STI Kalibo, September 27, 2008
Theme: Building Leaders for Tomorrow
Topic: Fundamentals of Leadership and Volunteerism
I know you all have had a long day. It’s almost time to pack up. You’ve had seven speakers before me. That’s a lot to take in. So, I figure I’ll give you a break, I’m not going to bore you with different theories of leadership and volunteerism. Instead, I just want to share with you some of my experiences in the field in the hope that you’ll be able to take home a learning or two from these experiences.So first, let me tell you the story of how I came to Aklan…
When I heard about the damage wrought on Aklan by Typhoon Frank, I had to sit down with my mom. My family was scheduled to leave for Europe to attend an international trade fair in Germany. It was also the 150th anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes. So it was timely for me to go on my pilgrimage to Lourdes, France 25 years after my parents asked for Our Lady's intercession for my safe passage into this world. In 1982 kasi the doctors advised my parents that they shouldn't have any more kids after my mom suffered from a temporary paralysis upon giving birth to my brother. So upon finding out that my mom was pregnant with me, my parents went on a pilgrimage to Lourdes. They asked Our Lady of Lourdes to intercede for me and by God’s grace, mukha naman daw akong normal when I was born in March of 1983. Hence, I got my name Ma. Lourdes... And so, two months ago, my ticket was booked. I was scheduled to fly to Europe on the 3rd of July. I couldn't however find it in my heart to leave for Europe knowing full well what was happening in Aklan.
See, in November of 2006, when Typhoon Reming devastated my homeland, Albay, I was out of the country. I was working in Washington D.C. I wanted to fly home soon after I learned about what happened to Albay but I wasn't able to do so until March of 2007. When I came home, 4 months after the typhoon, my Albay was still very much hurting. But I was comforted by the realization that the country had come to the aid of Albay and even after four months, there still remained a number of local and international organizations and groups that were working tirelessly to help my people. So it was that come June 26, 2008, after hearing about the plight of the Aklanons, I knew that the time to pay it forward had finally come.
I asked the board of Dios Mabalos Po Foundation if they would agree to sending a team to Aklan. They didnt hesitate. I asked the staff of Dios Mabalos Po Foundation if they could come with me to Aklan. They said I didn't have to ask twice. Now I'll be honest with you, my initial plan was to come to Aklan and feed 10,000 people in a span of one week. But by the 2nd of July, I was informed by the board that we had received enough donations from our partners and friends to feed 10,000 people everyday for one month.
I almost fell from my chair when I read the email! For 10,000 people a day, we would need 50 calderos, and a core group of about 30 individuals . I had 5 calderos and a team of 5!
I must admit I found myself a bit anxious that night. I was leaving for Kalibo on the 4th of July and feeding 10000 people every day just seemed... a bit much... a bit overwhelming really. But that night, as I lay quietly in my bed, the words of Mother Teresa came to me, calmed my spirit, and removed my apprehensions...She said, If you can't feed a hundred people, then just feed one".
For the first month, that is what I tried to do. With my team of five, I went around the municipalities of Numancia and Kalibo. We spoke with barangay officials, barangay nutrition scholars and barangay health workers and we asked them to help us feed the children of Aklan.
On July 11, 2008, we started feeding in Kalibo. That first day we only fed 200 children. But come the second week of our operations, we were already able to feed about 5200 children every day. Now, two and a half months after we first started cooking, we've breached the 10,000 mark for daily feeding and Dios Mabalos Po Foundation's feeding program is reaching over 30,000 children in the province of Aklan everyday for emergency supplemental feeding.
I won’t say it’s been easy. It’s been challenging. The conditions when we first got here were difficult. Access to potable water was still scarce. Maputik pa noon at maalikabok. Yung mga sasakyan na nahiram namin the first few weeks ay inabot din ng baha at putik, so we had to get off from time to time to push the vehicle to get it to start. Nagkamuscle ako the first week but over the next few weeks, I also lost a lot of weight, partly because of stress. I lost 8 pounds in 2 months. My friends in Bicol and Manila couldn’t understand why I had to personally come. Sabi nila dapat pinapunta ko na lang yung mga staff at volunteers ng Dios Mabalos Po Foundation. No doubt, if I had asked the staff of Dios Mabalos Po Foundation to go to aklan without me, they still would have come. But what kind of a leader would that have made me?
See, having the authority to tell somebody to do something makes someone a boss, but authority alone does not make a leader. Personally, when I’m deciding if I can respect someone as a leader, I observe what the person does so that I can know what kind of a person he truly is. You can tell from someone's actions, if he is an honorable leader, or a self-serving person who misuses authority for his own selfish needs. Leadership is a process. It’s not a title. Let me repeat that…
Leadership is a process. Its not a title.
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