Redefine Ateneo's Social Involvement

(c) Apple Thea

“Go forth and set the world on fire.”  San Ignacio

I still remember the time when I, together with other student leaders, would really have to exert effort (to shout) 

to point out our opinion in redefining 

Ateneo's community involvement.

For the past years, I've been engaging myself to different outreach activities - most of the time feeling good

because I thought I did something great for my country already. I would even organize the same

and encourage students to participate so that they too could feel the "high" in helping others.

All my thoughts on redefining Ateneo's community involvement were kept until last night. 

ANO BA TALAGA ANG GUSTO NATING MANGYARI?

Are we really changing lives?

Are we really making a difference?

Are we really ending poverty?

I believe this is the right time to take the challenge. 

In Ateneo de Naga, we have 4 adopted barangays.

 Are we evaluating our programs there? What are our tools so that we could 

quantify and qualify the impact of our programs to the lives of people in our adopted barangays?

We always look for tangible improvements.

I guess, Fr. Adolfo Nicolas, SJ really got my attention in his speech "Depth, Universality and Learned Ministry: Challenges to Jesuit Higher Education Today". 

 Fr. Nicolas challenges us to really think out of the box, to use our imagination. According to him, “People lose the ability to engage with reality; that is a process of dehumanization that may be gradual and silent, but very real.” I guess, this is very much true with the current social involvement programs of Ateneo. 

We limit ourselves to immersion programs that really don't make any significant difference in the lives of people in the barangay. To feeding programs that only satisfy their hungry stomach for a day. 

What they need are sustainable and holistic programs.

Suggestions:

College of Nursing

1. Quality community health teaching and basic life support training to 

volunteer health workers in the barangay.

College of Education

2. Training of volunteer teachers to the bario/ volunteer-friendly manuals containing

different activities which could be facilitated by volunteers in the barangays. 

College of Engineering

3. Eco-friendly infrastructures (toilet bowls, alternative lighting source, etc). 

College of Arts and Sciences

4. Holistic spiritual, psychological, socio-political formation programs for the beneficiaries of our

 adopted barangay.

College of Computer Studies

5. Information Technology training. Web development to help market the livelihood of the adopted barangay.

College of Business and Accountancy

6. Social Entrepreneurship. Combined initiative from Accountancy,
Legal Management, Marketing, etc.

Let's design our outreach activities depending on the expertise of teachers and students. In this way, we could give quality 

and holistic programs to our adopted barangays. Now, we have 

programs for Infrastructure, Health, Education,

Formation activities and Livelihood. These are some of the vital

ingredients to build a community.

Difficult? Yes! But that is really part of our work

in alleviating poverty in Bicol. 

“Depth of thought and imagination in the Ignatian tradition involves a profound engagement with the real.” 

I'm not saying that what we are doing now is useless, I just want to remind everyone that Ateneo could offer more, could be more. Di ba? Magis nga!

 

Don't make decisions when you're angry.

I guess it's already part of the "boy thing" to blame the youngest sibling who happens to be a girl whenever there are tragic events happening in the house - tragic event - busted computer.

Who could ever stand a day without playing Dota or (what's the latest online game now? please insert here) which entails a lot of shouting, loud music, and flying keyboard and mouse. My brothers will surely be bored. And syempre, a day without playing Barbie, Dora the Explorer and other cute girly games on the web. Oh. This is the only thing that I can tolerate to prevent my sister from mani and pedi-ing me all day long. 

The other day, a very tragic event happened in our humble house. Yes. The computer got busted because of

too much monsters from dota and too much stuff from Dora's bag. 

And so, my brothers instantaneously blamed my little sister. 

(Di ba? Gender issue 'to!) 

Hahaha. Pissed, my litter sister texted my mother...

O di ba? Hahaha. Nakatipid si mother. 

Natanggal lang pala ang wire na nagcconnect ng monitor at CPU.

Moral lesson:

1. Don't make decisions when you're still on the climax of an extreme emotion.

Most of the time, pagsisisihan mo 'to.

2. Don't bully a little sister. You'll be banned from playing dota for a month!

Geeee. Torture 'to sa mga kapatid ko. 

Atenista, sino ka?

150 years - Ateneo de Manila. 

100 years - Ateneo de Zamboanga. 

