read this inspiring blog in facebook and decided to share it here. ate Issa works fulltime for GK and one of the passionate people that i really look up to. and i just love to read her blogs cause they all are inspiring. count how many times i've used the word "inspiring". ahahah. can't
of any word. cause that's how ate issa is, an
INSPIRATION. :) this blog is all about the recent
GK Global Summit in
Boston and when i read this the first time, i just feel goosebump-y all over. when i first
heard from papa about the summit, i just want to "kuyog gyud" for the reason that i want to step on HARVARD and MIT. ahaha. toinx! pero i was really sad and happy at the same time that papa wa
sn't able to join the summit not because he has no VISA and no pamasahe but bec
ause he wasn't able to book a ticket for he was just so busy as always. sad because i was really praying for him to be there yet happy because he was here to celebrate my special day
la
st
JUNE 9 with us. and he stayed at home for the span of 9 days straight for the record. yehey!
anyways, take time to read this.
MABUHAY ka, PILIPINO!
MABUHAY ka, PILIPINAS!
and for that may God be praised.
GK MOMENTS
by: Issa Cuevas-SantosIt's a couple of hours before my flight back home to the Philippines. It's been several days since the historic
GK Global Summit in Boston ended, but I can still feel that all
too familiar lump in my throat whenever I think of what just transpired. I've gone around Boston and LA, and people continue to tell me their own S
ummit
experience. Each one has a favorite speech, joke or conversation, but one thing is very clear.
This Summit was
life-changing for all of us. It is especially meaningf
ul for me. 2009 is my 10th year as a fulltime worker for GK, and I am also turning 30. And it is the pivotal year before we reach our first major milestone -
GK777 on World Hope Day, October 10, 2010. A lot has changed in the past ten years. In the early days, we would go around the country talking about Gawad Kalinga or GK, and nobody k
new what it was. Today, I wear a GK shirt and it starts a conversation.
We would usually have "conferences" in small rooms in various parts of the country. We only needed a small venue
because there weren't a lot of volunteers or caretakers. It was like the voice of one (actually, three, Tito Tones, Luis and me) calling out in
the desert. Last weekend, we found ourselves presenting GK to the world, in
Boston, the
most prestigious academic setting in the world. The voice has been heard, and the world is now listening.
In those days, the who's who in government were difficult to reach. Thankfully, Tito Tony never asked us to. He said, "Just build, and they will come." And so we built, and they have come. In the Summit, we had the
Vice President Noli De Castro, 2 senators (
Sen. Pangilinan and Sen. Zubiri), 1 cabinet secretary (
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap), 1 congressman (
Cong. Rufus Rodriguez), 3 governors (
Cam Sur Gov LRay Villafuerte, Sorsogon Gov Sally Lee, Tarlac Gov Victor Yap), 3 former cabinet secretaries
(Nonong Cruz, Bebet Gozun, Tony Gonzalez), sever
al mayors (
Paranaque Mayor Bernabe, Taguig Mayor Tinga, Makati Mayor Binay, Iloilo Mayor Trenas, Dingle Mayor Palabrica, Pototan Mayor Perez, Gerona Mayor Go, San Isidro Mayor Lorenzo, St. Bernard Mayor Rentuza, Daet Mayor Sarion, Murcia Mayor Coscolluela). They represent the more than 400 towns and cities that GK is currently in partners
hip with.
Some people said it would be difficult to get big business to be part o
f what we wanted to do. And yet the Summit gathered
Globe's Gerry Ablaza, Shell Country Chairman Ed Chua, PLDT-Smart Foundation President Butch Meilly, Saladmaster President Keith Peterson, Angelo King Foundation's Archie King, Former Wyeth Philippines Chairman Boy de Claro, ODM Chairman Tony Olaes, Former Businessman of the Year Cito Lorenzo. They, together with the over 200 major corpo
rations that GK is in partnership with, have made nat
ion-building their business.
However, in all these ten years, there is one thin
g that remains constant and
unchanging -
the courageous love of the GK volunteer.
It is this unrelenting passion to give beyond oneself t
hat has propelled GK to the global stage, with world leaders now listening. It this unwavering commitment to the mission that has inspired countries like India and Columbia to c
ome to the Philippines and ask to be trained on the GK Way, an emerging global template for development.
This was very clearly captured in every speech, and more importantly, in the everyday actions of those that comprise GK's mas
sive army on the g
round, and all over the world. It was the driving force behind the awe-inspiring work of the Boston team led by Eugene and Evita Florendo, behind the bold decision of many f
rom the Philippines and all over the world to converge in
Boston despite difficult times.
I know, with
much conviction, that it is this clarity of mission that inspired many of the speeches of the speakers during the Summit
. Allow me to share some with you.
Tony Olaes, a successful second generation F
ilipino American based in the US, thanked Gawad Kalinga for giving him back his identity and pride as a Filipin
o - the small work that we do everyday, quietly and faithfully, in every GK community is breathing new life to a whole gen
eration of Filipinos throughout the world who do not know their heritage.
