People return to, or visit for the first time, significant places to reconnect with, and experience the events that had unfolded there. The stories, imprinted in the ruins of buildings, landmarks, and artifacts are narrated and interpreted by tour guides. It is a walking tour — a heritage walk — as one goes through the stories of a particular place.
A heritage walk is one tool of heritage management, a subfield in anthropology concerning the protection and preservation of cultural, historical, and natural sites or products as kabilin (heritage), both tangible and intangible.
I have experienced similar heritage tours such as the Heritage Trail in Hong Kong; the River Ride in San Antonio, Texas; the Old Town Trolley Tours in St. Augustine City in Florida. I have also experienced this at Intramuros in Manila. The tour guides were accredited by their respective government tourism offices.
During the 2012 United Board Fellows Leadership Seminar on July 23 to 26 held at Silliman University, the Walk with Silliman Greats was introduced as a way of informing the participants who came from different universities in Asia about the story of Silliman through its buildings and other structures.
A group of about 20 Fellows who joined the walk was led by Dr. Earl Jude Cleope. He served as the narrator, being the historian among the Fellows from Silliman. This was not new to Dr. Cleope, who had done this before with other guests of the University, assisted by Dr. Jose Edwin Cubelo and myself.
The Walk with Silliman Greats was actually my first heritage walk at the Silliman campus, with someone narrating stories of the esteemed people behind the names of her buildings.
The experience would be different for those unfamiliar with the campus when they just walk by themselves, and take pictures of buildings without learning their stories. They can only consume the form, but not the substance of the spectacle.
From the Bethel Guest House where the Fellows were billeted during the seminar, the heritage walk started before six in the morning, passing along the Rizal Boulevard. The group entered the Silliman campus through the Gate of Opportunity near the Silliman Hall, the oldest building in campus named after Dr. Horace B. Silliman, founder of the University.
The events that took place inside some buildings such as Guy Hall and Hibbard Hall during World War II, were narrated to us. The individuals immortalized by the buildings bearing their names, and what they had done for Silliman were also highlighted. These also included alumni and philanthropists who, to this day, continue to support the programs and projects of the University.
Dr. Betty Cernol-McCann, former acting president of Silliman (1992-1994) and currently vice president for Programs of the United Board — one of those behind the leadership seminar — noted that participants of the heritage walk could imbibe what the Silliman leaders had done for the University.
And if I may add, the UB Fellows may find the Silliman Greats worthy of emulation.
The heritage walk is offered to groups of alumni or tourists. The Silliman Campus Ambassadors are tapped as the narrators — something they regularly do during field trips in campus by students from other schools.
The Campus Amba just need to be trained on what and how to tell the stories of great Sillimanians from whom the buildings got their names; not just about what colleges are currently housed in the particular buildings.
This guided heritage tour may also be considered by the City Tourism Office — which they can refer to as the Dumaguete Heritage Trail. Heritage sites in the City that are included in the tour should be seriously researched on. Certainly, Silliman can be one of those sites, being the first Protestant university in the Philippines.
The tour guides and narrators, who may be tapped from among history teachers in the City or from staff of the City Tourism Office, have to be accredited. Because of the distance to be covered, the tourists may also have to ride the tartanilla (horse-drawn carriage) that has also to be revived as part of our heritage.
Silliman President Dr. Ben S. Malayang III has, in fact, already initiated this; the launching and dedication ceremony will be on Aug. 27.
The heritage tour for a fee will not only become a tourism attraction of Dumaguete; it could be one of the reasons for protecting and preserving its old and historic buildings. (If you have noted, a number of old buildings in the City, such as those along Rizal Boulevard, have been renovated or demolished, or worse, replaced with commercial buildings.)
Indeed, the Walk with Silliman Greats was a “great experience” for the Fellows, according to Anne Ofstedal, director of the UB Fellows Program. She was one of those who woke up early that day to join the group — which was going to be her last tour of Silliman campus ever; Ms. Anne passed away on Aug. 9, 2012. Nevertheless, Ms. Anne will always be remembered for being part of that heritage walk, and in the nurturing of future Silliman leaders who successfully completed the UB Fellows Program.
