For us, the greatest proof was what we saw on the ground, in the Philippines. My daughter Mia and I joined the 2006 Bayanihan Build in Quirino Province. We worked for one week alongside the beneficiary families in building their homes. We dug foundations, poured concrete, made partitions, painted walls. We saw firsthand the bayanihan spirit that building a community evokes. We shared stories of struggle and hope with the families. And we saw the hope that a home brings to a poor family.
And that is the first cornerstone of GK- providing a colorful, decent home one family at a time, one village at a time. For $1500, you can build a small house- 16 ft by 12 ft, made of hollowblocks and concrete, with a real roof, doors, windows. To us this might be small space, but to these families, this is the first time they will have a home. But it is not the house itself that builds the community- it is the working together among neighbors, among the kapitbahayan, that builds the community spirit. This removes the violence and anger- for how can you be angry at your neighbor- he built your house, and you built his. This is the start of moving away from the slum mentality- in one year or less, there is no crime, no violence in GK communities. If you give people a shot at a decent, clean life, they will want to stay that way. In the process, since they were involved with building, the fathers get a culture of “work”, and they become empowered as fathers again- providers and protectors of their family. We shared stories of broken fathers, made whole by the dignity of work in building his family’s shelter.
And that’s where it starts. You also build in the community a school, you provide funds for a qualified preschool teacher, so the kids are in school and not in the streets. You have a program for elementary school-age children (SIBOL), and a program for teens (SIGA). These children will never be slum children again, we have many stories fo former squatters getting college educations. Thus you break the cycle of poverty.
Then you have a livelihood component- Gawad Kabuhayan. This can be site-specific, but example projects include handicrafts, plant nurseries and gardening, vegetable gardening, a fertilizer facility, food (longanisa/tocino) industry, eco-tourism. This makes the village sustainable. Then you have a health component – Gawad Kalusugan- supported by volunteer medical professionals from the Phil and abroad. You focus on eradicating waterborne diseases, immunizations, eradicating TB, providing good health practices. An you have continuous lessons and support for the Kapitbahayan association. You build a real, working community of people so they see each other as a community, uplifting their situations together. You build this for communities of at least 30 houses, and you get the impact of scale. Hindi tingi-tingi. Then you replicate it across the country, and set a big, audacious goal of GK 777- 700,000 homes in 7,000 communities, in 7 years. And you say to each other, kaya natin iyan. It can be done. We saw it in Baseco, Tondo – 3000 homes in what as formerly the heart of violence and gangs among squatters.
Here in North Carolina, we started in 2005, and with the help of our brothers and sisters in Charlotte, the Triad, Asheville, and even SC, we were able to build a village of 30 homes. That is the village we visited in Quirino province. In 2006, once again, the people of NC rose to the challenge, and we were able to fund the Village of the Carolinas II, to be built in Naga City. This year, we are going to rise up to the challenge, and build not just one, but several villages. And we can do it.
It started with a dream, but now it is reality. The dream has become the dream of hundreds of thousands of volunteers in the Philippines and abroad, and we saw this when we were there. People like you and me who may have given up on government, are buying into this dream, and dedicating their lives so we can lift the Philippines from a third world country into a model for development. It is happening- the miracle of GK, that has been recognized by the Phil. Government, by governments in Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, that has been recognized with awards and citations.
But let us not forget that it is powered by love. The volunteers that we met- young college graduates, old folks, balikbayans, showing their love for God and country in this unique way- they were finding a deeper purpose in life because of GK. They have internalized the meaning of “less for self, more for others, enough for all”.
So if you look at GK with our minds – we cannot argue with the results. We can see how effective the approach is. If we look with our hearts, how can we not be touched by this patriotism and love. We say bayan, bayani, bayanihan.
I invite all of you to learn more about GK at www.gawadkalinga.org. We can all be heroes for our country and for the poorest of the poor. GK 777, Kasali tayo diyan!
Showing posts with label GK. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GK. Show all posts
Sunday, August 5, 2007
About GK
Below is the text of the little speech I gave at the two screenings of the GK Movie "Paraiso" in Cary, NC.
Good afternoon. Magandang hapon po sa inyong lahat.
Once in your life, you become part of something that is bigger than anything you’ve ever experienced. Two years ago, my wife Bembe literally stumbled onto this organization called Gawad Kalinga. On her highschool batch email list, a former classmate mentioned GK. When she first mentioned it to me, I was skeptical. We probably all have experiences with charities and non-profits that have good intentions but are not effective and do not make a difference. Because of these experiences, we are sometimes skeptical, even suspicious.
But we soon found out that GK is different. The language was different. This is not a charity, this is a movement. The vision is not addressing only one issue- it is grand – transforming our motherland, the Philippines, from a third world country with slums to a country with pride, dignity- one home, one community, at a time. And the manner in which this is being done is different. This is not a charity concerned only with raising funds to give to the poor, this is work guided by love for others, where the poor are involved in helping themselves and their neighbor, where the process of transformation is as important as the results. And because of this approach, the results are phenomenal- more than 20,000 new homes in more than 1,000 communities in almost all provinces in the Philippines, from the northern tip of Luzon to the southern provinces in Muslim Mindanao. What is different with GK? Why is it that this movement started by CFC in the late 1990s has become such a sweeping movement with hundreds of thousands of volunteers, all dedicated and giving their time, talents, and treasures? Anong kakaiba sa Gawad Kalinga?
