry founded by educator Luzviminda Rivero-Bradley of Wallingford, Connecticut, has provided backpacks full of school supplies to the indigenous children from the mountainous areas in Zambales, Philippines. She has been engaged in this effort with the help of Philippine Frontier Missionaries.

This year, the backpacks were donated by businessman Lawrence Brunoli  in honor of his late cousin Michael John Brunoli.

“This was an eye-opening experience for me,” said Lawrence Brunoli, who owns a construction company in his name located in Farmington. “I was glad to do this and getting the opportunity to see the children firsthand was well worth the effort to get there. They were bashful at first, but warmed up quickly, and were very excited and happy.”

Brunoli and Rivero-Bradley traveled more than 16 hours to get to Zambales. During the 10-day trip, he had seen the province’s beautiful scenery and met the nicest people in the remote areas of the Philippines.

Since it was started in 2013, the Aeta Ministry program has facilitated a Feeding Program to raise awareness on the health and educational needs of the Aetas, an indigenous people characterized by their darker skin and curly hair. They are called the “Filipino Negritoes.”

“Sadly, Filipino children are malnourished more than ever, especially the Aeta children,” said Rivero-Bradley. “Most poor families in our native country, just like my own family, grew up believing that malnutrition is caused by poverty alone, which is not always the case.”

Rivero-Bradley is the director of Community Service Program of Ivy Labs, a college placement and counseling services company in New Haven. As an education counselor, she assists American students looking to find schools in China.

“Given my interest in education in general, and child malnutrition in particular, my focus is on the Aetas of the Philippines, and the dietary and nutritional challenges they face, “ she said. “I believe that many of the ideas and concepts I’ve learned as a health education teacher will help improve the quality of their lives.”

The main goal of the Aeta Ministry is to facilitate different nutrition intervention health programs to bring down malnutrition among children, she said. She is also enlisting Filipino health professionals to collaborate with policymakers to help better understand the correlation among food, community, and family and the consequences of excessive hunger and malnutrition on children.

Rivero-Bradley added, “These systems can also help us health professionals to analyze how the community thinks, how it understands health-related situations, and help suggest ways to change things for the better and be able to reach a better and more comprehensive understanding of the importance of consciousness-raising intervention.”

Her experience includes being a health advocate.

“It is a good start and hopefully this will spark a change on how low-income communities (such as the Aetas) are able and equipped to see malnutrition as a health problem, especially among their children. What motivates me is just getting things done by keeping it simple and reminding myself that one day I will get the message out there that malnutrition is a disease and not a genetic profile of poor people.”

The annual two-week Aeta Ministry also includes the distribution of humanitarian aid, backpacks, school supplies, groceries, slippers, shoes, and clothes.

Brunoli said he plans on helping out again. “It is about making a difference. Something I will continue to do,” he said.

The Philippine-born Rivero-Bradley has resided in Connecticut for over 30 years and has been a teacher for 38 years. She received her master’s degree from Teachers College, Columbia University.

To learn more about the Aeta Ministry, contact Rivero-Bradley at 928-433-9290 or luz_rivero@yahoo.com.