women spiritual leaders continue to lead in worship rituals although forced into the shadows and banned from public practice by mainstream and institutional religions, their spirituality sadly vanished as works of superstition and sometimes branded as religious deviance. 8. Sama Dilaut belongs to the animistic and shamanic traditions of Sulu, Sulawesi and Borneo where mostly female shamans, healers, geomancers and ritual leaders continue to function in important life-cycle and fertility rituals maintaining metaphysical balance in birth-death-and-rebirth. Meanwhile, in Muslim societies, there are mystics and sufis whose spirituality is centered on Love of the Divine Feminine and many of whose venerated saints, women among them, remain to be inspirations of even Royal dynastic authorities in Java, for instance. Even mainstream Muslims who uphold the hadith or prophetic sayings as important cornerstone of Shari’a, believe Prophet to have said that ‘paradise is at the foot of the mother’ while Qur’an emphasizes on God’s mercy and compassion as balanced with Her graciousness and benevolence as of a ‘Ruhum’ or womb that nurtures and propagates. 9. At the learning centers and Schools for Living Traditions, we celebrate these beliefs and practices and ensure that they are being transfered from generation to generation. It has been inspiring that women and girls have been the most enthusiastic participants as learners and cultural leaders, affirming that before the introduction of new and modern learning systems, women were at the center of communal and traditional life as producers of knowledge and holders of culture. 10. The international community, the United Nations system, State and government institutions and civil society believing in intercivilizational dialogue and inter-religious harmony, and advocating plurality and diversity could not do any less, more than ever it must increase and sustain efforts to contribute in helping build the capacity of ethnic and religious minority women for them to reclaim their centrality and lead in reenergizing their communities’ traditional wisdom and knowledge systems. 11. Thank you and peace be upon us all. Ms. Mucha-Shim Quiling-Arquiza Lumah Ma Dilaut (House-in-the-Sea) Center for Living Traditions Katutubong Alyansang Lumad-Moro tungo sa Mapagpalayang Edukasyon KAALAM ( Solidarity of Lumad-Moro for Liberating Education] Zamboanga City, Philippines Email: lumah_dilaut@yahoo.com www.houseinthesea.wordpress.com