Urban Planning Reaction Paper (1of 5) - GK Southville

My first of five reaction papers sa urban planning. Love ko na 'tong subject na to! Para sa masipag magbasa.^^

eto yung link sa article:
http://www.philstar.com/archives.php?aid=20080614174&type=2

at eto naman ang pinag-aksayahan ko ng panahon kagabi habang naulan:*tawa*

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And if empty cans were all I have, what a joy

I never fight to take someone

else's coins and live with fear

like the rest of the boys



Paraiso, help me make a stand

Paraiso, take me by the hand

Paraiso, make the world understand

that if I could see a single bird, what a joy

This tired and hungry land could expect

some truth and hope and respect

from the rest of the world

-lines from Paraiso, Composed by Ryan Cayabyab

Sung by Smokey Mountain

Theme song of the Gawad Kalinga trilogy

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The Choice

Question #1: Why did I choose this article about GK Southville? 

First of all, it was an event in celebration of the Philippine Independence Day
in Cavite that DLSU-D was supposed to be part of. We, in the Council of
Student Organizations, together with the University Student Council,
the College Student Councils and other student groups of this University,
was to send to participants in the said project in GK Southville.

Mr. Greg Mercado, chairman of GK Youth in De La Salle and an active advocate
of GK, became one of our speakers in the Lasallian Youth Agenda (LaYA)
Symposium last May. It is here where he introduced to us the said GK Southville
project with the theme “Kapatiran, Kalayaan sa Kahirapan”.

Question #2: Why didn’t DLSU-D’s participation in it materialize? 

The concern here was that the different student bodies had a short period of
time for the processing of the papers needed for the school administration
to approve the school’s participation on the said event. We learned about
the event during the last week of May, and prior to the date of the GK Southville
project, the respective student bodies were also busy on their own mid-year
workshops, leadership trainings, etc., though in terms of participants, there were
a handful of them.

Another issue here was that the dates covered by the GK project were in conflict
with the opening days of class. It became hard for some students to decide on
whether they should participate because they were also hesitant to miss their
first days of class. Securing excuse letters was also quite a long part of the school
process in holding or participating on off-campus activities. 

So Much for the Reasons 

Now this is where my real observations about the project and the whole organization will start. *smile*

Gawad Kalinga has no doubt done its part toward community development and nation building. Its vision for the country has touched the hearts of the poor on places where it has already provided programs to develop the lives of the Filipino people living in poverty.

When I was still a common student back in second year and I first heard of Gawad Kalinga, my idea about it was building houses. I thought it was purely about putting up homes for the homeless, as I saw pictures of my seniors working together in carrying bricks, working it out on shovels and pails, and mixing gravel, sand and cement for concrete (very Civil Engineering-ish ^^), all for sharing and giving love and peace to these poverty-stricken people.

The Heroes

I was wrong.

After participating in one of its scheduled activities at GK Adlas (one of DLSU-D’s partner outreach communities), I learned that Gawad Kalinga is not at all about just house-building. Putting up homes for the poorest of the poor meant providing them dignity for having an adequate place to live, and consequently, giving them a community of love. This not just about the physical development (site planning) aspect, but more importantly, Gawad Kalinga is concerned with the social transformation that follows such progress on its nurtured communities. Included in this community change are the different livelihood, health, education, environment and youth formation programs to empower the GK residents.

The article about the project in GK Southville says it all. It has come to that point where former recipients of the GK movement, so to speak, has become very passionate on their fellow poor, and decided to be part of its growing number of volunteers. This action of passing and paying it forward is what made this movement a strong example of the Filipino values of Bayanihan and patriotism. Everyone becomes a hero to each other.

The Challenge

The youth comprises the majority of our population. This is one of those activities in community development where we should be more involved. Need I say more?

No more slums. No more violence. No more poverty. This is what GK is all about.

*smile*

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*for love and peace!