Gawad Kalinga has been having its monthly get-togethers for its partners since May, I think. But last Wednesday, July 7, I decided to attend the Builders’ Night for the first time at the Rockwell Tent in Makati because the meet’s theme is Gawad Kalinga’s Child and Youth Development Programs, a cause which is closest to my heart since our Company is supporting its CYD program via Tambayani in its GK Manggahan Kawayanan Village.

(Background: Tambayani or Tambayan ng mga Bayani is a community-based youth and education program that benefits both in- and out-of-school youth. It’s inspired by a mission of “breeding heroes (or bayani) through education. Simply put, it’s a place where the future heroes of this country could converge, at the same time, it’s a program which would allow them to learn so they could grow up to be true leaders and heroes of this country.)

The Company-sponsored Tambayani in GK Manggahan Kawayanan is one of my projects. Construction of the structure is set to be finished in September this year so it’s also one of the things I am really excited about.

Anyway, the speakers that night included preacher Bo Sanchez, and former Agriculture Secretary, now a GK Champion, Cito Lorenzo.

I went there excited with the prospect of hearing Bo Sanchez speak because I receive daily Kerygma readings, and Kerygma is also one of the two organizations I support with a very small monthly contribution. I wasn’t disappointed, Bo Sanchez did deliver and his talk, albeit short, had a big impact on me, and I guess, the people present, too.

But what blew me over was Cito Lorenzo. I didn’t know much about him other than he was a former cabinet official (who was later implicated in the Agri scam) But listening to him, you would realize how his self-exile in the US has truly humbled him, and in his own words, afforded him some mental and moral introspection.

Below, I am including some of the things that struck me while listening to these two great inspirational speakers.

From Bo Sanchez:

-We can predict our future simply by analyzing what comes out of our mouths because words have power. (If everything that comes out of our mouths are negative things, then we can be sure that negative things will come our way. Simple but true.)

-Every time GK builds a home, a village, it builds hope, a future for this country. The work of GK is continuous, and that is why we can say that our future is brighter than our past.

-Even if we have made mistakes as an individual, and as a nation, we can erase those mistakes and then start all over again, just like those magic slates we used to draw on (which now have become magnetic slates) when we were still kids.

-We are not defined by our mistakes. We are defined by our destiny, and our destiny is actually something we can control if we have the right mindset.

-We have a God that wants to bless us. Problem is, a lot of people have this self-hatred spirituality. (He proceeds to tell of a man who prays and says the following: Lord, I am a man who doesn’t deserve your love. No, Lord, I am a little worm who doesn’t deserve Your love. No, Lord, I am not a worm, I am the bacteria in the worm and I don’t deserve Your Love. No Lord, I am not the bacteria in the worm…I am the virus that lives in the bacteria in the worm, and I don’t deserve Your love.) Yes, if you’ll think about it, it’s funny how we sometimes make ourselves too little in God’s eyes, and so, we miss the whole point…that God is so generous, He wants to bless us with His love, and He wants to bless our lives.

Bottomline is, we have to be open to receive God’s blessings if we want to experience His generosity.

Now, Cito Lorenzo. He spoke quite measuredly, giving the feeling that his experiences have really slowed him down, and that nothing mattered but the task at hand…that of rebuilding lives, not just homes through Gawad Kalinga.

From him, I got the following insights:

-True wealth is measured not in the number of zeros added to our bank accounts, the honors we have received when wearing the titles, nor the material things one collects; but the number of sincere and genuine friends one makes.

-What counts in life (are these): family, faith and country.

-As a leader, every person is not a statistic to be used but a human being…and regardless of his or her station in life he or she deserves our attention, compassion and concern by bringing out the best in him/her as an individual. For it is in building people that we truly build our nation.

-“Given the potentials and the goal of self-reliance, what can we as businessmen, professionals, and civic leaders do to help?

First, we must challenge the boundaries that keep our young people poor; to break through the glass ceiling that has conditioned him to believe that his or her highest aspiration is defined by the shanty that he lives in. Second, we must develop an entrepreneurial spirit among the youth – to inspire him to create value by making something from nothing. And lastly, we have to allow them to aim for greatness, to have pride and faith in self because God made no man second class in this world.

In a more concrete form, we can do this by increasing the scholarships for our poor but deserving students to at least 20% of the student population in the best universities here in Metro Manila and in the provinces.

Second, we must train teachers, mentor graduates, and assist in their dreams to be business owners rather than employees.

Third, we must encourage more business-inclined youth of our leading universities to embark on more “social entrepreneurship” projects that include a major component that shall benefit the poor.

Fourth, those of us with the means can partner with financial institutions to provide the needed working capital to make them succeed.

Most importantly, they must learn that business is about making sure that no one is left behind.”

(ok, it took me a few days before I could write this post because I had to transcribe the speech which I recorded, but I found out just yesterday that the speech is now posted here. haha! I totally forgot that this is now the internet era. Oh well.)

A lot of the things Cito said, we already know. But hearing them again actually awakened in me a deeper sense of responsibility for these kids who are going to be left behind when we are no longer here ourselves. How do we effectively train them to do better than us? The answer is not yet too clear, given the fact that many have become apathetic to the cause of educating our youth. After all, the harsh realities of our daily lives have taken over most of us. But while there are still organizations like Gawad Kalinga, and their partners—individuals, organizations, and corporations alike, who continue painstakingly the work of nation-building, I believe hope is not lost. And yes, our future is brighter than our past.

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