After spending over a month in the Philippines, I have noticed a few things about the way the Filipinos see themselves. One thing affecting their self-image is their skin color. They will stare at the “white people” who come into town and tell us how beautiful we are - mainly because of our skin. There are countless products here that are used to lighten skin. I am surprised by the focus on lighter skin because we place so much emphasis on tanning in the U.S., and the Filipinos’ color is beautiful and part of their heritage/culture. They seem to be such proud people that the idea that they would like to drastically change something about themselves is unexpected. As I spent nine days with the Agta teams in different villages, I saw and heard how much the color of skin has affected the self-worth some native Filipino villagers.
The Agta people have a story of creation that greatly differs from our Christian view. The story states that God created all people and that every one of them was dirty. God created a pool for the people to wash the dirt off. The Americans and Europeans, being the smartest and hardest working people found the pool first and were able to completely clean themselves, leaving them with untainted white skin. The next group to find the pool was the Chinese and other Asians. They water had receded from the Americans and Europeans using it, and it was now dirty from their washing. The Chinese were still able to get most of the dirt off, leaving them with golden colored skin. The Agta were the last people to find the pool. By the time they arrived the water was very dirty and the pool has shrunken to a small puddle only big enough for the Agta people to press their hands and feet into the water.
The darker skin of the Agta people is associated with filthiness and even stupidity. They are viewed by others as dumb, dirty, worthless, incapable of accomplishing anything great, and as thieves. The Agta people are very aware of how they are seen and carry the shame that accompanies their appearance. They don’t want to be referred to as “Agta” because they even use the term as an insult or derogatory term for themselves in their communities. If they make a mistake, they may say something like, “Sorry! That was so Agta.” They refer to themselves as I.P. (indigenous people).
When the creation story is taught through the Bible studies that the teams conduct, the teams try to stress the point that we are ALL made in the image of God. He loves and values ALL of us, regardless of appearance. Kelley Beth had a touching experience with a girl who was able to find beauty in herself through God.
Kelley Beth: The girls in one village we visited really loved our skin. They thought we were so beautiful because of our color, but when we tried to tell them that they were beautiful as well, they wouldn’t believe us. We shared with them that we are ALL created in God’s image and are ALL fearfully and wonderfully made, but they wouldn’t believe that was in the Bible until Bam our translator showed them. After they saw the scripture, one girl became very excited. The other girls teased her about her enthusiasm. She said she didn’t care though because God made her beautiful. It was really cool to see the word of God show her truth even when our words couldn’t.