Gawad Kalinga is a non-profit organization whose mission is to make every Filipino have a house of their own, and this is done via corporate and private solicitations: a house of their own, an independent family, an independent nation. Yesterday, representatives from our company did our community service by rendering labor as part of the 7-Eleven day celebration (the other year I was planting trees at La Mesa Dam). While in the US they do this by giving out 8 -ounce Slurpees for the day, we, in the third world (read: not a rich company), chose to give back to our community, not by funding houses (Poveda, Fuji, Globe, Smart, P & G, Unilever, Filipinos in Singapore, Filipino- Americans have sponsored houses) but by doing carpentry, painting, landscaping and other construction works.
This is how it works- there is a program that involves a speech from the local government (mayor or vice mayor), a speech from the sponsoring organization, from Gawad Kalinga and then a member of the community tells everyone how the work will be done (as it is done in groups). The most important message I heard during the ceremony is that in today's work, it is not really the real work that matters, but by sharing the stories of our lives, getting to know them as they get to know us, perhaps in the process, we will get inspiration from one another. We are told to work with a smile. As it is, everyone in the community is ready with their smile and greetings, being thankful for the work we are doing on their soon to be houses. Everyone in the Gawad Kalinga chosen community has to do their share. Daily, 10 volunteer women and 10 volunteer men are assigned to work on the construction of the houses, up to its finishing. At this point they still do not know which one will occupy the house they are working on, but they will all have to pitch in, bayanihan style, and everyone will get their house. While the kids are watched over in a local daycare, and some are off to work, others in the community, through the relentless efforts of its sponsors, continue to try to improve their living by looking for other means of livelihood that the members of the community can do.
I was assigned to painting, and we did 3 houses, starting with a base coat of white primer and finishing off with 7-eleven colors (well, the pantone wasn't right). It was exhausting to say the least, and as I share stories with the women who are helping us, I did not feel so different, so far off from them. I lived in Sampaloc, and although we did not live in shanties, my story is a story of hope; that if one works hard at something, one will reap the rewards, and maybe someday make their dreams come true. My kumares in Sampaloc tell me their children want to be like me, want to do good in school so they too, can travel and have a car and leave Sampaloc. I smile in return. In my mind, though, I ask, " What happened to our men?" The women in Sampaloc work, while their husbands are house-bands, watching over the house, but not really guiding the kids. They huddle together watching cable TV tuned to karera, and wallow in drugs, desolation and despair. Last year, 3 men from our street died- one from a heartbreak who drank himself to death, a young boy who pimped himself to a bading where he caught some disease, and another one from a drug overdose.
I asked my mother this, and she tells me yes, a reformation is needed to make the men stronger, but it is the drugs that hit the community like a plague; dividing, creating a chasm between the strong and the weak. In the end, only the strong survive.
Christine and I manage to pose after a long day's work. Eventhough we planned to meet up for coffee later, our bodies were just too unwilling to cooperate, and so we went directly home.
I'd like to share what Jason said in his closing remarks, " Recently, I had work done on the home my family and I moved into. I thought the price I was paying the workers at my house was too much; but after doing hard labor myself, setting tiles on the pavement under the heat of the sun, carrying cement blocks and working with concrete, I realized the pay should even be higher- for it is hard work. We learned something today about hard work, about the lives of the people in this community..and hopefully, we shall be back to do more."
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