Ukraine's Suffering, depicted in a Sand Animation by Kseniya Simonova

The winner of Ukraine's Got Talent is someone remarkably different from many of the national talent TV shows around the world. Kseniya Simonova moves the audience to tears as she tells the story of Ukraine's World War 2 sufferings using sand:



The final text Kseniya Simonova writes at the end of the piece is in Russian, translated "you are always near" or "you are always close".

And for some background information on Ukraine's suffering:

Nazi Germany’s greatest war crime is the Holocaust, of course, but the genocides against Ukrainians and Belarusians constitute a close second. And yet, while the Holocaust is common knowledge, few know much about the extermination of Ukrainians and Belarusians — and Germans may know about this least of all. The tragedy of these peoples’ suffering in the war has been compounded by the world’s almost complete ignorance and indifference.

That lamentable condition may be about to change, if only among professional historians. In a ground-breaking article that was published in the July 16 issue of The New York Review of Books, Yale University historian Timothy Snyder describes in excruciating detail just how Nazi policy was directed at exterminating first the Jews and then the Slavs. Since Belarus and Ukraine were occupied for almost four years, they suffered enormous population losses.

According to Snyder: “Half of the population of Soviet Belarus was either killed or forcibly displaced during World War II: nothing of the kind can be said of any other European country. … The peoples of Ukraine and Belarus, Jews above all but not only, suffered the most, since these lands were both part of the Soviet Union during the terrible 1930s and subject to the worst of the German repressions in the 1940s. If Europe was, as Mark Mazower put it, a dark continent, Ukraine and Belarus were the heart of darkness.”

The devastation that affected both countries is even greater when one considers their experiences in the Stalinist 1930s and in World War I. Ukraine lost at least 3 million people in the genocidal famine of 1933. Both countries also served as the main killing fields of the Eastern Front during World War I (1914-18), the Civil War in Russia (1918-21) and the Polish-Russian War (1919-21).

Ukraine and Belarus experienced nearly 40 consecutive years of relentless death and destruction, starting in 1914 and ending with Stalin’s death in 1953.

Although Soviet Russia bears a great deal of responsibility for the killing, the lion’s share falls on Germany.

And yet Germany, which so assiduously remembers its crimes during the Holocaust, has still to build one monument to the millions of Belarusians and Ukrainians its armies killed in the 20th century.

How can this blindness be explained?

Read the full article here

GK Caretakers Giving Care

Baseco lies at the mouth of the Pasig River, squeezed between the river the heavy industry of Manila's ports. The river flows first through bustling Manila, collecting industrial waste, human waste and the muddy run-off of rain from thousands of dusty streets, bringing it all to Baseco.

Row upon row of crowded pole-houses line the river, and children swim in the river or row their Kankong rafts up and down the filthy waterway.

Baseco is a neighborhood known in the past more for its gangs and violence than anything good; a place where men care more for their fighting roosters than their children. A place where Police fear to tread and taxis will not venture.

However, in recent years a Gawad Kalinga village has made Baseco famous for different reasons. Both in the Philippines and around the world GK Baseco has become known for its transformation hopelessness to hope, from despair to dignity.

Visitors from diverse backgrounds have graced the village from the President of Singapore and American Ambassador, to students from Manila's universities, to employees and executives from multinational corporations and government departments. Even scare and precious land was secured, signed over to the GK village by President Macapagal-Arroyo herself.

In turn, the beneficiaries of Baseco’s transformation can often be found building houses for others in remote areas of the Philippines as part of GK's Bayani Challenges.

Such are the manifold success stories of Baseco that it's easy to forget how difficult transformation is to achieve. For Project Director Jun Valbuena and his Caretaker Team, the struggle has been a labor of love forged over the last four plus years of their lives. Many of them have worked alongside the villagers in Baseco since the start - when GK Baseco was resurrected from the ashes of a fire in the Baseco slum in 2004.

And given the many obvious changes, Tito Jun Valbuena is startlingly circumspect.

"After 4 years we've seen a little change," Jun says, surprising those who witness firsthand the incredible before-after contrast. "Not really big change - you cannot change the people overnight,” he remarks. “But we're experiencing some changes, some transformation in the people."

