Ferdie & Nel from GK Victoria show off their hard work @ a Gawad Kalinga Bayan Anihan Festival

BAMB aims to create as many jobs as possible for the people that need them the most.  We are currently setting up a workshop in their village so that they can be provided with full-time employment and earn fair, living wages.  They will take on apprentices and train them to build bamboo bicycles as well.  Health Care and participation in the Social Security System are some of the benefits that they will receive as a result of this project.  We are working towards developing a better way of doing business.

Erica Joy Valdez will never live out the dreams every 5 year girl has:

finishing school, earning a living for her, and perhaps helping her other siblings through school, and yes, meeting a kind man and settling down to make a life of her own.

Erica was trapped in that two-hour-long fire that raged yet again through the 53-hectare abandoned Bataan Shipyard and Engineering Corporation (BASECO) in Tondo.

Like Erica the BASECO  compound once held dreams, large dreams: of being the country’s main shipbuilding facility, one equipped to build sea-going vessels likelt manned by own world class seafarers flying our tri-color proud and rounding the globe.

But the BASECO dream has long died, and now last Saturday’s inferno has not just destroyed 500 shanties and left 4,000 families homeless but has claimed the young life of  Erica Joy Valdez

The 53-hectare (130-acre) BASECO compound has been ravaged by huge fires in the last ten years:  a 2002 blaze left some 15,000 residents homeless, and a 2004 fire razed shanties of 25,000 people.

There is a Gawad Kalinga village in the compound and Pres. Arroyo even periodically does PR photo-opp visits there. There’s even a Malacanang-appointed board of directors that ‘administers’ token programs there.

But life has never changed for the better and the shantytown is always a blazing tragedy waiting to happen.

Will the new administration Filipinos will elect on May 10 bring change to the hell-on-earth life of the people of BASECO Compound?

the gawad kalinga people gave me a call and asked me to shoot some frames of mikee cojuanco (their spokesperson) for their “patay gutom” campaign for bayan-anihan.

i usually set aside a few of pro-bono shoots for these kinds of institutions per year. and this was last for 2009.

…

1. There’s not enough prisons for all the people thrown in jail.
   - You keep seeing it on TV and in real life. National jails are packed like sardines.  Prisoners cannot even lie down to sleep.
    
2. Mostly poor people who cannot afford proper legal representation end up in jail.
   - Are we really going to tell ourselves that all the people who are supposed to be in jail are there?
   - What about the people who are wrongfully accused but go to jail anyway because they can’t afford a good lawyer and the PAO just has too many cases?
3. Jail conditions are horrible.
   

   Same cells for everyone: horrible.

   -Police precincts don’t even have proper security.  The toilets are horrible. The cells don’t even have proper locks.   They are fed special “rice” that’s half rice and half stones/insects/etc.  They drink dirty water.  There’s no proper facilities for washing laundry and there are no proper facilities for toilets. 

4. A corrupt prison system allows further malfeances such as:
   - special treatment through bribes (think Romy Jalosjos)
      — day trips outside prison
      — better living conditions
      — allowing houses/structures (eg tennis courts) to be built in the penal compound
      — allowing “conjugal” visits (not necessarily the spouse)
      — allowing “escape”
   - guard abuse
     — rape & torture
     — extortion
     — murder of other prisoners
   - hiring of prisoners as assassins
5. Jails are understaffed and underbudgeted.
   -from administrative staff, to maintenance staff, to security guards, they are understaffed and underpaid.
6. There is no financial monitoring and no long-term plan.
   -as with everything in government, the fate of the Bureau of Prisons depends on who is in power.  Such capricious governance offers little incentive to improve and professionalize the prison system.

Lucky to have beds.

 SOLUTION: Some suggestions:  

1. Prepare a study & recommendation.
      – Government should hire a private external consultant.
        — Funding can be sourced from international grants or aid (but fronted by the national government so there is no delay).
      – Such a study should cover a nationwide assessment of the jail system, including a financial & governance audit.
       - An international expert should be consulted on best practice cases that have been implemented in other parts of the world.
       – Among the objectives of the study should be the following:
         – A long-term, medium-term, and short-term phase of rehabilitation with corresponding funding requirements
         — The end goal should be a self-sufficient, self-financing, semi-autonomous jail system that does not have to rely on government for its subsistence.
         — Outsourcing this government service to a private contractor should be considered.
   
