Fil-Ams raise funds for GK

On weekends, a group of Filipino-Americans in California build homes for the poor in the Philippines "the Santa Clarita way."

Santa Clarita, California residents and Gawad Kalinga (GK) advocates Tony and Marietta Pascua, Nerwin and Cherry Du, Cynthia and Noel Barrios, Danny and Marylou Manalastas, Federico Vale and others repair and remodel the homes of their friends during Saturdays and donate the proceeds to GK to help build more homes for the poor.

Nerwin Du and Noel Barrios conceptualized the fund-raising project called the Gawad Kalinga Bayanihan Builders (GKBB) sometime in 2006.

Du said they thought of the project while they were painting a portion of a friend’s house. They eventually suggested fixing other friends’ homes on weekends as a fund-raising project for GK. They’ve heard friends’ experiences as GK volunteers in the Philippines and were thinking of how they could also help raise $75,000 to build a new village in Bukidnon, to named Santa Clarita 2.

"I suggested this to our household leaders and one of the members needed to paint their guest room that same weekend. We started painting houses and in one day we raised $300," said Du.

Du, a contractor, said that since they started the GKBB project in Santa Clarita, they have already raised almost $55,000 in pledges to build another GK village in Bukidnon.

Noel and Cynthia Barrios said they simply painted one bedroom for a client friend but word got around that they were good and soon they were receiving requests to remodel more homes.

"We ask them to buy the materials and the cost of labor is paid through check payable to ANCOP USA. Through this, our clients get a good contractor-quality job and at the same time make donations for our less fortunate countrymen, not to mention it’s a tax write-off at the end of the year," Barrios said.

Another GK Bayanihan Builder, Tony Pascua, said this is their way of showing their fellow Filipinos of their concern even if they are far away.  

"The majority of the volunteers are CFC members and about 25 are passionate about GK.  Since they cannot join GK in the Philippines, this is their "padugo" or their way of saying that they have not forgotten their poor brothers and sisters," Pascua said.

Pascua said the husbands in the community help Du in changing the flooring, putting crown moldings, replacing the windows and doors, installing recessed lights, changing kitchen cabinets, while the wives help in painting the homes.

What makes the Santa Clarita Bayanihan Builders an even meaningful project is that it also brings the volunteers closer to each other. 

"This Bayanihan Build in the US does not only help the poor but has also strengthened the relationships between the volunteers. This project has intensified their desire to help even more. We would like to tell our Bayanihan Build volunteers and partners in the Philippines that they are our inspiration and that we salute them in their untiring work for the poor. We should all visualize a slum-free Philippines. We can make this happen if we will all join hands and believe that God is always with us in this honorable work of lifting up the poorest of the poor," Pascua said.

Danny Manalastas and wife joined the group for the simple but noble concept of the project.

"The concept is we beautify your home, you help the poor and save money from your taxes. None of us know anything about installing floor tiles, wood flooring, electrical work, plumbing etc., so it is fun as we do on the job training. Since most of us cannot go home to the Philippines to do bayanihan building, we try to do it here in the US by working together for the poor people in our country. It brings a sense of nationalism in us and we feel more like Filipinos now," Manalastas said.

Federico Vale is also a member who devotes his weekends to the Sta. Clarita Bayani Build project.

Vale said it gives him happiness knowing that in his small way, he can help those who really need help in his motherland.

"Being a volunteer is not always a burden. You meet good people, you learn new things, and you become fit. Remember I told you I’m part-time help. We’ll that’s because in most cases, when I arrive at the site, one or more of the guys are already at the site.  I try to set aside a few hours on weekends to volunteer and work for GKBB," Vale said.

They have not forgotten

The Dus, Pascuas, Barrios, Vales and other members of the GK Bayanihan Build said they have not stopped loving their motherland and would always work or donate their time, energy to help the poor in the Philippines. They regard their experiences as life-changing.

The Pascuas learned about GK through its founder Tony Meloto and Boy Montelibano and were moved to tears after listening to Meloto.

"My wife and I were shown three GK Villages by Meloto and Montelibano and it made a whole lot of difference in our lives. Prior to that, we also heard the sharing of Rose and Bong Cabrera in Texas and it was a very humbling experience for us," Pascua said. "After we saw the villages, we were so touched and excited to be counted in this movement.  We started to talk about it to our relatives and friends in and outside the community.

A year ago, they joined the first Bayani Builder in Tumauini in Isabela and were moved by the experience.

"We were so fired up when we went home that we couldn’t stop talking about it.  Our friends joined us in our second build in Bukidnon.  When our group came back, our friends who joined us started talking about their experience," Pascua said.

The Dus, for their part, joined the GK heroes run in October 2005 and were also active in raising funds for GK.

"Last June 2006, our brods and sisters came from ‘Balikbayani’ (Danny and Marylou Manalastas, Tony and Marietta Pascua and Chay Barrios) and so many of us here in Santa Clarita were touched by their stories and their experiences," Du said.

Because he can’t come home to the Philippines, he decided to raise funds instead for the poor through the GK Bayanihan Builders in Santa Clarita.

"I used to work six days a week on my own business, but then I sacrificed my Saturdays to do the bayanihan build. No matter how tired I get, it brings me much pleasure knowing that at the end of the project I helped out our less fortunate brothers and sisters," Du said.

The Barrios, on the other hand, first heard of GK when they joined CFC in 2005 and GK was introduced as one of the seven pillars of CFC. 

"But it was the Pascuas’ passion and dedication to GK that really got us interested and curious about GK," Barrios said. 

He said the Pascuas showed them pictures and video footage of the poor in Baseco and Payatas and it made them realize how fortunate they were.

"There are times when we keep complaining about almost everything little thing, not realizing that there are a lot less fortunate brothers and sisters we left behind," Barrios said.

They went to Bukidnon in June 2005 with 15 others in the group from all over the US and Canada for five days. The Barrios regarded it as the most beautiful, rewarding, and powerful experience that transformed all of them.

Danny Manalastas, another Bayanihan builder in Sta. Clarita, said he and his wife learned about GK through Dylan Wilk, one of the passionate advocates of GK.

"Three years ago I accidentally heard this young British citizen talking about the slums in the Philippines. And as I continued listening to him, I felt some guilt. A Caucasian was talking about the poor people of the land of my birth," Manalastas said.

In June last year, Manalastas and his wife joined Balik Bayani and visited the Baseco Village and their first village in Las Pinas and Bukidnon.

"After visiting four GK sites, we were truly touched and moved by the poverty we saw, so we decided to build our second village in that part of the country," Manalastas said.

After they returned to the United States, they talked to anybody willing to listen about GK.

"That is when one of our friends suggested the Bayanihan Build, Santa Clarita style. We do this work every weekend, so the number of volunteers varies, depending on our members’ days off.

Federico Vale said he got involved in Gawad Kalinga after a featured presentation of Answer the Cry of the Poor (Ancop). He is a part time helper in the GK Bayani Builder and donated one house for GK.

"I really believed in the noble cause of GK. I joined them I think after they have completed their first project," Vale said.