The children of Adat B’laan are all smiles as they play traditional music using klubing, a bamboo mouth harp.

As the youth of Adat B’laan — an indigenous group in South Cotabato — experience increased exposure and enjoy the benefits of modernization, embracing mainstream society practices has sometimes taken priority over knowing and understanding their ethnic language, rituals and traditions.

In the past few years, this has resulted in the cultural erosion of the Adat B’laan.

Team members at the leading BPO and digital solutions firm Telus International Philippines (TIP) learned of the Adat B’laan situation through a funding proposal submitted by the GeoChris Foundation to Telus International Philippines’ Community Board and decided to help.

The Telus International Philippines Community Board awarded GeoChris and the Adat B’laan community a P455,396 grant ($8,464) to finance programs to revive cultural awareness among the Adat B’laan youth.

GeoChris Foundation is a non-profit organization that believes in holistic education, cultural invigoration, and sustainable living for indigenous communities in Abra, Palawan, and South Cotabato. GeoChris Foundation helped the Adat B’laan draft their grant application to the Telus International Philippines Community Board.

The Telus International Philippines Community Board, the firm’s grant giving foundation, looks for worthy causes and innovative ideas that support communities with unique needs in the areas of health, environment and education. It distributes approximately P5.1 million ($100,000) every year.