Calamity victims help build communities for two months

CEBU, Philippines - Despite being victims of calamities, over a million of people showed the spirit of volunteerism in two months of nation-building through the recently concluded Bayani Challenge of Gawad Kalinga.

From April 9 to June 12 this year, the Bayani Challenge 2014 went to 11 towns in northern Cebu hit by super typhoon Yolanda in November last year and to different areas in Bohol ravaged by the magnitude 7.2 earthquake on October 15 also in last year.

The volunteers took part in building houses, medical missions, cleanup, planting mangroves, refurbishing schools, and feeding of thousands of kids.

The Bayani Challenge is Gawad Kalinga’s annual and massive-scale volunteerism event with a goal of building relationships, bringing out the hero in everyone and creating peaceful and caring communities that are ready for any eventuality.

In Cebu, around 36, 800 volunteers were able to refurbish 211 classrooms, plant 120,000 mangrove propagules, and feed 5,130 children in Sogod, Borbon, Daanbantayan, Sta. Fe, Bantayan, Madridejos, Tabuelan, Medellin, San Remigio, Tabogon and Bogo City.

Activities were undertaken for five days in each site.

“Volunteers left comfort to confront the most pressing issue that our nation and our world are facing today: transforming apathy or the ‘walang pakialam’ mentality to a culture of ‘Walang iwanan’,” GK Executive Director Jose Luis Oquiñena said in a statement.

GK recorded a total of 1.6 million volunteers in different provinces in the country. The province of Bohol got the highest number of volunteers of around one million, said Patrick Doromal, GK coordinator for Eastern and Central Visayas.

Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation, Inc., is Philippine-based movement that aims to end poverty by first restoring the dignity of the poor. It employs an integrated and holistic approach to empowerment with values-formation and leadership development at its core. – (FREEMAN)