I, however, allowed reality to fully embrace me, and it sink in into my very being. At first, visualizing the vivid picture of hopelessness, the miserable condition of my fellowmen, in the sinking ship where I am standing now, leads me to a very deep feeling of melancholy and despair. Even so, as I received the light of education, which is the greatest present I received from my beloved parents, that is guiding me forward, awareness of the status quo then leads to realization, and that realization gradually empowered me to take a paintbrush and share to the world the colors of a better living.
As Dr. Jose Rizal, our national hero penned his thoughts, “The youth is the fair hope of the fatherland”. With no reservations at all, I completely agree with what he said because we, the youth, are born with vigor and with the passion and fervor that is burning inside us along with the selfless concern to ease the lives of our fellow being, more or less, we CAN directly or indirectly touch those souls which seek for comfort.
The words of the great Mahatma also served as a beacon to me as I envision of a better world. “You are the change that you wish to happen”, he said. Indeed it is true! Improvement really begins with I. Personally speaking; little-by-little improvements with our perspectives in life and manifestations of good actions are great contributing factors in the larger view of development we are aspiring. We must contribute to our vision if we really are sincere with it.
Get Involved. Volunteer
My time in the university has changed me and is continue changing me for the greater good. Sophistication and intelligence are but two of the things that my university has offered me so far. However, the most important of all is that it instilled me a genuine sense of social responsibility that is ought to be fulfilled in any ways possible.
I am already in second year college taking up liberal arts in one of the academic institutions in the heart of a place called the “University Belt”. Before, I was one of those people in the matrix of the intertwined roads of the metropolis who just go with the incontrollable flow of modernization. I usually burn my eyebrows for a long night of study and more often than not, take home with me remarkable grades from school, which, for me, is a mark of a responsible student. At times, I also hang out with friends to watch the latest movie or to gimmick in the nearest places available: internet café, malls, name it! In short, there is no extraordinary about my subsistence aside from being studious and yes, a youth who knows how to have fun occasionally.
All that altered when a good friend of mine invited me to join one of the organizations in campus called the Tamaraw Volunteers (Tamaraw is the mascot of our university), the school’s only socio-civic, student-empowered organization. I was in my first year in college by then. I never had second thoughts in joining, since from the start of the term, I had been actually looking for organizations for me to get affiliate with. I was then exposed to the exciting world of STUDENT VOLUNTEERISM!
The Tamaraw Volunteers actually serves as an eye-opener to me for it uncovered me to life’s realism: the life outside the stunning walls of the prestigious university, the kind of life with which the majority of the people in our country is having. Not only did it ignite my awareness to the social condition subjugating many of my fellowmen, it also gives me the rare opportunity to essentially lend hands to these people in need.
I finally found myself. Ralph Emerson is right when he said that “the best way to find ourselves is to lose it into the service of others.” I indulge myself to volunteer opportunities, an opportunity to make a difference, an opportunity of sharing oneself to others.
February 25, 2005 marked my being a student volunteer. Since it was a commemoration of a very significant national event in the country, the People Power Revolution Anniversary which ousted a famous dictator during the Dark Ages, Tamaraw Volunteers, together with a Christian youth guild named Youth for Christ, sponsored a housebuilding activity (not a rally!) for the benefit of the fire victims in a certain place in the nearby city. Unexpectedly, together with other student volunteers, I was able to do construction works necessary for us to accomplish a single house: transporting sacks of building materials, mixing gravels, sands and cement, painting the houses, among others-the kind of activities I am not originally inclined to do.
After doing the day’s task, I felt completely happy with the sense of accomplishment overflowing inside me ignoring the stirring heat from the sun. That particular housebuilding activity ushered me to more volunteer works which include volunteering as facilitator in a Walk for a Cause (for the street children), in a Music Summit (for HIV/AIDS awareness), in various Children’s Immersions, and as a staff/telemarketer at the UNICEF Office in the country who always need free man power.
Days after being a member of the fulfilling organization, I was lucky being elected a member of the Executive Board as the Director of its Chamber on Humanitarian Aid, the chamber assigned to channeling humanitarian actions (care of the sick, victims of calamities, housebuilding activities, etc.).
Steadily, my social involvement experienced gradual transformation. Being sensible enough, I am able to discern the needs of the people in my society. Transgressing from being a typical student, I am able to get involved in their living by taking part in numerous volunteer opportunities made available by the organization I am affiliated with and also by umpteen civic-oriented non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as the Kythe, Inc. (care of the sick children particularly those with cancer), Hands on Manila (varied areas of volunteerism), UNICEF (concerned with the varied needs of the children in the country), Volunteers for Channeling Humanitarian Actions toward Nation’s Goodness and Excellence (varied areas of volunteerism), EON (environmental protection), among others.