2. Jail facilities should emphasize separation of prisoners not just according to their security risk but also according to their occupational abilities.
   - Initially, this system can be established using outsourced consultants, preferably those who have done this before in other countries
   - Eventually, citizens can be trained and hired to perpetuate the system, customized according to the local culture.
   -  There would also be an eventual opportunity to hire those prisoners who have been released already, especially since they would have a unique insight into the proper implementation of the system.
   -  The objective of the system is to tap the human resources and talents of the prisoners and put them to good news, whether it be for research (BPO-type of research facility or even KPO-type (medicine, legal, accounting & finance research)) and/or tedious repetitive work (ie filing of documentations, etc.)
   -  Those who may not have any useful skills may enroll in a course that they may qualify for.
3. Education & training should be institutionalized
   - vocational and professional education and training may be offered to deserving inmates
   - the cost of the education and training may be subsidized at first but will ultimately be an interest-free “loan”, with the inmate paying for this back by working it off during actual work as an inmate or even after his release. 
   - including physical, mental, emotional training
4. Rehabilitative & medical treatment should be considered a cost to the prisoner.
   - Each prisoner would have his own personal financial records (balance sheet, income statement)
   - At the start of the term, a prisoner would have zero income and zero asset
   - A prisoner can earn revenue by producing “work” output
   - A prisoner gets charged rehabilitation expenses (board & lodging, meals, etc.)
5. Prisoners should be put to work according to their skills and abilities
   - More prisons can be built using prisoner labor force (think gawad kalinga)
   - Construction materials can be initially sourced from private companies at a discount, but eventually as much as possible, prisoners should also be made to produce construction materials (backward integration) in order to achieve long-term self-sufficiency
   - They can plant their own vegetables and fruits and raise their own farm animals
   - they can establish their own kitchens and run their own prison facilities management (like a hotel)
   - they can offer both services and products for sale (primarily to the government and GOCCs but eventually to some qualified private companies). For example, farm products or quality handmade apparel.
   - the prisoner laborforce can also be used for civic infrastructure activities, but would have to be compensated (at less than market prices but still a just compensation)
       — such as reforestation/tree-planting, river-dredging,
       — as manual labor to create dams, ports, bridges, highways, railways.
6. Prisoners should be allowed to earn a fractional income from their work.
   - They should also be allowed to “purchase” time served with outstanding work and good behavior.
7. A professional purchasing/supplier system should be put in place
   - compensation should be at market prices, with the contractor sharing the revenue with the bureau through licensing fee.
8. A trade relations desk should also be put in place.
   - The government should be a preferred client, especially for utilities work
9. The Bureau of Prisons should have a semi-autonomous character and should be allowed to retain income.
     -The charter should be revisited in order to insulate the bureau from too much politics and allow it to become self-sustaining over the long term.
10. The Bureau of Prisons should compensate public attorneys who service prisoners.
    - This should improve the legal service available to inmates and decrease the cases of miscarriage of justice.
11. An occupational outplacement system should be put in place
    -departing prisoners can be prioritized to be hired in outsourced companies that service the Bureau of prisoners.
12. The military can be tapped to establish order and training.
    - Prisoners can be deployed as a first line of defense/offense in case of war
    - they should be given a chance to “buy” their served time with war efforts.
13. A mentoring system should be put in place
    - based on the seniority of inmates
    - this would capitalize on the informal “mayor” system which may not be as efficient
    - an incentive scheme anchored on good behavior can be implemented in order to reduce prisoner violence and conflicts.
14. A continuing external audit should be run
    - the implementation would not be successful without constant monitoring and the institution of a system of incentives and penalties for efficient compliance.
15. Prisoners should be covered by health and life insurance by the government.
    - Or covered by a private insurance firm and guaranteed by the government
    - Prisoner bonds could be issued, securitizing the future revenue of the Bureau of Prisons
    - (imagine how cheap govt offices can be built/renovated if the prisoner labor force is used)
16. Conditions should be defined to be able to use prisoners in emergency cases
    - war or civil unrest
    - natural disasters
    - rescue operations
17. Families should be held liable for the conduct of the prisoner and they should also profit for the good behavior of the prisoner
    - As a preventive measure going forward, families who have a relative in prison (immediate up to the third degree) should be held liable for the actions of the family members through a system of higher taxation and charges.
    - These measures can be lifted and even reimbursed if the prisoner is proven innocent or rehabilitated.
    -  Involvement of the family in rehabilitation can be a crucial cultural element in the successful prevention of crimes.
     

