Sama-sama Kasama

Sama-sama kasama -- Number 1 in a series of articles about Tagalog Words and everything Tagalog by the late Evelyn Miranda Feliciano, a best-selling author of books on Filipino culture and family life.

I barely touched ground from the car door, when my hostess in sunshine smile asked, "Sino po ang kasama 'nyo?" (Who's your companion?) I looked over my shoulder - for I had come alone - and smiled back at her. "Me and myself, I suppose." And the whole day that I was with her group the concern that I was alone and had no kasama cropped up several times.

A foreigner to the Filipino culture would greatly wonder why locals would be so concerned about people having no companion in a journey, a visit, a shopping spree, a party, etc. And that goes whether one is young, adult or old. What's with the sama-sama kasama mindset?

Anthropologists explained that in ancient times when warring tribes were common, inhabitants in a community were discouraged to travel alone. If someone insisted, the first question posed to them by anyone they met would be, "Saan ka pupunta?" (Where are you going?), followed by, "Sino'ng kasama mo?" (Who is with you?) This inquisitiveness seems highly intrusive to us today but it was important for one's safety then.

The sama-sama kasama mindset is so deep in Filipino culture, social experts point out. From birth to death, a Filipino must always have a kasama. A baby must always have a yaya. When a person dies, the mournful event becomes a full production by the mga kasamahan ng pamilya. Relatives, friends even strangers come to the wake not only to view the dead but also to watch over it for as many days as the wake would last, as a gesture of pakikisama. Then, the final sama-sama happens during the burial. To the very last slap of cement on the tomb, people are there, nakikisama. And the companionship never stops for the living. Forty days after the burial, a pagbababang-luksa (end of mourning) gathers people together again. In some families, every year after, the death of a loved one is memorialized by a church ritual and/or another sama-sama party.

The sama-sama,kasama trait of Filipinos as a way of socially organizing their lives has been pointed as a weakness. Independence, self-reliance, freedom are hindered in a culture of herd mentality or flock syndrome, some people say. In this, the Westerners fare better. Since they are private, individualistic, and self-propelled, they accomplish more and achieve their goals. Look at how they have progressed, the reasoning goes.

Well, that is only one side of the coin. Besides, the value of sama-sama for the Filipinos and the individualistic stance of the Westerners are not the sole explanation for their present situation. Things are more complex than these, certainly. Yet both values - an independence of mind and spirit and a zest for cultivating a host of loving relationships are necessary for a meaningful life . As the slogan that brought the Marcos dictatorship down says, "Ninoy, hindi ka nag-iisa!" (Ninoy, you are not alone!) In sama-sama, kasama "People Power I" came to be. A history was reversed.

Even Christ was not averse to being a kasama and He wanted to maintain the sama-sama relationship even after His ascension. He said, "I will be with you always, even until the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20b, CEV) (Tandaan ninyo, ako'y laging kasama ninyo hanggang sa katapusan ng panahon) Wow, that's a long time of samahan, isn't it? Better learn it now

20 June 2006

Possible source synonyms in a technical document:

• Group -- grupo
  
• Team -- Pangkat
• Organization - Organisasyon
• Institution - Institusyon
• Fellowship -- samahan

Sama-sama kasama. Imbitado kayo sa Wordhouse, kapuso man kayo o kapamilya.