I sooooo want to blog again but haven't had the "push" to do so. And the "push" came just because I have so many things to do and I want to clear my head. Thus this post. My mind's filled with so many blog ideas and stories that I wanna share but I don't know where to start, very much like doing our digital strategy for GK1world. Darn! Clear up your head Maymay. I just am grateful for a very supportive and amazing boss who guides me all the time and I learn a lot from her every time we talk about what I need and have to do. I wanna write about my recent visit in Cebu, Human Heart Nature, my work in GK, upcoming GK events, food trips, new adventures, new learnings, realizations. And I just turned 23 so I was kinda hoping to write a deep and sensible post. Naks! Haha Hope I actually can find the time and the urge to write about all of these. Inspirations are just everywhere and they ought to be shared! And my God Whispers today just got me all excited for the days to come. Well, especially with our online projects and campaigns. I also need to start on my resolutions. It's delayed for 6 months! 6! Haha I need to have my brain working and grinding again. My God Whispers below. Just what I need to hear today.
Dear Maymay,
When you give to me your availability, I will supply you with your ability.
Storeroom Manager,
God
P.S. Just say Yes, Maymay.
June 14, 2011
June 11, 2011
LIFE OF A NATION-BUILDER: Adventures and Misadventures
Published last September 2010.
It's been 5 months and 3 days now that I left the comforts of home, of family and friends, of Cebu!! These past 5 months have been filled with daily doses of new learnings, new sense of freedom, new inspirations, new friends, new adventures, so many "firsts", self- discovery, and small to big time surprises. God can never be outdone. And it was just yesterday that I again decided to push myself and try to set aside the laziness so I am able to write about my new GK adventures and finding a family and a home away from home. Woot! So this blog's gonna be numbered for now because I am going to compress the 5 months in one looooooong post.
1. First LRT ride. Memorable!!! On our way to Irwin Theater, Ateneo for the 2nd GK Ateneo Heroes Academy (AHA). Commuting from one place to another is an adventure especially when it's your first time taking that route but I always make sure that I can call or text someone anytime and have enough money to take a detour, well, if ever I get lost for maybe more than an hour, then ride a cab! But so far, haven't taken a detour yet.
2. GK Ateneo Heroes Academy. Inspiring to see the young especially those in our GK communities to be part of that musicale after a week of creative training with the best from Ateneo. Kudos to the Ateneo community who has been supportive and working with GK, all the way.
3. GK CYD Olympics. It was a rainy Saturday morning but the rain didn't stop the kids from getting all excited and ready for the day's event filled with lots of sports, games, prizes and lots of cheering. Woohoo! And there's free Chuckie and Selecta ice cream too!
4. GK Builder's Night. 5 Builder's Night in all. And it gets better everytime. Inspiring and mind-blowing. Hearing the respective stories of every GK champion, volunteer and resident never fails to to make me excited over and over again of what God has planned for GK and the many lives that it has touched and will continue to touch.
5. I turned 22. Yay! Celebrate, celebrate! Special thanks to the Llabans. They wouldn't allow us to go home after the Builder's Night because it was my special day and a special day has to be celebrated. And so this wonderful couple treated us to a late night dinner at UCC Cafe. Then, honoring came after.
6. Spending time with my relatives in Laguna on free weekends. I love it there! I can take whatever I want from their fridge and I get to practice my Ilonggo. And spending time with them means reconnecting with my mama's Ilonggo roots which I know will mean a lot to her since we haven't been going home to Iloilo as a family for a long time now.
7. Visiting GK villages, which I would like to do more often. The transformation is just captivating and truly is a work of God.
8. Trekking after the turn-over ceremony and the sumptuous lunch! Yay!
9. Nonoy's Inauguration. But we weren't there. We spent that holiday in the office to keep Ate Melai company since she had office stuff to finish.
10. Decided to tag along with the CYD team for the whole day, shooting at Bulacan then in Bagong Silang for a GK video featuring the CYD program. Inspiring stories of letting go of old ways and living a new life because of Gawad Kalinga. And the fruit that GK has bore especially hearing the stories of the kids who were in Sibol or in Sagip when GK started and are now actively part of the SIGA program at present is just moving.