It is valuable for Philippines society to start with the rehabilitation of the jail system in order to start rehabilitating the justice system in the country.

Can you really wholly blame a wealthy citizen for using everything at his disposal to prevent himself from going to jail? Not fully.  When you get thrown in jail, the likelihood that you will be raped, tortured, and otherwise violated in gruesome conditions is quite high.  Prison life, as it exists, will harden you and make you a worse citizen.  You will be more of a danger to society after you are released (if you survive detention). 

We should put more people in jail in order to weed out the scum of society.  For this we need more jails, and a better jail system. When we start addressing this, then we can move on to the issue of putting the right people in jail.* 

The Minute Maus

Minute Maus
Makati, Philippines 

*That would involve a restructuring and rehabilitation of the entire justice system currently populated with a corrupt judiciary (including fixcals) overburdened with an impossibly long case list (thanks to the proliferation of lawyers who ignore mediation options in favor of time-based legal fees).

I encourage everyone out there to join in the Gawad Kalinga GK Expo 09. It is “themed” Anong Taya Mo Para Sa Bayan? And it will have a special tribute to our former president Corazon Aquino.

I suppose by now Cory Aquino might have resigned to the idea that she is not fated for an ordinary existence. Even if she always says that she, as opposed to Ninoy, does not like the thrill ride of noisy politics, she has become a significantly political person.
Cory’s marriage the already politically strong young Ninoy changed the way her life would go forever. In some twist of fate, the more Mrs. Corazon Aquino tries to leave or renounce the political seat and position that is called on her to fill the more she gets entangled into this very same political network. The death of her husband, the hole that he left behind, this call to duty, became a gaping vacuum that is inevitably sucking her life.

That is how things came to be. She was forced towards this responsibility. This political life she never wanted. That was her legacy of courage. Fueled by the anger from the assassination of her husband, and backed by the anger of the Filipino people themselves, Ms. Cory Aquino decided to be a leader. She decided to be the beacon of the revolution. And this is the same revolution that Gawad Kalinga is which is why she will be given tribute to in this coming Gk Expo 09.

And it was a very peculiar revolution indeed. The news from our country was being broadcasted all over the world. The intense political drama between the powerful and dictator that plunged the country into martial law, Ferdinand Marcos, and the opposing voice that alone stood up and dared speak against the president, Senator Ninoy Aquino made for some dramatic news material with the high stakes all the human interest that jazzed it up. Then the senator was assassinated and finally the anger of the people grew to a fever pitch that they were no longer afraid of the dictator and his cronies that picked up people in the streets and salvaged them for little reason.

We shall never let our country be this way again. In the legacy of the Edsa revolution, we as a country must unite to uplift our fellow men. Join the GK expo 09 on October 10, 2009, 12:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at the Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City.

Gawad Kalinga is a movement to abolish poverty by building homes for the homeless, that began in the Philippines and is now spreading across the world. Speakers came to the University of South Florida on Saturday to speak about the difference they make in the lives of the homeless and how USF Bulls can get involved with making this change as well.

USF Student Melissa Barrido shared her story about how life changing it was for her when she went to the Philippines last summer and helped build homes for the homeless and what a great experience it was helping others.

A student organization representing Gawad Kalinga on the USF campus is currently being formulated and if you are interested in the helping the poor and donating some of your time and effort to a good cause, you should seek out this new organization.

You can add the Facebook Group for the new organization at: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=176438917387&ref=ts

I think it’s just right to start this blog by posting one of the papers I wrote for my Communication and Social Change graduate class. See, my teacher is part of a social movement called “Ano’ng Taya Mo?” and she asked us to write what our “taya” is. Here’s mine:

I’ve been thinking more and more that organic is the way to go. Not only is it good for the body, it is good for the environment as well.