Habits of a lifetime can be hard to change, Jun says, especially for adults who have their entire life in a slum. But the GK team works hard to prevent their village slipping back into a slum, and over the four years things have progressed significantly.

"The place is clean in the morning," Jun describes, a big change from the past slum. "The children learn to take care of the environment, to maintain the cleanliness of their surroundings."

And like the environment, people are also being renewed daily.

"Little by little we're transforming the people," Jun says. "Each Monday for the last four years, we have a prayer and worship session at 8am. I'm here each Monday at 8am and people are already waiting to pray and meet, and talk about their problems and challenges."

And the community is developing momentum. Where in the past GK provided leadership to a community struggling to face life’s trials, many residents are now forging their own way forward. "Nowadays they're the ones bringing the solutions (to problems)," Jun describes. "We just talk it over with them."

When asked what makes the biggest difference in Baseco’s ongoing transformation, Valbuena answers without hesitation.

"It's the presence of caretakers!" he exclaims. GK's strength over the years has been the presence of couples, singles and youth from Couples For Christ, working alongside the residents and witnessing to them with their hands, not just their words. The caretaker teams work to change attitudes and life perspective, mentoring the communities with values formations programs and constant support.

"It's showing them the love that we share with them," Jun notes, sounding a word of caution. "I would say that whenever we see a GK site that is deteriorating in any way, it's because of an absence of caretakers."

Conversely, the most significant transformations have come about as a result of doors opened by the work of addressing poverty. "We're able to invite people into our community - to witness to them - because they see something good in us." The transformation and hospitality of GK Baseco’s residents has inspired many a heart over the years, from corporate leaders to diplomats to long-term foreign GK volunteers inspired to move to the Philippines to help.

Tito Isaac and Tita Baby Santos are part of Baseco’s Caretaker Team. "We are running the Christian Life Program (a program of Christian teaching) here right now, because we want the GK residents to be protected,” Tito Isaac says. “Because if there is no one to take care of them, to mentor them, they will go back to being in a slum again.”

“The survival mode is very hard to leave!" Tito Isaac emphasizes.

For Jun Valbuena and his team, commitment to the residents of Baseco arose from positive change in their own lives. "I've been in our community (CFC) for the last twenty-four years. There was a big change in my life since I joined and I want to share it with the people, with the couples here. "

Likewise, his greatest encouragement is seeing such change in Baseco residents. "It's seeing the transformation, the little transformation that we have done," he says. The small encouraging changes made the effort all worthwhile. "I was encouraged by that, that maybe I could do even more to show them our love.”

Jun says the change among the children is the most inspiring.

"I was really struck the first time we came here. You would ask a little girl 'what do you want to be when you grow up?' and she would answer 'I want to be a dancer in Japan'," Jun describes. "Because they would see that families with children going abroad to Japan could buy everything they wanted. They have television, videoke and beautiful dresses."

"But now, because of GK and the partners and visiting students, when you ask the little girl she says 'I want to be like my Ate, she's a nurse!'"

"And the little boy, before, he wanted to be a pedicab driver because his dad was a pedicab driver." Jun says. "Now if you ask him: "I want to be a doctor like kuya, an architect like kuya, an engineer like kuya!'
And it’s a positive thing that we see in every GK site not only in Baseco. We see it in Smokey Mountain and in all the different GK sites that I've been to. I've seen the transformation that has come in!"

He smiles and says, “I think for every GK worker it is like this. That's why we stay, it's because of love! We want to share the love that we're experiencing in every GK site."

"It's bringing glad tidings to the poor," He says, looking out over the village through eyes reflecting great fulfillment.

And walking around Baseco meeting children with a future brighter than ever before, visitors can see the legacy of the caretakers’ love taking shape day after day, step by lovingly nurtured step.

Kobe Bryant visits Gawad Kalinga

Credit to Carlo Cecilio for these photos of the NBA's Most Valuable Player Kobe Bryant visiting Gawad Kalinga.

"Gawad Kalinga's (GK) Sagip kids were going to receive a gift from Kobe, and were the only ones who got close to Kobe and were able to get autographs."

Great GK Article: Local execs into politics of caring GK way

By Chelo Banal-Formoso
Philippine Daily Inquirer, first posted 02:49:00 07/19/2009

MANILA, Philippines—When Filipinos migrate to America, Canada, Australia or some other country reputed to be a zone of prosperity, it is usually because the government is negligent, the economy is in shambles, the society is crumbling, and they cannot see the good in staying.