We are building the highways of the heart back to the motherland. Ed Chua said that GK
had all the qualities that corporations were looking for in a partner -
transparency, accountability, track record. I continue to stand in awe
at the fact that GK is such a young organization, with very Filipino ro
ots, and yet multinationals are flocking to the work because they value the integrity of the people behind the cause. I was especially touched with
Mayor Freddie Tinga, who ve
ry humbly accepted that a lot of people looked at government officials with great distrust. A
nd so he tells big developers in Taguig who doubt his administration to just give their government compliance for 20% socialized housing directly to Gawad Kalinga. He does with confidence because everything given to GK is leveraged, and his constituents can only get greater benefits through the GK model. His actions ho
nor the silent but critical work of our caretakers.
Bukas Loob sa Diyos, also ca
me in full force to the Summit, and it was wonderful to see many more communities getting involved. T
he history of organizations within the Catholic Church is sometimes filled with its own stories of division, but GK has been able to successfully unite not only people of various faiths, but even organizat
ions belonging to the same faith.
CFC Director Joe Tale reiterate
d there was
no split between CFC and GK, and that no member would be asked to ch
oose between the two. This was wonderful to hear, and it was symbolic to see our brethren in Couples for Christ standing right alongside BLD as community caretakers - it is this convergence that will break the chains of poverty.
I chanced upon
Gerry Ablaza during break
fast on Sunday, and he told me that he had arrived the night before, and was leaving the following day -- he was only there for the Summit. He shared that he didn't think he
could still make these short trips, but he would gladly do anything for GK because he was simply honored to be part of it. But someone that surprised me was really
Archie King and his wife, who stayed throughout the whole Summit and really participated in all the activities. He spoke wit
h his heart on the last day, sharing how difficult it was to actually "spend" money because credible organizations were hard to find. He s
poke of his deep admiration for the people behind GK, and said that he was overwhelmed with the passion that he could feel pulsating in the conference venue for the three days that he was there.
Secretary Arthur Yap said during his spee
ch that GK was able to gather people who would most likely not sit together in the same room, if not for GK's transcendent cause. I looked at our delegates then - some of them very "simple" people, some the most powerful in their areas of influence, others had
given so much
financially while others had given so much of themselves in service... It was true.
Our paths would not have crossed, an
d our lives would not be so intimately linked to one another through the mission, if not for Gawad Kalinga.
But perhaps what was most meaningful fo
r me were the observations of
Dean Laurence Simon of Brandeis University. He was asked to be a reactor for the Food and Health workshop which I was lucky to be part of, so please allow me to share them with you.
He said that he was very struck by the outstanding achievements of Gawad Kalinga despite its young age as an organization. He especial
ly shared how pleased he was to see that GK obviously had faith-based roots, but it was n
ot afraid to expand and rea
ch out to become a global movement
beyond just small communities. He said he had studied many such organizat
ions from various countries in the past, and although many had been successful in the areas where they operated, very few were able to expand to the scale that he was seeing in GK. He was particularly struck by the Health presentation, which highlighted that
GK was God's healing hands at work. He said th
is was a very bold proclamation that the world needed to he
ar, and
GK was now becoming the strong voice that the world would listen to. I saw all the GK presentation
s, and not onc
e did any of the speakers mention social justice. And yet, he said he could see very clearly that GK was striking at the very heart of poverty, addressing its very roots -- social justice. He said GK dared to ask the difficult questions -- not just why is the man hungry, or why is a child malnourished. Instead, GK asks, why is there poverty in the world and challenges every person to do something about it.
He was so inspired by GK that he decided, on
the spot, to give one
full scholarship to any person that Gawad Kalinga chooses, to Brandeis University. I am confident that this is how the world will res
pond to the outstanding work that
we have all done
together, and the floodgates will just open for GK.
His words only affirmed one
thing --
the mission is clear. We may not always have the right words to describe it, but our actions and the work that we do is the most powerful testament t
o what is in our heart. This
point of realization is now part of my list of
"GK moments." Luis challenged delegates to capture these
"GK moments," and from there draw out their own declarations because this is what would change the world. My de
claration remains the same.
I gladly offer all that I am, and all that I hope to be, to the service of my God and my country. I saw Tony del Rosario come up with his wife Annette, and kids Maiki and Xavi. I knew then that I was looking at the f
uture, and my heart felt peace knowing that th
e work we started many years ago in Bagong Silan
g will be
continued by the next generation. They are in place, they are ready to make their declaration.
What is yours? I have asked myself many times how we are going to measure the su
ccess of the Summit, and what we have achieved together in t
he past ten years. It is now dawning on me that the most powerful measure is our
LOVE.
Our love for God. Our love for country. Our love for the poor. Our love for each other. It is this
ONE LOVE that will
unite our country, that will build our nation, and that will inspire the
world to end poverty.
Love is the greatest measure, and our cup doth overflow.
I am reminded of the lyrics of my favorite Rent song, Seasons of Love :
"525,600 minutes, 525,000 moments s
o dear
525,600 minutes - how do you measure a year?
In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee.
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.
In 525,600 minutes -
how do you measure a year in the life? How about love? Measure in love. Seasons
of love."
It has bee
n the greatest privilege to share so many seasons of love with you throughout the
years. I look forward to a lifetime of service
with all of you. On to 2024!