79 years - Ateneo de Cagayan. 

76 years - Ateneo de Naga. 

64 years - Ateneo de Davao. 

Matagal na rin nga talagang namamayagpag ang Ateneo sa buong bansa. Sikat ito hindi lang dahil sa magagaling, magaganda at pogi ang mga nag-aaral dito, kundi lahat ng Atenista ay tinatawag na "men and women for others" at hindi lang yan, lahat rin sila ay buong-buong yinayakap ang "cura personalis". Bago ako magsulat nito, tinangka ko pang mag-compute kung ilang libong tao na ang nakatapos ng pagsusunog ng kilay sa Ateneo, ngunit nung nakita ko ang mga taon simula ng naipanganak si Ateneo sa buong bansa, isa lang ang pumasok sa isip ko - marami na kaming men and women for others - dapat. 

Marami nga ba?

Hindi na trivia sa lahat ng tao na ang ilan sa mga namumuno o namuno ng bansa ay mga Atenista. Marami rin naman talagang nagtagumpay ngunit marami rin ang bumigo sa mga kanya-kanyang tungkulin. At ito yung pinaka-masaklap, mukhang mas marami yung bumibigo. 

Sa daang taon ng Ateneo sa bansa, ilang Atenista na nga ba ang tunay na nag-alay ng sarili sa bayan? Ilang Atenista na nga ba ang naging tunay sa misyong maging "men and women for others"? 

Naging saksi at parte ako ng gigil ng Ateneo na makatulong sa ibang tao, noon, high na high rin ako kapag nasa mahihirap akong lugar at nagtuturo ng kung ano-ano sa mga bata, nagbibigay ng training sa mga nanay at tatay, o naglilinis ng mga maduduming dalampasigan. High na high rin ako kapag namumuno ako ng mga activities na feeling ko babago sa ikot ng mundo. Akala ko noon, yun na yung pagiging "man for others" ko. Mali pala ako.

Totoong buhay.

Hindi joke time ang pagiging Atenista. Mahirap talagang i-balance ang academics at lovelife - ooopppsss, I mean, extra-curricular activities, kasabay na rin ang expectation ng mga magulang at friends. Hindi rin madaling magmukha at magpanggap na mayaman kahit 7 pesos na lang ang nasa bulsa mo. Totoong totoo ang buhay sa loob ng Ateneo, totoong totoo ang Buhay Atenista, pero ang Buhay Atenista ay napakalayo sa Buhay Pilipino. 

Akala ko noon, pwede na akong hiranging National Hero dahil sa mga kalokohang pinaggagawa ko bilang isang student leader, ang alam ko lang noon, kailangang tulungan ang Bicol kasi, nasa contract yun sa scholarship namin at according sa mga studies, isa raw ang Bicol sa pinaka mahirap na rehiyon sa bansa. Oha!

Bagong Buhay.

Pero nagbago ang lahat ng unti-unti akong bumalik sa mga lugar na dati kong pinupuntahan, hindi bilang isang Atenistang Turista at feeling-magaling-na-magbabago-ng-bansa kundi bilang isang Atenistang Misionaryo. 

Hanggang ngayon, hindi pa rin ma gets ng mga magulang ko kung bakit kailangan kong talikuran ang mga offers ng malalaking kumpanya sa Maynila at mas piliing bumyahe sa kung saan-saan sa Bicol, walang dalang pera ngunit may isang bote ng tubig naman. Hindi rin nila ma gets kung bakit pag-uwi ko ng bahay, kadalasan mas amoy lupa ako o amoy putik, dati kasi, mas madalas ang amoy alak at yosi. 

Ito ang buhay na aking pinili. Malayo man sa expectation ng mga magulang at friends, malayo man sa expectation ng mga tao bilang Atenista ako, malayo man sa rangya ng opisina sa Makati pero masaya ako - sobrang saya ko. 

 

Challenge!

Hindi ko sinasabing ito ang noblest job in the world kasi hindi naman trabaho ang mahalin ang bayan - para saakin, responsibilidad ng bawat Pilipino na gawin ito, ngunit gusto kong i-challenge ang lahat ng Atenista sa mundo na pagisipan at dasalan ang misyon ng bawa't isa para sa Pilipinas. Hindi lang pagiging community organizer ang cool, cool rin ang mga social entrepreneurs, doctors sa baryo, lawyers na hindi nagsisingil ng bongga, tourism specialist na nag popromote ng ganda Pinas, nurses sa community, pulitikong tapat, at Atenistang patuloy na hinuhubog at nagpapahubog para maging tunay na "man/woman for others". 