Last December 2008, I chanced upon a beauty columnist’s good review of an affordable Philippine-made organic line of beauty products called Human Nature. The columnist raved about how good the shampoo and conditioner combo she used is, how the quality is at par with more expensive brands, and best of all, how easy on the pocket the products are.

Having studied in an all-girls school with world peace and the care of the environment as primary thrusts, from elementary to high school, I cognitively know that caring for the earth is an important issue. However, as I entered college, I became engrossed and fascinated with feminism, women’s issues, and feminist writers that world peace and caring for the earth took the backseat.

But reading that beauty column promoting organic products last year really piqued my interest. And so, I visited the website, checked out the products I might like, noted them down, and convinced a colleague to order some other products with me. We ordered online and had the products delivered to our office.

When I got home, I immediately tried on the products, which I instantly liked. I’ve always wanted to use organic products but have always found the prices way too much my third world budget. But Human Nature made going organic within reach. Also, using the products have made marked improvements on my hair and skin. Before, my hair and skin were dry and flaky. Now, they are just right.

Knowing that buying and using the products also benefitted Gawad Kalinga Farmers, among others, makes patronizing the products a lot easier.

Now that I have made using organic beauty products a habit, I am thinking of branching out to other related things like eating organic and using only products made by social entrepreneurs and socially responsible corporate citizens: RIIR with their eco-trendy bags and Selecta Ice Cream with their Bayan-anihan with their quest to end hunger in the Philippines, to name a few.

And when it’s Christmas time, when it’s someone’s birthday, or when there’s a special occasion, wouldn’t it be nice to give someone a meaningful gift that supports things for a good cause? I am thinking of the Christmas cards made by ACED’s public school students, quality coffee beans and rice grains at Pathways to Higher Education, and the like.

The thought excites me. It makes me think of quiet activism, a lifestyle change for the better, that still makes a big difference in the world. The action is a concrete way of showing support for these groups and movements. At the same time, it is a kind of witnessing—leading by example—of what the ideal citizen in the ideal world could be like.

To date, Gawad Kalinga Foundation has established 900 communities all over the country, and all of which were built through the blood, sweat, and tears of thousands of volunteers coming from different walks of life ranging from students, business executives, hoi polloi, and government officials. When it comes to GK volunteerism, your status in life and economic stability do not matter. The only thing that counts is your willing and emblazoned heart for serving the poor.

GK EXPO

Many have heeded the call for massive volunteerism because GK has made patriotism and heroism a fashionable concept. From volunteers, people who join the GK force turn into heroes for every house and community built for the poor. Aside from individuals, 200 of the biggest corporations in the country have pledged their support for GK programs such as Livelihood, Child and Youth Development, and Site Building. They do not only extend financial aid, but also contribute to the arm of the organization by involving their employees in such programs, helping to spread the good word about massive volunteerism as advocated by Gawad Kalinga.

Living in a world ruled by capitalism would make you think that patriotism is a dead concept, but Gawad Kalinga, through the power of massive volunteerism, has proven that love of country is still very much alive in the hearts of every Filipino.

Gawad Kalinga has made patriotism a fashionable concept. Through its cooperation and collaboration with schools, business corporations, government and nongovernmental organizations, the word about its altruistic goals are spreading like wildfire. The youth are also heavily involved in GK projects with the biggest universities in the Philippines encouraging the young minds to show their love for the country through helping their fellowmen. Corporations have continuously pledged financial aid and introduced their employees into the objectives of GK. Government and nongovernmental organizations use their influence to tell the world about the good works of Gawad Kalinga to rig in more volunteers for the cause.

Gawad Kalinga Foundation is more than just an organization. It is a movement will continue to move people to act on the pressing problems caused by poverty.  GK breaks the deadly concept of apathy and keeps the idea of patriotism alive and burning. With more and more volunteers all over the world expressing their support for the movement, the GK goal of bringing dignity back to the poor will be an attainable goal.

This was the first day of volunteering as a group for the members of The Foundation.  It was also the first time many of us were meeting each other.  We all came together as friends of friends (of friends) with the common goal of helping those that were less fortunate.  Under the adopted name of “Team Canila,” we headed out with our minds set on putting in work.