And when Filipinos mobilize themselves and leave their zone of comfort to provide their countrymen a basic necessity like shelter, it is usually because the government is negligent, the economy is in shambles, the society is crumbling, and they cannot see the good in staying put.

So being a government official/politician is perhaps the worst credential to present at any gathering attended by these two groups of people. But at the recent GK 2024 Summit held in Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States, Camarines Sur Gov. Luis Raymund (LRay) Villafuerte Jr. proved there is no such thing as a tough crowd when you are a Gawad Kalinga partner.

Originally a church ministry founded by Tony Meloto and his colleagues in Couples for Christ, Gawad Kalinga has become a multisectoral movement with a tweaked Robin Hood complex. Its mantra—the best for the least—means those who have shall give so those who have not may have houses and communities where they can live as decent human beings and strive for a better future.

With the support of local and global donors and volunteers, there are now over 2,300 GK villages in 400 towns in the Philippines, according to Meloto.

“We can’t keep track of the number of houses but that should be over 150,000,” he said, adding that GK had enough land saved for 550,000.

Marketing man

Immigrants, those hyphenated Filipinos who have made something of themselves in the new country, are responsible for a good number of the existing GK villages (Meloto calls it patriotic philanthropy).

Their faith in GK has as much to do with the kind of leader Meloto is not—he is not a flash-in-the-pan activist, a scoundrel in government, or a slimy politician—as with the kind he is.

For one, he is a brilliant marketing man out “to engage every sector of the society, to bridge social gaps, [and] to transcend partisan politics, business rivalries and parochial interests” in the GK mission of nation-building.

Toward that end, Meloto organized the Boston summit and balanced the presentations from the private sector with show-and-tell from the national, provincial and local governments.

“I wanted to show that GK has broken the trust barrier,” he said.

Meloto couldn’t have done better than pick LRay Villafuerte to talk about Camarines Sur. On the second day of the powwow, before an audience of overseas Filipinos and international CEOs who least expected to be wowed by a third-generation politician and his disaster-prone province, Villafuerte proceeded to deliver the kapow!—complete with a slide show and a video.

For many years, the dream for Camarines Sur was to overcome crippling poverty,” said the governor, disarmingly young at 41.

He talked about a province that was beset by insurgency, as if getting hit by one typhoon after another was not debilitating enough.

It was, he said, a province that could not “come within reach of progress.”

Brand change

The first thing he and his team did, Villafuerte said, was to get rid of a poor image. They dropped the rather lengthy and stodgy name of the province and nicknamed it with something hip, something beckoning and something blue: CamSur.

The minute he said it, the stateside crowd must have thought of the ocean, or the waves a la Big Sur. Quite a hook.

After the brand change, Villafuerte worked with a rough-and-ready determination to turn his hugely ignored province into a global tourist destination. In so doing, he attracted investments.

Three years ago, they built the CamSur Water Complex (CWC) for wakeboarding, water skiing and other extreme water sports. Two years ago, they developed the Caramoan Peninsula; just last year, they opened the Lago del Ray Park.

Early reviews of the CWC have been good, with international publications hailing it among the best in the world. In fact, it was the venue for the 2,000 participants of the 2008 World Wakeboarding Championships.

Endowed with beaches, lakes, cliffs, caves and other natural wonders, the Caramoan Peninsula whetted the appetite for the tropics of some 12 million TV viewers in Europe when it was chosen as location for the reality TV show “Survivor France” 2008 series. More recently, the tide brought in the “Survivor Israel” cast and crew.

Lago del Ray Park, envisioned as the biggest water sports and recreational facility in the country, offers water slides, aqua wall climbing, sailing, jet skiing, kayaking and many other water sports.

Because of these world-class resorts—and here Villafuerte paused to give his audience time to catch its breath—tourist arrivals in CamSur have risen by more than 300 percent!

Build it and they will come, indeed.

“We are now the country’s No. 3 tourist destination, next to Boracay and Cebu,” CamSur’s governor announced, his bright eyes matching his ardor. The audience cheered.

