Thanks to Fr. Kits G. Butardo for this write-up!
Agusan River is one of the longest and most beautiful rivers in Mindanao. It is a river that tells thousands of stories about people, transport, trade, culture. It is nature’s gift to the people of Mindanao. People have embraced the mighty Agusan River with all its nature to provide and to destroy. While the Agusan River may appear as a natural great divide connected by two bridges, it is also a natural point of convergence.
Through the test of time, this river has transformed itself not just into a mighty river but also a potential venue for varied water sports activities and festivities. One of the great characteristics of the river is its serenity and enormous width making it perfect venue for water sports such as the Dragon Boat.
Present realities however show that this River is now in great danger due to the illegal mining and logging activities happening upstream. It will l take a long time for the once Mighty river to recover its beauty and its generosity to offer life. This is the foundation of FSUU’s dragon boating initiative.
Father Saturnino Urios Dragon Boat Team (FSUU DBT) has been in existence for over a year and has shown its potential.
Our team is not just about young college students who posses the skills in paddling , its about young students allowing themselves to be instruments of the university and the city about an important advocacy: Protection of the mighty Agusan river. Without this in the minds of the members, thier paddling do not have meaning . The members appreciate the power of the river to GIVE and to TAKE BACK and therefore there is so much pride in becoming a member of the Team. one characteristic of the team is their spirit of volunteerism specially in times of disasters / calamities.
Membership is open to university students so long as they have the stamina and the strength demanded by this sport. Employees and alumni may also join provided they can commit to the discipline we have put in place to become a competitive team member.
