From 'kariton' classroom to house for street kids

MANILA, Philippines - In many ways, Efren Peñaflorida’s recent 29th birthday party was like previous birthdays. The occasion was full of friends — from the kids of his youth club Dynamic Teen Company and the dumpsites of his native Cavite City, to his chums from the community group Club 8586. There was also a little handaan—a hotdog stand, a table laden with chips and kakanin, and cake “na galing sa panaderia,” says the celebrator with a chuckle.

But for Peñaflorida, voted CNN Hero of 2009 for his efforts to educate underprivileged children through his humble kariton classrooms, Birthday No. 29 was also unlike any other. For one thing, members of the media were there to cover the event, a matter that the reticent Efren still needs some getting used to.

“It’s really new to us, we weren’t prepared,” he says of all the interviews and attention thrust unto him since beating 9,000 nominees from over 100 countries for the coveted title from the US news cable network. “But friends have been helping us and advising us on how to handle it. I think we’ve been able to cope better with it.”

Each time he faces a reporter or camera, it helps that he’s doing it for a cause. Timed with his birthday was the groundbreaking ceremony of Kalingain Batang Mahirap Center, a halfway house for street urchins. Measuring 270 sq. m., the proposed two-story structure stands on a property purchased with the grant Efren earned from his CNN win. But the challenge to raise the building has just begun.

Roel Solis, a long-time friend from Club 8586 and the engineer tasked to see the halfway house to its completion, is gunning for a July 2010 finish—“if,” he says, “we can raise the funds for it.” Peñaflorida is looking at an estimated P4 million.

That Efren isn’t just CNN Hero of the Year is also a new detail in his life. Rhett Eala, the man responsible for the Philippine map-stitched shirts that have taken the country by storm and one of Efren’s guests says that he was so inspired by this hero’s genuine selflessness and sense of purpose that he created a special edition Efren Peñaflorida line for Collezione-C2 (of which he is creative director) featuring the now-famous quote: The hero in you is waiting to be unleashed.     

“All these kids Efren’s helping, they’ve been through so much and yet they still want to learn,” says the designer. “Suddenly all my problems seem mundane compared to theirs. What was once important to me materially is no longer as important. Efren makes me want to be a better person.” 

Apparently, it was mutual admiration for Peñaflorida. He liked that Collezione C2 is a brand made in the Philippines by Filipinos, thereby keeping much-needed jobs in the country. Naturally, the idea of “keeping your country close to your heart” each time you wear one of their shirts appealed to him too. “Their goals and principles—hard work, love for country — aligned with our goals,” says Peñaflorida who favors the brand’s purple shirts. “Whenever I wear their shirts, dala ko yung values ng Pilipino, yung pride natin.”