Bigger business

In a subsequent interview, Villafuerte proudly pointed out that “we are the only province [featured in] the front page photo of the Inquirer four times in two months!”

He said he and his team had put up a website that resulted in an astonishing volume of business.

Also, they made their rates affordable so as not to exclude the local market. Pinoy tourists check in from March to June, Australians fly in during their winter (June to September) and Europeans arrive during their cold months (October to March).

Villafuerte said there was no reason CamSur could not beat Cebu and Boracay in tourist arrivals once it had an international airport. “Everything is cheaper in CamSur,” he declared. “We also have the advantage of being accessible by land. The drive from Manila to Bicol is beautiful.”

CamSur has lured not only travelers but also investors.

Villafuerte ticked off a list before his audience—an animation center, the first and only one in the Philippines to make an all-digital animation film (“Dayo”); a 2,000-seat call center, the first and only one in Bicol; an English, Japanese and Korean Language Institute, also the first and only one in the region; an information and technology park, the first in Bicol with Peza approval; and so on.

“From being the 39th poorest province, we are now the 10th richest in terms of income,” he announced. “From being No. 12 in rice production, we are now the country’s fifth largest rice producer.”

Answer to the question

These inspired changes should have been enough to impress any crowd, but as this was a GK meet, the question remained: What have you done for the least of your brethren?

Villafuerte had an answer. Through land banking, CamSur allocated 12,000 lots for its landless and homeless constituents so that now there is a GK Village in each of its municipalities. Upon his election, without actually having met Meloto, he gave full support to GK and soon the number of GK villages in the province grew to 44.

CamSur pioneered the GK Bed & Breakfast Inns to accommodate donors and volunteers visiting GK sites, foreign observers studying the GK model of community-building, as well as tourists tired of the usual sightseeing and eager to plant trees, milk a carabao and get to know the locals in the countryside (what is called “volunteer vacation” in the travel industry).

In October 2008, at the launch of the GK B&B Inns in the towns of Iriga and Libmanan, Meloto and his merry band of builders declared CamSur the GK Designer Province.

The B&Bs are now a livelihood source for the GK villagers who are paid for cleaning, cooking and other hospitality services. All profits go to the GK Fund.

(Offstage, the governor disclosed another future source of income for his GK villagers: bus stop cafés to be put up along the highway where there are GK communities.)

CEO mentality

“I discovered genuine public service through Gawad Kalinga,” the multiawarded Villafuerte told his audience.

After his talk, people approached him to commend him, some saying they had made donations to GK villages in CamSur. This was confirmed by Meloto, who said that among the provinces, CamSur had drawn the most number of donors for GK communities.

“Because people can see immediate results, we get more volunteers, corporate donors and partners from abroad who want to invest in CamSur,” Meloto told the Inquirer. “LRay gets things done because he has the CEO mentality. We need young leaders like him who are visionaries and will be able to get the project off the ground.”

A business graduate of De La Salle University, Villafuerte was running a flourishing export business with his wife Lara before he ran for governor and took over from his father, Luis Sr. (with whom he has had a publicly known feud).

Villafuerte is only one of 28 governors who have teamed up with GK. Meloto welcomes help from elected and Cabinet officials “without judgment, as long as they adhere to our standards of integrity, transparency and accountability.”

Besides donating land, government leaders help solve problems relating to taxes, road access and water supply for the developments.

Mayors et al.

Over 400 mayors have joined GK, some of whom were invited to Boston to showcase the transformations of their towns and cities.

Parañaque Mayor Jun Bernabe is only on his second term but already has 26 GK villages in his city. Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, who is relocating 300 families from his turf to a 3.2-hectare property in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, promised free college education to their children. Freddy Tinga, Taguig’s young mayor, presented slides showing GK communities with lofts and landscaping. If CamSur is the GK Designer Province, Taguig, with 20 GK villages, is the GK Designer City.

Even national officials showed up in Boston.

Vice President Noli de Castro, who keynoted the GK Summit, is responsible for the government’s housing agencies and has partnered with GK for the relocation of “informal settlers” along railroad tracks and in six provinces.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan, a GK partner since 2001, is the first senator to donate GK villages in 16 provinces through his countryside development fund. Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, head of the Senate’s housing committee, has continued to work with GK alongside his father, Bukidnon Gov. Joe Zubiri, so that today there are GK villages in 16 towns in their province.