The answer is simple: GK is an expression of the greatest force in the world- LOVE. The work of GK is the expression of our love for neighbor, as we are called, as Christians, as Filipinos, to do. It is the expression of our core beliefs as humans: human dignity, respect, the belief that we are on this earth not only for ourselves but for each other. This was very powerful stuff. Most of us will probably say- that’s all well and good, but show me the proof. Show me that this is not just a flash in the pan, ningas cogon, some front for someone with other intentions. We have over the years, as Filipinos, become used to this.
But GK is different, because the message is true, and witnessed by many heroes who have dedicated their time, efforts, their lives for the cause of the poor. There is Dylan Wilk, with not a drop of Filipino blood, who turned away from a life of leisure and riches, and found his life’s work in GK. There are heroes like Rose Cabrera, who walked away from 6-figure salaries in the US, to dedicate her life to GK. There are three stories of love and hope that we will see today.
Good afternoon. Magandang hapon po sa inyong lahat.
Once in your life, you become part of something that is bigger than anything you’ve ever experienced. Two years ago, my wife Bembe literally stumbled onto this organization called Gawad Kalinga. On her highschool batch email list, a former classmate mentioned GK. When she first mentioned it to me, I was skeptical. We probably all have experiences with charities and non-profits that have good intentions but are not effective and do not make a difference. Because of these experiences, we are sometimes skeptical, even suspicious.
But we soon found out that GK is different. The language was different. This is not a charity, this is a movement. The vision is not addressing only one issue- it is grand – transforming our motherland, the Philippines, from a third world country with slums to a country with pride, dignity- one home, one community, at a time. And the manner in which this is being done is different. This is not a charity concerned only with raising funds to give to the poor, this is work guided by love for others, where the poor are involved in helping themselves and their neighbor, where the process of transformation is as important as the results. And because of this approach, the results are phenomenal- more than 20,000 new homes in more than 1,000 communities in almost all provinces in the Philippines, from the northern tip of Luzon to the southern provinces in Muslim Mindanao. What is different with GK? Why is it that this movement started by CFC in the late 1990s has become such a sweeping movement with hundreds of thousands of volunteers, all dedicated and giving their time, talents, and treasures? Anong kakaiba sa Gawad Kalinga?
The answer is simple: GK is an expression of the greatest force in the world- LOVE. The work of GK is the expression of our love for neighbor, as we are called, as Christians, as Filipinos, to do. It is the expression of our core beliefs as humans: human dignity, respect, the belief that we are on this earth not only for ourselves but for each other. This was very powerful stuff. Most of us will probably say- that’s all well and good, but show me the proof. Show me that this is not just a flash in the pan, ningas cogon, some front for someone with other intentions. We have over the years, as Filipinos, become used to this.
But GK is different, because the message is true, and witnessed by many heroes who have dedicated their time, efforts, their lives for the cause of the poor. There is Dylan Wilk, with not a drop of Filipino blood, who turned away from a life of leisure and riches, and found his life’s work in GK. There are heroes like Rose Cabrera, who walked away from 6-figure salaries in the US, to dedicate her life to GK. There are three stories of love and hope that we will see today.
The starting line
Well, we're off and running!
I started this blog to serve as my running log as I train for my very first marathon. On Nov. 4, 2007, I hope to be at the starting line of the City of Oaks Marathon (www.cityofoaksmarathon.com). I am training so I can run/walk/crawl 26.2 miles. All the books I've read say only 1% of all people has done this- complete a marathon. Well, I like my odds already :)
I am running to raise awareness and advocate for Gawad Kalinga- a national movement in the Philippines that is transforming the nation. My wife and I became volunteers for GK in 2005, and the ANCOP-GK (Answering the Cry of the Poor) team of volunteers in North Carolina has managed to help raise funds for 2 GK Villages already! (More on this later). I have committed to become a member of the GK Hero's Run Team- committed to raising funds for at least 1 house ($1500). We have about 10 people running for GK in the Raleigh-Durham area in NC. So this blog is to share my thoughts about GK, as well as sharing my thoughts (and pains) during the training.
Glad to have you along for the ride!
I started this blog to serve as my running log as I train for my very first marathon. On Nov. 4, 2007, I hope to be at the starting line of the City of Oaks Marathon (www.cityofoaksmarathon.com). I am training so I can run/walk/crawl 26.2 miles. All the books I've read say only 1% of all people has done this- complete a marathon. Well, I like my odds already :)
I am running to raise awareness and advocate for Gawad Kalinga- a national movement in the Philippines that is transforming the nation. My wife and I became volunteers for GK in 2005, and the ANCOP-GK (Answering the Cry of the Poor) team of volunteers in North Carolina has managed to help raise funds for 2 GK Villages already! (More on this later). I have committed to become a member of the GK Hero's Run Team- committed to raising funds for at least 1 house ($1500). We have about 10 people running for GK in the Raleigh-Durham area in NC. So this blog is to share my thoughts about GK, as well as sharing my thoughts (and pains) during the training.
Glad to have you along for the ride!
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