In January of this year, I had the privilege to go on GK YGAT, Gawad Kalinga's Great Adventure Tour to the Philippines. Gawad Kalinga in the Filipino language means to give care, and this is exactly what this organisation does. The aim of these annual tours is to take youths from all over Australia to the slums of the Philippines and help locals build colourful homes and essentially rebuild their communities. The aim of this community building project is to help local Filipinos to move from being in a state of poverty to becoming self-relient as a community.
The aims of this project were so appealing that my brother and I got straight into it. It was only after signing up for the trip we realised not only did we not know the native language or culture, but one of the sixty youths that were going on the trip, we didn't know any of them. Many of the youths knew each other from church groups and most were Filipino background, with a handful of Australians, Koreans, Vietnamese and us Indians. However, talking to new people was never a problem, and within the first few days we had made many new friends.
At the start of any given day, we would always begin with a prayer that one of the youths would lead. Almost everyone in the group was Christian, and so at the beginning and end of the prayer, they would all do the Holy Cross symbol actions. We were often mentioned in their prayers, as they prayed to thank us for coming to their country, regardless of the fact that we were not Filipino, but we still saw the greater need of helping the nation to come out of poverty. Not at any point did we feel that we were not part of this group of young people, event though we were not of the same faith as them.
For much of this trip, we lived with the locals in remote villages and this was an eye opening experience. Staying with these families meant being totally outside of my comfort zone, as first of all, I did not speak a word of the native language, and on top of that I was far from my usual comforts of living. Although these families were the poorest of the poor, the hospitality provided was so warm and welcoming. They gave their all in making our stay in their homes as comfortable as possible. Working alongside the locals in the community, made a huge difference to them, as most of the community found it hard to believe that they could overcome poverty. For us to come from so far to help them reach their goals really bridged that gap between the well off and the poor, and their appreciative smiles were so heart warming.
This trip highlightened to me that working together transcends all boundaries of religion, nationality, upbringing or material possessions. Community building projects by Gawad Kalinga have not only helped change the face of many Filipino communities, but are now changing the mindsets of many young people. This journey was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.
*Source: Y-Net News March 08.
*** Please visit our GK Youth Photo Gallery for photos of the GK Youth Great Adventure Tour 2008: Mission LVM ***
