Last week, we (10 friends) embarked on a journey to the Philippines that changed our lives forever and we want to share that short story with you..

We started around a month ago with the idea of spending the whole week to help one of the local communities in SE Asia. From the beginning our goal was to live with the community, in order to understand it better and build sustainable things together. After couple of weeks spent on research we engaged with Gawad Kalinga, which is widely known in Philippines for its activities and the model they implement to bring thousands of families out of poverty. In order to make a social change we need to start by providing basic needs to the people (housing, water, food) and they need to work on it in order to appreciate the value. That was it, even though the rainy season was in full swing and with no other dates to choose from, we decided to go for it!

The GK site we were going to had around 47 families living there already and more than 130 houses, a school and a communal area to be built. In order for each of the families to have the right to move into the house they needed to spend 1,000 hours working on the overall construction and total of 2,500 hours of contribution to own it. After reaching 1,000 hours they can draw the keys of the ready built houses to find out which one will belong to them. The model of not knowing which home will be yours, helps to make sure everybody is motivated to do quality work while building each of the houses.

 With the wonderful people that we have met in the community.

A month after contacting the organization, we had 10 motivated people from Singapore and the Philippines arriving 40km south from Manila to meet with the community. Immediately after arrival, we received a warm welcome and got to know our host families for the next 5 days. Our daily life was starting with the sunrise when most of the village was waking up, by going to take the water from the well and taking the bucket shower, having a quick morning chat with the families through broken English-Tagalog conversations and playing with the most adorable kids. After a short breakfast we were ready to work and help them to build the houses, by mixing cement, plastering and digging holes for the foundation of the houses. Occupied with hours of sweat, a couple of blisters and under the guidance of patient local builders, we managed to achieve a visible impact by seeing couple of floors, walls and foundations being built. We were usually finishing the first part of the day with a delicious lunch served in huge amounts.. mmm chicken adobo.

Most of the time, the second part of the day we were spending with kids on various activities, trying to teach them something and bring smiles to their faces… there were handicrafts, big bubbles, balloon fights, kites, balls… One of the biggest attraction was a Polaroid camera we took with us in the last minute. Since there are no mirrors in the village, you could see from the kids' expressions that for some of them this was the first time to see how they look, simply priceless... Our days were finishing with supper and a sharing session during which we could reflect on the daily activities and share all the thoughts and emotions we experienced during the day.

Bidding farewell to the adorable kids of GK Toyota GK Village :)

Throughout our short stay, most of us didn't notice how fast we got used to the basic conditions of living and appreciating simple things in life like sharing a meal. We were able to share our happiness and help to improve a bit their conditions of living, as well as bring hope and smiles to their faces. At the same time we realized again how important it is to give back and spend quality time with people around us by working and having fun together. The last day came sooner than most of us expected and by mid Friday, we had to say emotional goodbye or rather 'see you soon' since most of us felt like being at home over there and for sure will come back. This 5 days will stay in our hearts and minds for a long time and we would like to thank VMware and Gawad Kalinga for giving us the opportunity to make it happen.”

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Gawad Kalinga is not a charity, rather, it's an organization that aims to end poverty by building empowered and sustainable communities. GK Mabuhay is a program that allows international volunteers to embark on a journey of caring and sharing in the Philippines. They get to experience the best of Filipino culture and hospitality by immersing in a GK community, and make memories that will last a lifetime as they volunteer for various GK programs and activities. Click HERE for more information about going on a volun-tour.