Our first stop was to Ateneo de Manila in Quezon City to join up with the Ateneo Task Force Ondoy.  We had heard of a collection center that was highly organized and in need of volunteers at Ateneo and decided to give it a shot.  Team Canila arrived at Ateneo with 3 vehicles and 11 volunteers.  Upon arrival, we were surprised by the amount of volunteers that were already looking for work.  It was a true testament to the human spirit of both Filipino and foreigner.

After only half an hour of waiting, we were called up to be deployed.  We brought our vehicles to the deployment area and filled each with as much bread, eggs, juice, and water as we could and we were on our way.  The caravan took off and headed towards a small community in Fairview, Quezon City where we arrived at a Barangay that was sponsored by Gawad Kalinga.  Eventually, we ended up at a small chapel where locals, alongside GK members, were working to put together food packs (plastic bags full of food) together to be given out to the victims in that community.

First arrival - we began unloading our deployed items from Ateneo

Our mission was to separate all the food we were given from the collection center at Ateneo into individual food packs.  From those donations, we were able to create about 200 food packs!  The Gawad Kalinga group gave us individual bags of rice to pair with the food packs.  We loaded our vehicles again and we were ready to go.  A few of the local GK Leaders then escorted us by car to another community about 15 minutes away where we would drop off the newly-assembled food packs for distribution.

The short drive brought us to a bridge that served as the entrance to the community.  The bridge went over a river that obviously had been the major source of flooding in the area.  Passing over the bridge, all you could see in front of you was complete and utter DEVASTATION.  It was almost as if walking into a war zone.  Concrete buildings were toppled over.  The street was of a light brown hue due to the mud and murky waters that had covered it days earlier.  The residents had begun piling up trash and debris from the torn buildings on the side of the road.  Broken tree branches littered the sides of the road as well.

Garbage from flood-torn homes

A short drive through the community led us to the chapel.  We unloaded bottles of water, the food packs, and the rice packs and presented them to the leaders of the chapel who would be in charge of distributing the packs in an orderly manner to the victims.

With our mission complete, we decided to take a walk through the community to see firsthand the devastation caused by the floods.  As the sun set and it began to get dark, we realized that the entire community was without electricity.  One of the locals informed us that they had been without electricity for 3 days and had no idea when they would be able to get it back.  Walking by each house, you could tell the people were trying to be as resourceful as possible just to stay alive with what little they had.

The unfortunate scenes that we were all witness to on this day would wake us up to the stark realization that our work was not yet done and that there were bound to be many other communities in desperate need of manpower and donations.  Little did we know, Typhoon Pepeng (Parma) was on its way.

written by Ed Pascasio (San Jose, CA, USA / Makati)

]]> http://helpondoyvictims.wordpress.com/2009/09/27/ateneo-mobilizing-for-marikina-gk-sites/ Sun, 27 Sep 2009 05:28:27 +0000 ninaterol http://helpondoyvictims.wordpress.com/2009/09/27/ateneo-mobilizing-for-marikina-gk-sites/

From Karl Santinitigan:

Ateneo is mobilizing to help flood victims of Marikina & GK sites and their neighoring areas. Est. no. of ppl may go beyond 10,000 pax. They need ready to eat food (boiled eggs, bread, etc), bottled water, clothes, medicines, candles & shovels for clean-up. Cash donations also accepted.

Pls proceed to CERVINI DORMS for donations & MVP HALL for volunteer sign-ups.

Walang Iwanan!

FIL-AM INTERNATIONAL

Star’s Entrepreneurial Tips

One trait in Miss Saigon and Fil-Am international star Stephanie Reese enchanted us as she spoke at a Student in Free Enterprise (SIFE) conference in Manila last month.

That was her generosity in sharing her time and talent. It touched us, much the same way as how her beautiful singing voice gave us goosebumps and reverberated in our minds long after that hour—a Wednesday afternoon in a cold air-conditioned school-room– ended.

She sang for us two songs—one from Miss Saigon and an operatic song from the Phantom of the Opera.

But there’s one even bigger thing behind her popularity that SIFE members and everybody will surely appreciate in Stephanie. That is her depth of wisdom and insight about being a whole person, a Filipino, and an entrepreneur.

