Gawad Kalinga

went for a public lecture - Building the Heart of the Nation by Tony Meloto on 8th May, the evening after my last paper. It was an inspiring talk as Tony Meloto shared the success stories of Gawad Kalinga communities in Philippines. These GK villages provide LAND FOR THE LANDLESS, HOMES FOR THE HOMELESS and FOOD FOR THE HUNGRY. I was especially touched by how they managed to transform triad leaders into useful members of the society, transforming an area of violence into a village of love and happiness. It takes a village to raise a child. It takes more than just school alone to be able to improve the quality of their lives. I remember how we complained about the students in Chiangrai not wanting to study despite our efforts to help them. We failed to understand then, that having a proper home, sufficient food and stable job are just as important as education and by tackling just one aspect alone will not yield much results. Like what Tony shared, how can a child study well if he returns to a house with leaking roof and no food. GK is indeed a good model for us to learn from, and perhaps, the same idea can be applied to terrorism as well. Using love as a solution and not violence. Violence yields more violence and it'll just end up as a never-ending vicious cycle. =)

I remember how the people living along the banks of the Tonle Sap lake in Cambodia have only small houses (only slightly bigger than my room) built on stilts for the whole family to live in, and how small children rowed in little basins to come after our boat to beg for money. It was really very dangerous! Perhaps one day we can have a project there to do our little bit to help them =)