11. PBA Live. My first. It was my first time in Araneta too. Soooo excited! Thank you GK PMG for adopting us and for the free tickets.
12. Divisoria is love and the place to be for people who enjoy buying cheap stuff like me and my roommates!!
13. Paraisong Pambata. Ascott sponsored and will be sponsoring Paraisong Pambatas in around 10 GK sites. So we came to help out in the second one. Fun, fun, fun! I miss serving and spending time in a jungle of kids, their smiles, their laughters, never fails to remind me that this is one of the reasons why I will never stop working and praying for GK's grand vision of GK2024.
14. Goodbye Gutom Day. This event was held in 4 different places simultaneous and me and my roommates went to GK Amalia Village Tarlac. A first for me to visit a GK Bayan-Anihan Farm. Another item crushed out from my GK Bucket List. Wootwoot!
15. SBMA training at Subic. We all got body pains after the two day training but it was really inspiring to meet another breed of heroes who dedicate their life to save other people's lives.
That's it for now. Just want to document everything I've been up to while away from the family cause I promised my younger siblings that I'll update them from time to time. And I wanted to finish this so I can start really writing about my GK adventures without compressing them this time. I'm going to CamSur tomorrow with four other GK co-workers to help prepare for the CamSur marathon. Yay! Excited!
GK EXPO 2010 is fast approaching too! Exciting days coming up!
Praise God for GK.
It's been 5 months and 3 days now that I left the comforts of home, of family and friends, of Cebu!! These past 5 months have been filled with daily doses of new learnings, new sense of freedom, new inspirations, new friends, new adventures, so many "firsts", self- discovery, and small to big time surprises. God can never be outdone. And it was just yesterday that I again decided to push myself and try to set aside the laziness so I am able to write about my new GK adventures and finding a family and a home away from home. Woot! So this blog's gonna be numbered for now because I am going to compress the 5 months in one looooooong post.
1. First LRT ride. Memorable!!! On our way to Irwin Theater, Ateneo for the 2nd GK Ateneo Heroes Academy (AHA). Commuting from one place to another is an adventure especially when it's your first time taking that route but I always make sure that I can call or text someone anytime and have enough money to take a detour, well, if ever I get lost for maybe more than an hour, then ride a cab! But so far, haven't taken a detour yet.
 | |
| Speedy LRT. |
2. GK Ateneo Heroes Academy. Inspiring to see the young especially those in our GK communities to be part of that musicale after a week of creative training with the best from Ateneo. Kudos to the Ateneo community who has been supportive and working with GK, all the way.
 |
| The talented SIGAs do what they do best: sing, dance, act and inspire which almost brought me to tears. Trying my best to control it though. :) |
3. GK CYD Olympics. It was a rainy Saturday morning but the rain didn't stop the kids from getting all excited and ready for the day's event filled with lots of sports, games, prizes and lots of cheering. Woohoo! And there's free Chuckie and Selecta ice cream too!
 |
| These kids are just talented and amazing. The audience were just holding their breathe and watching their every stunt and praying that no one would get hurt with all the liftings that they're doing. Good job, kids! |
5. I turned 22. Yay! Celebrate, celebrate! Special thanks to the Llabans. They wouldn't allow us to go home after the Builder's Night because it was my special day and a special day has to be celebrated. And so this wonderful couple treated us to a late night dinner at UCC Cafe. Then, honoring came after.
 |
| With the most gwapo Llaban in the world, SEV! Thanks for sharing the cake with me Sevy! |
6. Spending time with my relatives in Laguna on free weekends. I love it there! I can take whatever I want from their fridge and I get to practice my Ilonggo. And spending time with them means reconnecting with my mama's Ilonggo roots which I know will mean a lot to her since we haven't been going home to Iloilo as a family for a long time now.
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| With my two pretty and "kulit" cousins. Their laughter and stories never fail to cheer me up! |
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| with GK volunteers from France. Even if they aren't really that fluent in English, we had fun talking and exchanging stories with them. (I was the photographer, in case you were looking for me. :) |
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| Ate May's first turn-over ceremony here in Luzon. and we decided to join her for moral support! all the way to Pangil, Laguna. yey! |
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| So we were trekking on water...huh? haha. Btaw, it was more of like a 600 metres trek then ride a raft then trek again, then ride a raft, we repeated that exercise around 3 or 4 times and the end of it was the pot of gold! The short but powerful waterfalls. |
9. Nonoy's Inauguration. But we weren't there. We spent that holiday in the office to keep Ate Melai company since she had office stuff to finish.