Stephanie was born of a Filipino mother and Japanese-Caucasian (Irish-Welsh-Scottish) father. Her having been raised in Seattle gave her a unique perspective on her Filipino descent. It fills her with pride that a Filipino culture exists.

Her success– having starred in Miss Saigon in Germany, having been singing internationally and with big names like Natalie Cole with Hollywood stars as audience– keep her humble and appreciative of life.

Her smiles reflect her deep sympathy on the plight of her people as a Filipino.

Here are some of her advice or message for the youth specifically on entrepreneurship as she has ventured on her own productions.

1. Pursue your own business dreams. It promotes growth unimaginable. I used to be on shows produced by big companies like those doing Miss Saigon. But when I ventured on my own to be a solo artist, I had, in fact, to be an entrepreneur, so I can really relate with students at SIFE. To be an entrepreneur means you’re limitless. You have to psyche yourself up that if you work for somebodyelse, you’re always limited to the confines of somebodyelse’s business.

2. Take problems in stride. The rewards are abounding. Of course there are lots of problems and lots of responsibilities. But of course there’s more room for growth when you work for yourself rather than for somebodyelse.

3. Delegate the work others can do for you. I started producing on my own four to five years ago. I took every phone call and negotiated every booking myself (Filipinas-November 2008). But I don’t really enjoy the production side of it, so I hired people. Producing was just a vehicle in it. But it launched my solo career.

4. Research on your business interest. I knew how to do it. I researched first and got sponsorships. There are ways to get your community involved. If you go to any show and you open a program, you see sponsors. I checked who is the sponsor for what and what shows. Yes, we put out money to print the ticket, but we got that money back.

5. Learn from others’ mistakes and successes. What’s wonderful is there are endless examples of businesses that failed and those that succeeded and artists that failed and artists that succeeded. And all you have to do is to go online and do your research on what has worked for people in the past.

6. Being unpopular should not cause you to underestimate your capacity to become big. Focus on your uniqueness and the audience this can attract. When I came back to the States (from Europe), my mom asked me to do a show for families and friends who wanted to see me perform but who didn’t get to travel to Europe. So I put my one-woman show in Seattle. I didn’t have an idea that just because I’ve done Miss Saigon and people just knew me as a Filipino-American, I packed the place for two nights with almost 300 seats each. But I was virtually unknown. The only difference between me and my friends that had the same amount of credit is that I have a Filipino blood and a Filipino heritage. So I started creating more opportunities, knowing that the Filipino community would support me, whether or not they knew me.

7. Be proud of being a Filipino. Filipinos have world-class qualities one can be truly proud of. If you are not proud of who you are, nobodyelse will. I hope to inspire students to be proud of themselves as Filipinos. Filipinos have been so adaptable in the States and other countries. That’s definitely true during the Great Depression when most Filipinos took risks in businesses when a lot of people didn’t. Filipino-American women even during the Great Depression owned land when other men and women didn’t necessarily owned land, but Filipino women were industrious enough to be able to purchase land. But the difference now is they’re encouraging their children to take up Nursing. So in the State, there’s a big place in the medical market, although not necessarily business.

8. Filipinos are a supportive people. Value their trust. The benefit that we have as Filipinos specially abroad is that as much as some Filipinos emphasize crab mentality, I would have to say the opposite– that without Filipinos in the States, I wouldn’t have been able to launch my solo career both in the mainstream and the Filipino community.

9. Join groups like SIFE that trains for growth. Groups like SIFE inspires students to really look at programs and businesses that can help the poor, that can be lasting and have positive environmental impact. That already molds students’ future and the future of the country. I want to stand as an inspiration to help people remember that when they compete in the international level, they’re representing the Philippines with their project. When you’re in a program like SIFE, you might already have that business. You already have that education which is a grand opportunity.

10. Start early. Starting while one is young, while one is at the collegiate level, is a great learning tool and a great opportunity to be an entrepreneur.

11. Have a vision. A vision is the most important part of anything first. Once you have the vision, all steps will go to that direction. SIFE is a youth-driven program. My vision (for my work through) it is to help the poor and uplift the Philippines. Of course I have my personal growth in the back of my mind. And the fact that SIFE is being empowered by the Filipino youth already accomplishes my vision. Really, every single student at SIFE today will be a future leader of our businesses tomorrow and maybe more.

