Yale studes find joy in GK work

Residents of the Gawad Kalinga (GK) village in Pandi, Bulacan were surprised to see a group of Filipino and American students in their neighborhood digging foundations, building walls and painting houses under the searing summer heat.

The residents welcomed the volunteers and shared stories and home-cooked food, making the visitors feel they were part of the community.

The volunteers are students of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut who decided to spend their school break to do humanitarian work for Gawad Kalinga.

Yale University students Jing Cao, Dale Dean, Riana Betzler and Filipino-American Ryan Refuerzo Villanueva belong to a campus group called "Reach Out," which sponsors trips around the world to participate in international development projects such as GK.

They learned about GK through their friends who earlier had volunteered and regaled them with their experiences in the Philippines. Villanueva said theirs is the third Yale group to do GK volunteer work.

Initially, the students had misgivings about going to the country and did not expect anything but to build homes for the poor and then return home.

But in the course of their stay, the warmth, hospitality and friendship of the Pandi folk, especially the children, touched them.

"I simply expected to build homes with little interaction with the residents but I became immersed in building relationships with them. I experienced an unexpected bonding that was ‘wonderfully strange.’ I gained a deeper sense of empathy by being able to put myself into the place of others around me," said Villanueva, leader of the Reach Out group.

"The hospitality and generosity was overwhelming that it made me want to believe in hope," he added.

Dean, Cao and Betzler also shared Villanueva’s initial misgivings, worried that the local folk would be sensitive to the cultural differences between Americans and Filipinos.

But their apprehensions were erased when the GK residents warmed up to them.

Prior to making the trip, Dean recalled having been asked if he could withstand living in a "rugged environment," outside of his comfort zone.

"I was worried about feeling awkward like an outsider," he said.

But his worries were erased the moment the children called him Kuya (big brother) and he immediately felt part of the community. From then on, everything became fun and blissful for him.

"It made me more extroverted and hands-on. Just as I was inspired to do good (to everyone), I also helped inspire others to do the same," Dean said.

For Villanueva, the experience "changed my understanding of poverty and the Philippines and brought (me) in touch with my own heritage as a Filipino, formulative and fundamental with my own changing identity, in which I am proud to be Filipino."

Playing with the children was the volunteers’ favorite part of the humanitarian work.

"The kids chased me around playfully and followed me wherever I went. I felt like I was a part of the community. I felt loved and at home with the people because they were so warm and welcoming. To me, this was more authentic and valuable than just any mundane experience," Cao recounted.

She said the entire experience left her more optimistic and inspired to do future volunteer work.

"I realized that something as simple as a smile or sharing of love makes a profound difference in one’s life. Now I always ask, ‘What can I do to make this world better?’ or ‘How can the philosophies of GK be applied to my work with the children I tutor?’ said Cao, who spends her free time teaching poor kids back home.

Villanueva said he would always remember a two-hour song-and-dance presentation the residents prepared especially for them.

"I would not forget how we were invited to go onstage and perform with the (performers). It was a cornerstone moment, having fun and getting to know each other. I felt like part of the community," he said.

For Dean, his unforgettable experience was when the residents got together and dared each one of them to eat balut, a Filipino delicacy.

"There were lots of laughing, smiles and entertainment. Ultimately I had a feeling of being part of a unified community," he said.

Betzler could not forget the time she walked around the community with several children surrounding her.

"I took pictures with them and felt connected with the community," Betzler said.

The Yale students said they would bring back memories of "emotional connections" when they return home.

Villanueva, waxing sentimental, said, "The connections will serve as a reminder of my journey, that having impacted on even a single life on this trip was proof that I can change a life for the better."

Dean, for his part, said he was happy that he did something meaningful in his life, with the experience changing his perception of the Philippines to one of hope and a positive future.

Betzler promised to share her GK experience that taught her to be "more open-minded than ever before to try new things," with her friends in the United States.

"I was overwhelmed in a positive way that simple connections make profound ones. I played games and interacted with the children a lot. But more than that, it opened my eyes to the world and realized the value of interactions through non-verbal communication," Betzler said. "I also feel confident that I can make a positive change in my own community back in America."

For the Yale students, indeed, the experience went beyond the laying of bricks for the houses of the Pandi folk.

Gawad Kalinga is a Couples for Christ (CFC) movement that helps build homes for the poor through donations from the government, corporations, civic and other religious groups, and Filipinos abroad. 

It offers a holistic approach to poverty and a concrete plan for rebuilding the Philippines, aiming to build 700,000 homes in 7,000 communities in seven years (GK777).

Volunteers and the beneficiaries themselves help build every GK village, composed of 30 to 100 of the poorest-of-the-poor families in a locality.