Address a Problem. Conceptualize a Project
Now in my sophomore year in college, I advanced as the organizational Vice-President. Volunteerism still occupies a great portion of my heart. However, given the greater chance to serve the needy and the weak, together with my fellow officers, we conceptualize projects to address the various concerns of my society which focal points are directed towards the following:
1. housing
2. financial literacy
3. livelihood
4. education (basic skills and computer literacy)
Recognizing the very vital role of houses in the development of the society, the Tamaraw Volunteers together with our university administration and our supreme student council, worked hand-in-hand for the building and enhancement (re-building) of the houses in a certain place we now adopted as a University Village. This project is inspired by another project - GK 777 - by an NGO called Gawad Kalinga (means ‘to render care’) which aimed at building or rebuilding houses for the poor and the homeless. Each of the 25, 000 students in campus, alongside with the faculty members, dole out from their pockets a very minimal amount for this very noble endeavor that, when added together, could already build a number of homes for the beneficiaries aside from the contributions of the university alumni and members of the Board of Trustees and other individual entities. The chains of groups involved in this project envision the erection of 30 houses in 3 years.
To transform this vision into reality, the Tamaraw Volunteers contributed precious hours to the manpower in the building process. Whenever necessary, we provide aid in house construction which is made possible by our dedicated member students majoring in diverse fields of study (e.g. political science, architecture, legal management, nursing, physical therapy, mass communication, English language, etc.). Occasionally, to encourage students’ participation in this undertaking and also, to make them cognitive of the status quo, the organization finds ways to invite other student organization to participate in the gratifying housebuilding activities that we are conducting such as the student councils of various university colleges (or ‘institutes’ as we all it).
Another area of concern that we worked to develop is the financial literacy and the livelihood capacity of the people with whom we are extending our hands. Via the help of the University Office of Student Affairs and Community Services (OSACS), we are able to know the need of these people thru the need assessment (who we reckoned as mothers and fathers because of the mutual bond we developed during the housebuilding activities we conducted) even before we constructed houses for them. Surveys tackling the means of their livelihood, post and pre tests were also given to these people aging 30 up, of both genders. With the grant award we received from a tilt sponsored by the Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) and Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) amounting to $720 in 3 consecutive years, we were able to sponsor three (3) business-oriented seminars which are aimed at teaching the people means of livelihood, managing of business, budgeting and proper bookkeeping, among others. Moreover, with the same grant, we were able to give these people businesses in the form of an eatery and a mini store.
Another means of livelihood they learned from us and from Gawad Kalinga is craft and candle-making. Again, the university students, through the Institute Student Councils and the Tamaraw Volunteers, provide them the materials needed for this livelihood project in the form of old telephone directories which are usually thrown after being used. The university even allowed them to sell their by-products inside the university premises during the product fair with the us, the members of the Tamaraw Volunteers as facilitators.
In terms of literacy, the OSACS requested for the labor of the students and faculty of education to teach the people and the children the basics skills which include reading, writing, and arithmetic. Just recently, OSACS with the Tamaraw Volunteers, had a dialogue with the representatives from a sister school to sponsor houses as part of their community outreach program. In addition to this, we encouraged them to provide computer literacy since their major discipline covers Information Technology and other computer-related courses. Now, the construction of a multi-purpose hall is in the process where we are to hold teaching activities and probably, the site of the day care center.
These projects are but focused in providing assistance in just one slum in the nearby city. Just like what Mother Theresa shared, “if you cannot feed a hundred people, then feed just one”. With the project we have, I purely believe that we do not only feed these people, we are also able to transform their lives into a better one. What makes it innovative is the impact it has done to the community in general and to the over-all transformation of the site and also, these projects are already replicated in another place we opted, now in the province, benefiting more and more people. The testimonials of these people whose lives we touched, alongside with the surveys and post tests we conducted, are enough reasons to rejoice and to confirm that we got the affirmative by-product of our social vision.
My other involvement covers my affiliation with an NGO called the Volunteers for Change (Channeling Humanitarian Actions toward Nations Goodness and Excellence) whose founders are actually alumni of the Tamaraw Volunteers. We are recently helping a certain tribe called the Dumagats who are living far from civilization and modernization. In order to arrive in their place, one has to walk 6 to 8 hours in its 4 mountain trails. It’s that far, really! But with a cup of determination and willingness to help these indigenous people, nothing can hinder us from doing immersions, not even the absence of electricity where we cannot use our modern gadgets, not even the absence of air-conditioned rooms, comfort rooms, flashy cars, etc. The first project we are conducting is to provide them better means of livelihood. From the early immersions of the members, we learned that the Dumagats still practice the dreaded Kaingin system (clash-and-burn method) in order to survive. The timbers they cut are being sold in the city for a meager price and the empty space of the land is used to planting banana trees and other ‘weak’ trees. ‘Innocence’ may be the right term to depict the over-all condition of the Dumagats. Because of our concern to the environment and to the people, we, in our next immersion, as a product of our consultation and meeting with the tribe members and heads, shall be building the goat pen for the livelihood they opted (goat business).