The audience did not scoff but soaked in the good news, took note of the good deeds, and trusted in the wisdom of Meloto’s words: “When the private sector gets to engage government in an honest way for the benefit of our citizens, we call it kalinga politics—the politics of caring.”

As Villafuerte himself said, “Gawad Kalinga is good politics.”

United Breaks Guitars

Following the Rickard/Palmer clan's assessment of airline and airport customer service experienced in the USA in recent months (especially compared to Asia), I thought some might appreciate this little tune that's getting quite a bit of coverage right now.

In spring 2008, Dave Carroll and his band Sons of Maxwell flew from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Omaha, by way of (shudder now, frequent fliers) Chicago. Just after landing at O’Hare airport, says Carroll, one of his bandmates and another passenger looked out their windows and saw baggage handlers heaving around guitars with wanton disregard.

Carroll says he complained immediately to three flight attendants, but was met with indifference.

Things never got any better and Carroll never had any luck getting United Airlines to help fix or replace the US$3,500 Taylor guitar broken by the baggage handlers...

So Dave Carroll decided to tell his story in song, this being the first song of an anticipated three-part "thank you" to United Airlines.

It's entertaining and worth a watch. It seems to be picking up quite a lot of traffic, so it may be that United will look to address the situation soon.




The full story can be read at Dave's website.

Three Cups of Tea

Just watching the video now, I was most intrigued to hear the term "sweat equity"...exactly what we talked about all the time in Gawad Kalinga...

Anyway...

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time

Definitely one of the most inspiring books I have purchased recently, Three Cups of Tea chronicles one man's failure when attempting one of the great feats of the modern world - climbing K2, the slightly shorter but rather more difficult to climb cousin of Mt Everest.

Fortunately though, it doesn't stop there. It also chronicles the magnificent success born out of Greg Mortensen's failure to stand atop K2.

Wandering deliriously down the mountainsides, Mortensen became lost, only to find himself rescued by the hospitality of the residents of a small and impoverished mountain village in Pakistan. In a fit of gratitude, he promised to return and build a school for the village, so their children might be educated.

Three Cups of Tea is a wonderful tale of how this first initial promise grew into a long but ultimately fruitful struggle to build schools for poor children in the mountainous northern regions of Pakistan. Greg Mortensen spent many months of each year working as an ER nurse to raise funds, returning to Pakistan to build schools with his own money and - for quite a few years - a small amount of funding from other sponsors.

The striving worked, though. Mortensen's work gathered momentum, albeit eventually. Years down the track he would be invited on talk shows, interviewed in Vanity Fair and even sell books to far-flung antipodeans.

And one of the most exciting things is that Mortensen's work in bringing areligious schooling to impoverished children in northern Pakistan works strongly against the rise of the Taliban in Pakistan today. Taliban recruits come from madrassas, Saudi-funded conservative (often militantly so) religious schools...the children who go through Mortensen's schools are not cannon fodder for terror organisations. Rather, these kids have real opportunity...

More next time then...

The book on Amazon

An interview on Youtube

Three Cups of Tea

1st GK Global Summit a historic success!

In case my last post seemed at all overly negative to the rich and powerful in the Philippines (at least, historically), I thought I'd do a roll call of credit for a few of the many in power now working hand in hand with GK.

These are in a post by one of the excellent leaders at GK, Issa Cuevas-Santos, on the Boston GK summit:

1st GK Global Summit a historic success!

Wed at 6:57pm
The almost 700 delegates from the US, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Columbia and the Philippines once again made history as they joined the historic gathering of Gawad Kalinga patriots, partners and friends last June 12-14, 2009 in Massachusetts for the first ever Gawad Kalinga 2024 Global Summit.

Boston was the only choice for the event, as the Summit was designed to be Gawad Kalinga’s coming out party, a unique opportunity to present the Gawad Kalinga template for community development and poverty eradication in the most prestigious academic setting in the world.

The choice of date was also of national significance, as the Event was also a celebration of the 111th anniversary of Philippine Independence. The Summit began with a flag raising ceremony outside the Marriott Cambridge Hotel, with no less than Philippine Vice President Noli de Castro in attendance, together with Philippine Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, and governors and mayors from the various provinces and towns of the Philippines. Cambridge Vice Mayor Sam Sneidel personally welcomed the delegates, and reiterated the significance of the friendship between the US and the Philippines, and the role of Filipino-Americans in shaping the future not just of America but the whole world.

