Story & photos by Thomas Graham
SNAKING through the building site, we formed two parallel “human conveyor belts” as we passed bricks from one hand to another, until they reached the foundations of the houses we were building in one corner.
Having spent several hours already under the intense heat, I began to wonder if the deodorizing “Axe effect” I applied earlier that morning might have waned already….
Not that the man who stood next to me, who coincidentally reached no higher than my right armpit, seemed the least concerned. “God willing, I will move into one of these houses,” he told me with a broad smile.
Indeed, the variety of people who made up the human chain seemed to sum up the diverse nature of this gathering. Opposite from me was Sam, a confident and ambitious arts student from the local university, who posted regular updates of our progress on Instagram. To my left is a wizened old lady, diminutive elderly Nympha, who seemed almost to buckle under the strain of each brick I passed to her.
Both were considered “veterans” of this event, while many others, including myself, participated for the first time. The Bayani Challenge (bayani: literally, heroes) is a nationwide event designed to bring people together to build homes for the homeless. The combination of hard manual labor under the blistering sun left my body in dire need of some relief. But I said to myself, if Lola (grandmother) Nympha coped, then surely I can, too.
Eventually, the chance for respite appeared in a rather unlikely form: an interlude of frenzied strutting known as the “Unity Dance”. Suddenly, we all acquired a renewed burst of energy. Even my father, a 70 year-old British pensioner who barely shimmies even at the last family wedding, seemed to have been aroused from his midday siesta in the drinks tent.
He arrived in the Philippines a week earlier, eager to understand what had convinced his son to quit the corporate world and delay his return to the United Kingdom. Now I watched him, as he gently swung his hips and swayed robotically to the rhythm of the dance.
“I have never known an event quite like this,” he went on, suggesting that the spirit that first enticed me is beginning to have the same effect on him. No stranger to charitable occasions, he was amazed by the sheer scale of the event.
During the most popular vacation period of the year, which is in Easter, 3,200 volunteers congregated in New Lucena, Iloilo, and temporarily swelled the population of this small, little-known village. It was astonishing to hear that there are a total of 80,000 other volunteers spread across 35 different sites nationwide (not long after, a staggering 1.5 million volunteers were confirmed to have participated in the 2014 Bayani Challenge).
For five nights, they set their minds to sleep in the uncomfortable, stuffy confines of school classrooms. I wondered who all those people were….
Some surprising volunteers
AS everyone got back to work, I took the opportunity to meet some of my fellow builders. The person who led me around and introduced me to some of the different participants was Rose Cacho. By revealing herself to be an avid golfer and lover of fine wine, her image suggested she enjoyed more of a sosyal—or high society—lifestyle than that of an avid Gawad Kalinga volunteer.
“This journey really took me out of my comfort zone,” she told us, referring to the comfortable life she had become accustomed to as a member of a wealthy family of Spanish descent. Her acquaintance with the upper echelons of Iloilo society helped her to raise funds for a total of 36 homes for the victims of a major calamity that hit the city, Typhoon Frank (international code name Fengshen, which made a direct hit on the Philippines in June 2008 and killed over 1,300 people).
The houses were built during the Bayani Challenge of 2009. The work did not end there, however, as Cacho pestered family members, her alma mater, golfing partners and local corporations to raise funds for around 185 houses.
She introduced me to different members of the golfing society who had contributed firstly their resources, and now their labor, to help build the new village. Others who came to help included the mayor, the governor’s wife and the CEO of a large organization. It dawned on me that I was then chatting with the “who’s who” of Iloilo society and yet, judging from their overalls, one would not really know.
Abruptly, Lola Nympha halted our tour as she offered refreshments. I noticed again how tiny she is. Her height possibly reached no further than my waist, but I soon discovered that her indomitable spirit more than made up for her small stature. She told me that the Bayani Challenge brought back emotional memories for her since, until a couple of years ago, she, too, had lived her entire life as a squatter. “Then, they came to my community to help us build our houses. I’m here today because it is now my turn to serve others.”
Different kind of patriotism
“ARE Filipinos always this patriotic?” my father asked me once we had returned to the relative tranquility of the drinks tent.
The occasional successes of a Filipino boxing champion, a pop star, or a beauty-pageant winner aside, this outpouring of national fervor was a surprise for me, too. The colonial period has long been gone, yet in the few months of my stay in the Philippines and from the people I had met, I sensed this is a country still coming to terms with its true identity, and what it truly means to be Filipino.
The Bayani Challenge, meanwhile, is an authentic celebration of this country’s people, both poor and nonpoor, showing what they can do when they work together for the common good. They are the real “heroes”, and their actions are what make a nation truly great.
As a foreigner, the experience proved to be so uplifting that it made me reflect on how I should value a nation’s true greatness: Is it in terms of its sporting achievements, cultural traditions, international power, or through the shared humanity of its people?
Through the Bayani Challenge, I have been offered a compelling display of the latter, although Cacho told me a five-day celebration of solidarity should only be the beginning: “We can show our love for country not just for over a few days or in a one-off pledge, but throughout our everyday lives, no matter how small our actions are. I am thankful for my Spanish heritage, from where my faith and passion take root. I also have Malay (Filipino), Chinese and French blood. But first and foremost, I am a Filipina. I think it is time we should celebrate our diversity and become proud of our nation, but we should also work together to ensure no fellow Filipino is ever left behind again.”
Make your summer meaningful through Gawad Kalinga’s Bayani Challenge 2017: Tatak Bayani. This annual summer volunteering event offers participants opportunities to build or repaint homes; refurbish schools; share stories and healthy meals for the children; organize a sports clinic, a youth summit or a health mission; and care for environment while they bask in the beauty of the Philippines’s rich local culture. It will take place over five days in nine different locations across the Philippines from April 17 until June 11. Register now at www.gk1world.com/bc2017 or e-mail bayanichallenge@gawadkalinga.com.
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This article is an extract from Graham’s book, The Genius of the Poor. For comments, suggestions and reactions, contact tom@madtravel.org.
Image credits: Thomas Graham