Much is to be developed in the process. The four mountains we sauntered every time we have immersions cannot block our ways towards our vision for the Dumagats who are all hopefuls with our initiative. Just like what we, in Tamaraw Volunteers, have accomplished in the University Village, we are also to replicate it as projects for the tribe. With the help of the nursing student members of the organization, we are to conduct medical missions in the tribe for we learned that they are still opting for the traditional methods, though they told us that a group of Korean granted them medicines when the latter visited them. Education and literacy shall also be the focused of our immersions which will include the teaching of the basic skills. And aside from the goats that we will grant them, from concerned people whom we reached (university officials, organizational member’s family and friends, etc.), we are also planning to develop their craft making skills since they have the needed materials and to develop their agricultural capacities as means of food and livelihood.
I deemed my involvement in various volunteer works, community building in the University Village and in the tribe of the Dumagats I already mentioned not enough without me responding to the very needs of the people in my OWN village, the place where my body literally resides.
As an offshoot to my personal vision in my community, I co-inspired the establishment of a youth organization in our subdivision in order to address various community problems we have. With the help of a village official by then, who happened to be a family friend, we, with my community friends who are but playmates during the early stage of my existence, are able to organize a youth organization with the hope to be catalysts of change in our place. We called it “North Matrix Youth Organization” (NMYO) coined after the name of our subdivision. Drug addiction is one of the primary problems we have involving the youth. In order to address this, we encouraged membership of all the youth members of the community and we organize activities and projects that would save these youth from the deep crevices of malfunctioning, infectivity and apathy. Such projects, which are jointly coordinated with the barangay government, include sports fest, band competition, art contests, singing and dancing workshop, among others. Furthermore, to Christianize the village, with the help of the community church, we encourage children and youth alike to attend the Vacation Bible School which is usually held during summer to teach them good values of faith, honesty, friendship, etc.
There is really something special about the existence of the youth like me. There may be many problems bombarding the country, or even the world in wider scale, but with one another helping to solve these, truly, impossibility will never find its way.
To end, as I narrated my significant involvement in community building, allow me to reiterate that in order to make a change, one has to be: at first, sensible and knowledgeable about the status quo. Next to this, he has to be personally involved in community development by way of volunteering in various cause-oriented endeavors. Gradually, given or having the opportunity or the greater chance, one may help address a specific problem by conceptualizing effective projects (solutions) which are of long-term goals and effectivity. And last but certainly not the least, INSPIRE or motivate others to do the same because I believe that the more the people are involve in making a positive difference, the greater the chance that the world be transformed for the greater good!
In the end of the day, the usual picture we see where poverty and scarcity are the facts of life, where countless vagabonds continue roaming around the city, where the sick find no comfort, where the homeless feel cold at night, will all be gone in an instant. Now, the masterpiece of life which encapsulated the realism will now be seen hanging painted with hues and excellent combination of colors done by the skillful hands of social dreamers who act us “mirrors who shared his light to the world” (Edith Wharton).
Being in a third world country where the majority of the people (more than 60%) is living below the poverty line, I am equally challenged to work for the social vision I captured picturesque in mind. Stated in my paper, my bone of contention which is based on personal experiences having been actively involved in community improvement develops in the following core:
a. Be sensible. Know the status quo/ need.
b. Get involved. Volunteer!
c. Address a problem. Conceptualize a project.
d. Inspire. Motivate other to make a change.
These four (4) have been my very beacon in making a positive difference to the lives of the people who we touched. Moreover, the following are the specific groups of people benefited from my community involvement and also the areas of concerns we addressed:
a. university village-housing, financial literacy, livelihood, education
b. Dumagat tribe (an indigenous group in the country)- livelihood, health, agriculture, literacy
c. my own village- values development, drug addiction, cleanliness and sanitation
In the end, we will all learn that the role of the youth in social development should never be underestimated. Our vigor and passion, when properly inspired, can be the key ingredients to solving various community problems existing in any given society. Networking and proper channeling are also important exemplified by the presence of cause-oriented NGOs in the country who are also providing venue for transformation. My main conclusion also revolves around the four cores I stated above.