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| with the Green Kalusugan team since they had a meeting that day too. watching Noynoy speak, livestreaming, and everyone listening intently and clapping and cheering at the right moment. |
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| Tita Tess and Tito Dale Lugue. One of the teams who started GK in Bagong SIlang with Tito Tony Meloto. I have goosebumps whenever I hear how GK started years ago. Thank you CYD team and ate Jill for allowing me to tag along that day. |
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| talented SAGIPs who came from SIBOL. |
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| watching PBA live at Araneta Coliseum with the GK PG people. Thank you Rain or Shine for the free tickets! and to ate Pinky too. :) |
13. Paraisong Pambata. Ascott sponsored and will be sponsoring Paraisong Pambatas in around 10 GK sites. So we came to help out in the second one. Fun, fun, fun! I miss serving and spending time in a jungle of kids, their smiles, their laughters, never fails to remind me that this is one of the reasons why I will never stop working and praying for GK's grand vision of GK2024.
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| JOLLIBEE!!! The smiles and the excitement on their faces are priceless! Way to go, Ascott! |
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| GK Globe Farm. |
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| Proud to be able to meet another breed of heroes and proud to be part of the GK Team! Whoah! (correct spelling of the chant, according to Kuya Dan) |
GK EXPO 2010 is fast approaching too! Exciting days coming up!
Praise God for GK.
LIFE OF A NATION-BUILDER: The Beginning
Hello everyone! I can't believe I haven't written for months now. I recently came to a conclusion that I can't even write on this blog, so there's no reason for me to maintain a different blog for my GK adventures and misadventures. So I'm moving here all my articles in my other blog. There are only about 3, and just for the sake of a new post. Teehee. :D
10 years ago. A movement was born when a couple of selfless young people and those young at heart decided to go beyond youth evangelization and started building homes for the least then later on communities. They have chosen to leave the comforts of their family and friends out of great and selfless love for their fellowmen who have less and who have been stripped off of their dignity and called them family.
And 10 years ago, when families chose to spend their family day in malls and beaches and resorts, my family chose to spend most of our Sundays in the attention deprived leper community in Eversley, Mandaue City, Cebu.
I was then a first year student but in my young mind, I know that there will always be someone or a family who out there who needs our love and "kalinga". It was my first experience of being exposed to those who have long been forgotten by the society because people are just too scared to just even be in the same room with them. But my papa and the GK team never had second thoughts of having the first ever GK village in that community. Their families have been looked down by our society for years just because a family member has contracted the disease. But the GK family stood by them and embraced them. They're eternally grateful for the love because it made them see their worth and brought back their dignity. Some have missing body parts brought about by the disease (but they're not contagious anymore) yet they chose to help in whatever way they can to "pasa-pasa" sacks of gravel and sand and painted their homes and their neighbor's homes, their chapel and multipurpose. I gained new friends and new families. I learned that loving my family means loving the least, the broken and the lost. I realized that my parents are the most generous and loving people in the world (I am very biased on this, i know, but hey, this is my blogsite) cause even if we have just enough resources for everyday, they still chose to share our blessings to these communities.
From that time on, GK has always been a way of life. Our family's way of life. A lifetime commitment. I will be forever grateful to GK for just bringing us closer together as a family. I see Christ in every GK volunteer and worker I come across. They are living witnesses of the love of God to the broken. GK has taught me to be braver and stronger and love amidst the pain and hurts. And as I continue my journey in this path I chose, I could not help but look back to the humble beginnings of being a GK advocate. I am still overwhelmed by the gift of GK to my family, to the poor, and to our country after all these years. And I promise to document and share every heart-capturing GK trip and inspiring GK story that I'll witness. All for the love of God and country! Yay!