Daang taon na ang lumipas. Marami ng Atenista ang grumadweyt ng Ateneo ngunit mahirap pa rin ang Pilipinas. Ilang taon pa ang kailangan nating hintayin? Sinong martir pa ba ang kailangan patayin? Ikaw? Handa ka na bang baguhin ang Pilipinas? Handa ka na bang isabuhay ang pagiging man o woman for others?

 

 

Gawad Kalinga - Bicol Online Campaign

 

 

Did you know that behind these beautiful bags are stories that would touch your heart?

Did you know that behind these bags are struggling lives who want to move out of poverty?

Did you know that behind these bags are Filipino mothers who have a lot of dreams for their own family?

Advancement of Social Media brings the youth to a higher level of communication and interaction.

With this, Gawad Kalinga - Bicol challenges the youth to mobilize so that we could

1. Enhance, market, and promote the products of our Nanays.

2. Tell the stories of the people behind the bags.
3. Inspire more youth to realize that being with fellow Filipinos (be it onsite or online) is the "NEW COOL".

4. Touch more lives so that they could become more for others.

5. Bring more people, more young people to continue fighting for the Philippines and most especially for the Filipinos. 

How can you help us?

We'll conduct a bloggers forum on July 19, 2012, 7:00PM, Bubble Town Tea House, Panganiban, Naga City so that we could contextualize everything. Handa ka na ba?
Handa ka na bang magtaya para sa Bayan gamit ang Social Media? 

Handa ka na bang ibahagi ang iyong sarili para sa iba?

Be a GK ONLINE VOLUNTEER! 

Contact us:

Raffy Magno

09179520244/09214107755

raffymagno_11@yahoo.com

Dhang Tecson

09175863878

dhang.tecson@gmail.com

The Philippines is worth LOVING for.

Living a life filled with unpredictable challenges both from my own family and my chosen vocation isn't easy. From all the physical pains being a buttered child, emotional drama for I'm in a broken family, and a societal stigma, that despite all the stuff I'm doing I'm still discriminated because of my gender - how could I profess love? I guess, I could not be considered as a legit love prophet but I tell you - these challenges are my fuel why I continue to trust love and to trust life.

Falling in love.

Falling in love is the easiest while falling out of love is the hardest. Crazy? Yes. I think I am, especially when it comes to love. For me, when you say you're falling out of love it's as good as saying that "I don't care about my mother" or "Being a Filipino sucks!" I guess in these times, people are so preoccupied with a lot of stuff that they tend to easily lose hope, lose faith and lose love. 

 

Staying in love.

You may be wondering with my posts in facebook, tweets in twitter or articles in blogspot - most of them are positive, full of hope and (of course) love. But you know, behind it are my frustrations, sadness, emptiness and doubt. Yes, even if it seems that I'm so sure that I am offering my self for our country - my wholeness is still filled with questions of doubt. However, the heart which is filled with hope overpowers these dark moments. Behind the smiles are also my struggles. So many times that I wasn't able to attend my mother's birthday because I need to meet a mother who's in pain, so many times that I have to miss my sibling's recognition day because I need to go to a kid who is deprived of education. Staying in love is a struggle but you have to face it. That "hurting" moment is an assurance that you are truly loving.

 

 

Sino nga naman ang mangangahas ma-inlove sa isang bansa na puno ng kahirapan, puno ng pighati. I believe this is where the biggest challenge will come in. Are you ready to fall in love with the Philippines?

 

This is the Philippines according to your lenses.

 

 

I know I will still encounter problems, difficulties, and struggles. Being in Gawad Kalinga doesn't give me the assurance that I will be able to fulfill my dreams for the Philippines while I'm still alive. But one thing is clear, I'm not the only one who is madly and deeply in love with our country. Wherever this craziness leads me, what matters most is that I truly loved. And yes, forever I will shout:

THE PHILIPPINES IS WORTH LOVING for!