12. Take the time to do activities bigger than yourself. People should have a higher purpose spiritually, for the love of country and what that represents to the rest of the world.. You never know that the things you do can uplift one Filipino. I hope to inspire students to do things not only for our personal gain, but to make our parents happy, and to uplift our home country.

13. Save money. Put money in investments you believe in. Take calculated risks in investments you know. I believe in saving. I’m not much of a risk-taker except in production. I stick with what I know: I know how to save. I invest in my concert. But I also invest in my family’s business which is in real estate. I believe in real estate as an investment, although in the States now it’s a little shaky. So maybe I will start investing in the Philippines.

14. Have hope despite the gloom. Give back to your own country. Have faith in legitimate vehicles of change. Believe that somehow change is in the hands of each of us. I don’t want to make statements about the Philippines itself and the mentality here. But I think in behalf of Filipino-Americans and the (Gawad Kalinga) work I’ve been trying to do, it’s so hard to inspire people to give back to our country. When you’re working for a fund-raising, a lot of people in the Philippines feel burnt out. They don’t necessarily believe that change in our entire country is possible. They feel that the government is to blame, and there’s no hope. So I think the biggest obstacle (to our work) is lack of faith that change is truly possible.

Stephanie Reese has been making it big in the international scene, performing solo in mostly self-produced concerts in Russia, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Canada, all over the United States, China, and France. She has been featured in publications like People Asia magazine, the Philippine Star and the Hilton Kuala Lumpur magazine. With her success, she still takes the time for self-fulfilling endeavors for Gawad Kalinga, Rise and Shine which aids AIDS victims, justgophilippines.com which promotes Philippine tourism in States, and just now, SIFE. She walks eight miles a day, hikes, and kickboxes for exercise.

Gawad Kalinga had a busy year this year. This year, during the GK1MB youth summit, various projects and new developments were revealed. A lot of these new developments have been a direct result of GK’s partnership with Voncore Philippines, an outsourcing company that is offering its services.

GK1MB
Gawad Kalinga unveiled some of its new goals during the historic Boston GK summit. It is aiming at getting a hold of one billion volunteer workers. This battalion of workers and volunteers aims is to destroy poverty forever. Gawad Kalinga, after removing poverty in the Philippines, plans to go global as the template third world countries should follow.

GK1world
The GK1world website has been launched and unveiled during the Boston GK Global Summit this year. The old GK website had many problems regarding the organization of GK sources and the transparency of fund allocation. Voncore created GK1world, and the results were so good that GK decided to migrate all the content from the old site to the new GK 1 world site. Now, it is already the official online portal of the organization. All updates are uploaded on GK1world website so it is the best source of information about the latest events and programs of Gawad Kalinga.

GK Unity
This new, Voncore project is going to revolutionize the way GK operates. This online software platform will enable volunteers from anywhere in the world register online and be a part of Gawad kalinga. It also promises to change the way pledges and donors are managed meaning more ease in donations and more transparency as to how the funds are allocated.

I believe that Gawad Kalinga Philippines is in the right track as a Global movement. It is very exciting for me to watch how all of its projects unfold especially in its quest to totally eradicate the problem of poverty in the Philippines and usher in the country into the first world.

Stephanie Reese is an enigmatic singer – the power of her voice speaks for her as a great entertainer. A Filipino-American born and raised in Washington, Stephanie’s musical background isn’t just grassroots. She’s performed as Kim in the German production of Miss Saigon, as Esmeralda in the Disney World premier of the Hunchback of Notre Dame and Princess Tuptim in the Palladium Theatre’s production of The King and I in London’s West End.

See Stephanie embark on a solo concert at famed Carnegie Hall in New York on November 7, 2009, at 7:30 PM.  This show is for the benefit of Gawad Kalinga. Tickets range from $75 to $135 and they start going on sale on September 8. Accordingly, the first 100 buyers of the show will get a free autographed poster.

Source: Facebook Group.

Gawad Kalinga SAGIP (Sagipin ang Isip, Galing at Pangarap) Program