Trivia: GK Sto. Nino, Eversley is one of the first few GK villages that has been constructed across the country. But it was in GK Ermita, Cebu which GK first existed. SIGA, the youth program of GK, was first launched there but the GK village for the residents there was not materialized since the residents refused to be relocated. GK Ermita is the most dangerous place in Cebu and is a den of thieves and serial killers, small time and big time. But the youth were quite welcome for change. It even came to a point that if you're a GK worker, and if you're wearing a GK shirt, Ermita will be the safest place for you. No kidding!
I can vividly remember there was this time that papa brought with him a youth who was shot (but he was actually innocent, he just came to their place because he left something...talk about bad timing, but he was a former thief and drug-user before GK came) because the place where they usually had a pot session was raided. He stayed at our place for a week. It was also the first time that I visited the police station because my papa was helping him work out his papers. GK moment: he was so touched of papa's gesture of having him stay at home for a few days that he actually shed some tears when he left. Personally, at first, I was really hesitant and scared that papa brought him home, a total stranger to us and a former criminal. Who wouldn't be scared? But then, I am just thankful that papa has risen above the norm and welcomed him. I was just touched and moved!
Blast from the past:
10 years ago. A movement was born when a couple of selfless young people and those young at heart decided to go beyond youth evangelization and started building homes for the least then later on communities. They have chosen to leave the comforts of their family and friends out of great and selfless love for their fellowmen who have less and who have been stripped off of their dignity and called them family.
And 10 years ago, when families chose to spend their family day in malls and beaches and resorts, my family chose to spend most of our Sundays in the attention deprived leper community in Eversley, Mandaue City, Cebu.
I was then a first year student but in my young mind, I know that there will always be someone or a family who out there who needs our love and "kalinga". It was my first experience of being exposed to those who have long been forgotten by the society because people are just too scared to just even be in the same room with them. But my papa and the GK team never had second thoughts of having the first ever GK village in that community. Their families have been looked down by our society for years just because a family member has contracted the disease. But the GK family stood by them and embraced them. They're eternally grateful for the love because it made them see their worth and brought back their dignity. Some have missing body parts brought about by the disease (but they're not contagious anymore) yet they chose to help in whatever way they can to "pasa-pasa" sacks of gravel and sand and painted their homes and their neighbor's homes, their chapel and multipurpose. I gained new friends and new families. I learned that loving my family means loving the least, the broken and the lost. I realized that my parents are the most generous and loving people in the world (I am very biased on this, i know, but hey, this is my blogsite) cause even if we have just enough resources for everyday, they still chose to share our blessings to these communities.
From that time on, GK has always been a way of life. Our family's way of life. A lifetime commitment. I will be forever grateful to GK for just bringing us closer together as a family. I see Christ in every GK volunteer and worker I come across. They are living witnesses of the love of God to the broken. GK has taught me to be braver and stronger and love amidst the pain and hurts. And as I continue my journey in this path I chose, I could not help but look back to the humble beginnings of being a GK advocate. I am still overwhelmed by the gift of GK to my family, to the poor, and to our country after all these years. And I promise to document and share every heart-capturing GK trip and inspiring GK story that I'll witness. All for the love of God and country! Yay!
Trivia: GK Sto. Nino, Eversley is one of the first few GK villages that has been constructed across the country. But it was in GK Ermita, Cebu which GK first existed. SIGA, the youth program of GK, was first launched there but the GK village for the residents there was not materialized since the residents refused to be relocated. GK Ermita is the most dangerous place in Cebu and is a den of thieves and serial killers, small time and big time. But the youth were quite welcome for change. It even came to a point that if you're a GK worker, and if you're wearing a GK shirt, Ermita will be the safest place for you. No kidding!
I can vividly remember there was this time that papa brought with him a youth who was shot (but he was actually innocent, he just came to their place because he left something...talk about bad timing, but he was a former thief and drug-user before GK came) because the place where they usually had a pot session was raided. He stayed at our place for a week. It was also the first time that I visited the police station because my papa was helping him work out his papers. GK moment: he was so touched of papa's gesture of having him stay at home for a few days that he actually shed some tears when he left. Personally, at first, I was really hesitant and scared that papa brought him home, a total stranger to us and a former criminal. Who wouldn't be scared? But then, I am just thankful that papa has risen above the norm and welcomed him. I was just touched and moved!
Blast from the past:
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| Team GK Cebu. Old school! |
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