It was followed by a Barrio Fiesta in the plaza right outside the hotel, one of the busiest train stations, and enticed guests and friends from New England to have a taste of Filipino food, culture and heritage. Led by Former Tourism Secretary Tony Gonzalez, the GK Exchange at the Marriott Grand Ballroom meanwhile became a venue for mayors and governors to showcase the beauty of their towns and cities, and highlighted tourism and investment opportunities. Mayors and Governors shared their vision for their town, and invited the guests to visit the Philippines.

GK Founder Tony Meloto also signed his book, Builder of Dreams, and delegates went around the room asking the significant people who shared their GK journey to also sign their personal copy. 7 special books were signed by all the Summit guests and VIPs, which were later auctioned and fetched a price of as high as USD 420, proceeds of which would go to Gawad Kalinga.

The evening was an opportunity for the delegates to show the world how Filipinos celebrate – truly world class entertainment led by Maestro Ryan Cayabyab and serenaded by world-renowed Filipino talents like Joey Albert, Stephanie Reese, Danny Javier and Louie Reyes. GK volunteers and partners came in their best Filipiniana attire, and expressed their deep love for the country through song.

Kabayan Noli de Castro honored the delegates with his presence, and thanked all the patriots from around the world who had not forgotten the Motherland. He also reiterated government’s commitment to support all GK initiatives, and even personally committed to continue being a friend to GK and to all who love the country.

Day 2

Despite the festivities of the night before, delegates were up and early the following day to attend the Breakfast Forum. At 7 AM, selected delegates were given an opportunity to have an intimate conversation with Summit speakers and guests to get their thoughts and exchange ideas on key local and global issues.

GK Executive Director opened the first plenary session, and provided the road map to 2024. He highlighted key points on building hope, leadership, heroism and peace as the pillars for the work ahead. Makati Mayor Jojo Binay spoke of transcending differences to build one nation, and US businessman Tony Olaes shared his journey as a second-generation Filipino American and GK’s important role in giving back identity and pride in our heritage. Former Agriculture Secretary Cito Lorenzo shared the key qualities of a transforming leader, and Philippine Marines Deputy Commandant Gen. Boing Ecarma presented the new model for peace and development through GK in Sulu.

Shell Country Chairman Ed Chua led the second plenary session entitled Creating Impact, Expanding Influence. He was supported by power presentors from the business sector like Keith Peterson and Pidoy Pacis of Saladmaster and PLDT-Smart president Butch Meilly, who outlined the reasons why Gawad Kalinga is the partner of choice of both local and multinational companies. Camarines Sur Governor LRay Villafuerte and Taguig Mayor Freddie Tinga presented the radical initiatives that they were starting in their own areas with Gawad Kalinga, and thanked GK for helping restore faith in government and promote a culture of transparency and accountability.

The key points during the morning were made concrete through the workshops in Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which highlighted GK’s best practices and the wholistic model for community development.

Renowned architect Bong Recio, United Nations Champion of the Earth awardee and Former Environment Secretary Bebet Gozun and award-winning developer Gerry Choa are part of GK’s powerhouse team for shelter and environment that presented the evolution of the GK model and its thrust towards building beautiful, cost-efficient and environmentally friendly communities that restore dignity to the residents but also uphold the integrity of creation. Meralco Vice President Leony dela Llana reiterated the commitment of Meralco led by Manolo Lopez to continue building Sibol schools, and Governors Victor Yap of Tarlac and Sally Lee of Sorsogon showed that political will at the provincial level could help leverage resources from private sector partners.

