Diary of a Gen Z Student: Here are the life lessons the children of the Badjao tribe taught me

"I make so many plans that I fail to see the life that is already happening in front of me"

28th February, 2024. Trinity College student and Irish Examiner columnist Jane Cowan photographed at her home in Dunshaughlin, County Meath.Photo:Barry Cronin

As a warm yellow sun sinks below the horizon, small skiffs return home from sea. The rusted blue skiffs, battered by wind and water. Women and children stay behind, patiently awaiting the return of their husbands and fathers. At home, children play with rubber bands that neatly line each of their wrists. 

The heat is heavy, and clings to your skin. The humidity leaving a dampness in your clothes. They laugh loudly, hug tightly, live closely, love unapologetically. This is my experience of the Badjao tribe. A seafaring indigenous tribe that lives just above the shoreline in Davao, the Philippines.