Building better lives, one brick at time

Whoever said that “Youth is wasted on the young” never met 18-year-old Alexandra Madrigal Eduque, Habitat for Humanity volunteer and youth ambassador.

On Valentine’s Day when, not unexpectedly, most were preoccupied with getting ready for their romantic dinner dates, Alex was busy making bricks and tying steel bars at a construction site at the Bernardo Compound in Barangay Pinagbuhatan, Sitio Caliwag in Pasig City.

A partnership between Habitat for Humanity and the office of Pasig Mayor Bobby Eusebio, the urban renewal project aims to alleviate the living conditions of informal settlers in Pasig City. The construction of two medium-rise buildings will provide a decent, affordable and durable dwelling place for 120 families. In another housing project nearby, 416 more families will also be served.

“It gives me a sense of fulfillment, to know that I am making a difference in other people’s lives,” Alex says. It started as a school assignment, a part of an immersion program when, as a first year high school student at the International School, she, together with a group of other students, spent a whole week helping build houses at the Habitat for Humanity site in Cavite. “I became more aware of the situation of the less fortunate,” she recalls.

After that first experience, she volunteered on her own, and Habitat sent her to Baseco in Tondo, Manila where she spent her summer school break helping build 1,000 houses for the disadvantaged families there. Every day she came. She carried bricks, painted walls, and played with the children. From a largely sheltered life, she emerged from her shell. “I learned how to get along with the people there,” she says. She found great satisfaction, to see the result of her efforts; to see how she was able to bring joy to the lives of other people.

Her generosity appears to flow freely. “Even as a child,” her mom, Chu Chu Madrigal Eduque, reveals, “she spent her seventh birthday sharing gifts in an orphanage.” On her 17th birthday, Alex hosted a “Habitat Birthday Building Bash” in Taguig City. And on her 18th birthday in September last year, she raised P3 million, way over her targeted P2 million, from among family members and friends who came to the fundraising dinner which was held at the North Forbes mansion of her beloved grand-aunt, the late Chito Madrigal Collantes.

“Of the total amount, P500,000 was donated by Alex herself,” Chu Chu shares. “That was the prize money given to her when she received the prestigious Habitat for Humanity Nehemiah Award for Distinguished Volunteer Service, which is awarded to individuals who have shown exceptional service in line with Habitat’s mission.” With the donations, the “Alex Habitat Village” was built in a town devastated by a typhoon in Bicol.  

“This Valentine’s Day Habitat activity was her idea,” Chu Chu says. A number of her friends came to help. “Here they are exposed to a real community, besides what they are used to. They realize how much they can do. Their eyes are opened to reality,” Alex remarks. “We also learn the value of hard work,” says Rica Plaza, a friend and also a student at the International School. It took her three hours to make just 11 concrete interlocking blocks. A Habitat Philippines innovation, CIBs are load-bearing blocks, making it possible to build medium-rise buildings, thus maximizing land use. The volunteers manually form and make the blocks. They lay the blocks to make walls, and tie the steel wires to connect the walls. “There is self-realization” in this work, Rica observes. “We learn to appreciate and be thankful for what we have.”

“You also learn to appreciate the work of other people, like the construction workers. It’s a difficult life,” says Chris Tiu, a first-time volunteer. The popular basketball player of the Ateneo Blue Eagles, TV host and commercial model observes that the physical labor required is not easy. While one of his family’s various businesses involves manufacturing steel bars, he admits he had never touched one, until now. He believes that he will be more effective as an advocate, using his popularity as a basketball player as a platform to promote the cause and get people involved.

“Abroad, Habitat has celebrities to promote their cause such as Oprah and Brad Pitt,” says STAR columnist and editor of S magazine Wilson Lee Flores, who played a role in getting Chris involved with Habitat through his father, a family friend. Someone will have to continue the good work that was started by Alex, who will be leaving in August for New York where she will be studying International Relations and Political Science in Barnard College. Tiu, who graduated with a degree in management engineering from the Ateneo University with minor in finance and Chinese studies, is more than qualified.  

Advocacy cannot be imposed on people. “Community service has to come from the heart,” Alex says. She will continue to do volunteer work with Habitat, she says, whenever she comes home for holidays like Christmas and during summer school breaks. It is a commitment. “I find my fulfillment in service, so I will continue doing this.”

After all, you wonder, who has the most to gain? “Everyone gains,” says Chris. “The home partners, the builders, as well as the volunteers. Together, we build not only homes but also communities. Ultimately, we build better lives.”