In Harvard, GK’s academic partners look center stage, as UP NCPAG Dean Alex Brillantes presented GK as the Philippines’ response to the Millennium Development Goals, and Former UP President Jose Abueva (through video) highlighted the role of GK in introducing social artistry in its communities. In the other room, Former Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz and best-selling author Alex Lacson showed the role of both government and private sector in helping the Philippines rise from Third-World poverty. Panelists in Harvard included Paranaque Mayor Jun Bernabe, Iloilo Mayor Jerry Trenas, Murcia Mayor Sonny Coscolluela, St. Bernard Mayor Rico Rentuza, San Isidro Mayor Sonia Lorenzo, and Daet Mayor Tito Sarion – all of them openly declaring that they were building slum free and squatter free towns and cities following the GK Way.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap wowed the delegates at the Marriott with his presentation of the Philippine government’s initiative to connect farms to the market, and help ensure food security for all Filipinos. Bayan-anihan’s Mike Dimagiba introduced GK’s farming program, and called on Mayor Dennis Go of Tarlac to show the multi-sectoral partnerships. Dr. Boy Abay and Dr. Elen Solis presented GK’s initiatives for health through Gawad Kalusugan.

Dean Laurence Simon of Brandeis University, a reactor for the Food and Health workshop, lauded Gawad Kalinga for its “outstanding achievements despite it being a young organization,” and for its faith based approach to community development. He was so inspired by what he saw that he committed to give one full scholarship to Brandeis University for Gawad Kalinga!

These declarations of commitment for GK’s work was more than enough reason to celebrate, and the delegates danced the night away during the Builders Ball. That night, village builders from North America and around the world were honored by GK’s Dylan Wilk and ANCOP USA’s Ricky Cuenca and Rick Munda. Delegates from the various regions and countries also took turns showing off their talents in dancing and singing, making the evening a truly festive celebration after a day of hard work.

Day 3

The day started with delegates giving their declarations for the poor and for the country. Congressman Rufus Rodriguez from Misamis Oriental started the ball rolling, by committing Php 2.5 Million for houses and another P2.5M Million for a road network for GK! Incoming BLD-GK Coordinator Bong Encarnacion reiterated BLD’s commitment to serve as caretakers and continue building villages. UCLA CFO Josie Castro pledged to do everything to get UCLA involved in GK, and also pledged to build one house every year in honor of her son’s birthday. ANCOP USA’s Ricky Cuenca spoke of their resolve to intensify even more on helping build up the GK movement, and St. Bernard Mayor Rico Rentuza spoke of every local chief executive’s commitment to continue building up their towns and cities the GK way. GK fulltimer Felice Caringal symbolized the students who are giving the best years of their life for the mission, and the session was capped by the Del Rosario family from Singapore, who committed their whole family not just to complete their GK village in the Philippines but also gladly accepted the challenge to host the next GK Global Summit in Singapore in behalf of GK Hi (Hope Initiative).

GK Founder Tony Meloto then presented Vision 2024, which was brought to life through the presentations of his panelists. CFC Global Director Joe Tale affirmed the delegates that there is no split between CFC and GK, and reiterated CFC's commitment to continue the mission with GK while allowing other work with the poor ministries of CFC to also grow. Globe’s Gerry Ablaza flew in just to be with the summit delegates for the Summit, and gave a heartwarming speech about his love for the country and his belief in the GK spirit. Archie King reiterated his desire to continue building multipurpose centers where GK residents could come together, and thanked GK for being a trustworthy partner of their foundation. Sen. Kiko Pangilinan reiterated his desire to keep building with Gawad Kalinga, and Sen. Migz Zubiri committed to build 10,000 homes by 2012 in Bukidnon. Sec. Arthur Yap praised Gawad Kalinga for being able to transcend all differences, and put various kinds of people and personalities in one room because a single cause to rebuild the nation.

Tito Tony then called to the stage all the other nationalities that were now helping bring GK to the global arena by getting training to build GK in their respective countries. Representatives from India and Columbia went up the stage, and spoke from the heart about how GK had inspired them to also help the poor in their own motherland, and how the GK spirit was now being embraced by the world.

The whole event was capped by GK1MB Head Mari Oquinena, who reminded the delegates to value friendships built in GK, and to not be afraid to raise the next generation of leaders that will continue the legacy that was started.

The 2024 Summit ended with Ryan Cayabyab leading the guests in singing “Ako ay Pilipino,” a fitting ending to a truly historic and life-changing event.

GK Global Summit in Boston: RP out of 3rd world status by 2024

An article from the Asian Journal on the recent GK Global Summit in Boston. It is an exciting time for the Philippines as it seems after 400 years of exploitation tolerated by those in power that the Philippines may actually have a chance to improve...

