I first met St. Anthony Tiu last January 2012. He was on vacation here, being based in Singapore working in Procter & Gamble and at the same time running a massage spa in the Philippines. Since he moved to Singapore, it has been one of his goals to be able to give back to his country. He said that business was doing great and he thought of donating a percentage of his company’s income to build a couple of houses in a Gawad Kalinga community. We identified a site called GK Silver Heights in Brgy. Malaria, Caloocan City, and were welcomed by the Kapitbahayan president, Tito Bart Hangdaan.

St. Anthony Tiu (left) and Tito Bart (fourth from left)

The community was relatively new compared to other sites in Caloocan. But the 75 families composing the community have been together for more than 2 decades since they lived as informal settlers in Diliman, Quezon City. They experienced forced demolition, then they came back, only to experience it again. They were finally relocated to Malaria in 1997.

It seemed that hardships followed the community, because in 2009, a fire broke out and ravaged their homes. GK, together with the parish and the local government, came into the picture and gave new hope to this community. Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. Foundation, the mayor himself, individuals like St. and Pramela Menghrajani, and All ‘86 all contributed to build the homes for GK Silver Heights.     

St. proudly poses in front of the two houses they donated to GK Silver Heights

The Kapitbahayan took to heart the spirit of Walang Iwanan (leaving no one behind), strengthened by a shared history of defeat and new-found hope. They promised each other that they would all move into their new homes at the same time. Out of 75 homes, 40 have already been built, and they are still hopeful that their prayers of finally moving into their new homes would be answered.

Led by their KB president Tito Bart Hangdaan, the community, using their own talent and resources, were able to run programs such as Child and Youth Development, livelihood, and food sufficiency. One would see all sorts of signs posted in the area: welcome signs, names of their partners, the GK values, community rules and the list of KB officers. Tito Bart proudly said that they were able to resolve their issues within their community without resorting going to the barangay hall. He said that they did not want to be burdens to the local government, to GK and to the partners.

>> Learn more about how Gawad Kalinga builds communities

St., together with his family and his company, The Living Saint Lifestyle and Wellness Corporation, finally met the Kapitbahayan in June 2012 when they came to GK Silver Heights to celebrate their anniversary with a volunteer build. They came back again last December to celebrate Christmas with the community. St. has also hired two nail technicians from GK Taguig for his recently opened nail spa. His blessings continue, with the opening of another massage spa and a nail spa that even got featured in the Manila Bulletin just this January. He affirmed that he will continue to share these blessings with other people.

>> Read more in 'Heavenly Nails!'

Kapitbahayan and volunteers stop for a group shot before going home after a day of bayanihan

St., together with his employees, in GK Silver Heights to celebrate Christmas with the community

Two seemingly different groups of people who came together in one community to be a family to each other. It proves that no matter where we are in the world and where we are in life, as long as we are capable of loving, we can be heroes to one another. Our time, talent and treasure, however small we deem it to be, all converge in our endeavor to build a better people and a better nation.

Bawat Pilipino Bayani!

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Gawad Kalinga is not a charity, rather, it's an organization that aims to end poverty by building sustainable communities. This would not be possible without the partners who have journeyed with us in changing the lives of others. You too can be a hero to the poorest of the poor and partner with us in building sustainable and holistic GK communities! To build a community like this, click here.