The call of Micah to match religious practice with justice for the poor may finally come to fruition. If the crabs aren't allowed to win, that is.

The Philippines has its own version of New Zealand's Tall Poppy Syndrome, called the 'crab mentality':

Crab mentality (sometimes also described as "crab in a bucket syndrome") describes a way of thinking best described by the phrase "if I can't have it, neither can you." The metaphor refers to a pot of crabs. Singly, the crabs could easily escape from the pot, but instead, they grab at each other in a useless "king of the hill" competition which prevents any from escaping and ensures their collective demise. The analogy in human behavior is that of a group that will attempt "pull down" (negate or diminish the importance of) any member who achieves success beyond the others, out of jealousy or competitive feelings.

Will those who are jealous of GK's success - either because of a loss of personal power or because it highlights their own failure to use the power they have to address injustice - attempt to destroy the work regardless of the consequences for the poor of the Philippines, or will GK prevail in its fight to make the Philippines a more Christian environment for its poor?

I certainly hope and pray for the second. Out of all the Spanish or Portuguese colonies throughout the world, one now has the chance to offer a uniquely Christian answer to poverty, to stand out among these colonies historically plagued by corruption in both state and church.

Followers of Christ played a great role in changing the lot of the poor in England. Is this about to happen for the first time in a nation with a heritage of Spanish Catholic colonialism?

There remain many challenges. The English rich only had to look across the sea to the guillotines of France to see that the benefits of allowing Christian justice for the poor. The former Dons and Doñas in power in the Philippines (who removed 40% of the land up for land reform in the original law's first sessions, years back) do not have a similar stick to complement the carrot of GK's modeled true Christianity...but as the poor of the Philippines become more empowered, perhaps a mixture of generosity and need can sustain and increase the momentum for change.

On with the article then:

GK Global Summit in Boston: RP out of 3rd world status by 2024

BOSTON – "It is our dream at Gawad Kalinga to bring the Philippines out of the third world by 2024 through the collaborative effort of all sectors of the Philippine society in the Philippines and abroad," Gawad Kalinga (GK) founder Tony Meloto announced to the media before the formal unveiling of the organization’s first global summit in this city.

The GK 2024 vision is a 21-year timeline to end the poverty of five million Filipinos and build a First World Philippines through community development and people empowerment with engaged multi-sectoral and trans border partnerships."We are all here because Boston plays a great role in America’s history, and it will play a great role again in our history as a
Filipino people. GK as an Asian model of development is now capturing global attention," Meloto told the Asian Journal in a chat moments after the reception which also celebrated the 111th Philippine Independence Day.


Vice President Noli de Castro delivered the keynote during the reception, and welcomed patriots from all over who have not forgotten to help the motherland. De Castro even managed to sing Wonderful World, the Louis Armstrong classic. "Para sa GK, itataya ko ang reputasyon ko," (For GK, I will bet my repu tation) he remarked.

The historic event also gathered a veritable who’s who in the worlds of Philippine politics, business and civil society.

Senators Francis Pangilinan and Miguel Zubiri, Agriculture Sec. Arthur Yap, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, Taguig Mayor Freddie Tinga, Parañaque Mayor Jun Bernabe, Cagayan de Oro 2nd District Congressman Rufus Rodriguez, Camarines Sur Governor LRay Villafuerte, former Globe President Gerry Ablaza, Pilipinas Shell President Ed Chua, Seafood City’s Steve Go and other personalities mingled with the almost 700 delegates who trooped to Boston to attend this three-day summit.

Former Cabinet secretaries Avelino Cruz (Defense), Elisea Gozun (Environment and Natural Resources) and Cito Lorenzo (Agriculture) also participated.

"GK has become a testament to what our future will be as a nation. We will not allow despair to triumph over genuine change. Through the synergy of the government and private sector, we will be able to change the quality of life of our people," Sen. Pangilinan told the audience during the last plenary.

For about six hours on Friday, June 12, Kendall Square in Cambridge was transformed into a small Filipino town fiesta, with colorful performance arts, exhibitions and culinary samplings. Earlier in the morning, Vice President Noli de Castro, Philippine public officials and leaders of Fil-Am organizations raised the Philippine flag and sang Lupang Hinirang, the Philippine national anthem.

Article in Asian Journal