It takes a team to build a village

Manila, Philippines - IT MAY TAKE A VILLAGE TO raise a child, but it takes a team to build the village. 32 delegations teamed up for the recently held Gawad Kalinga (GK) Bayani Chal- lenge, constructing houses and a farm on two hectares of land in Madridejos, Bantayan, Cebu.

According to Luis Oquinena, GK executive director, over 1,700 volunteers from provinces in the Philippines as well as Australia, the US and Singapore took up the building challenge – a project that GK has been implementing since 2006. Among them was the

Globe-Singtel team, made up of 12 volunteers from Singtel Singapore and 11 volunteers from Globe Telecom Cebu.

First participating in the 2007 GK Challenge in Prieto Diaz, Sorsogon, Globe has been a longtime supporter of GK, says Globe’s head of corporate social responsibility Jeffrey Tarayao. The Bantayan challenge, however, still marks many firsts for the company, highlighted by the participation of Globe’s Singapore partners at Singtel.

Globe Cebu’s employees have been active in CSR projects, putting together a volunteer team to adopt a school which they visited ev- ery two weeks for five years. When Globe Cebu was given the opportunity for the first time to join a GK Challenge, many eagerly jumped at the chance.

Dante Rosello, who has worked for 16 years with Globe Cebu as senior engineer for project management, was one of the 11 chosen to be part of Globe’s Bantayan challenge team. As

a civil engineer, “building a house is not new to me,” he says. Rosello has been involved in Globe’s volunteerism programs since 2006, teaching high school students about personal finance and he, among many others, took up the challenge of the village build.

“It’s an opportunity to reach out,” says Ro- sello, adding that he himself grew up in Ce- bu’s downtown slums, knowing exactly how important having a home is. On what he gets out of volunteering, Rosello says, “It is fulfill- ing to see the structures... May nagawa ka para sa ibang tao (that you have done something for others).”

Billy Tan, a lead consultant for a Singtel subsidiary, is another first-time volunteer. De- spite turning red from sunburn after building the whole day, the Singaporean is throughly positive about the team’s experience. “I’m honored to be part of this project. It’s a great opportunity,” says Tan, adding that the laying of the foundation for the Globe team’s house was particularly memorable for him. “It’s an eye opener... You don’t get to see that in Singa- pore,” he says. Tan says that there was an overwhelming

response from those in Singapore when the call for volunteers was made. He considers himself lucky to be part of the 12 that were selected to be part of the team.

This is Tan’s first time in the Philippines, but it definitely won’t be the last, he says, hop- ing to return for the next GK challenges in the coming years. “I am very proud,” he says.

“They will feel more safe,” he adds on what impact he hopes the house the team has built will have on the beneficiaries.

Both Rosello and Tan also note that they enjoyed other activities lined up during the GK challenge, such as painting and repairing school buildings and coastal clean-up in Ban- tayan among other outreach activities, and of course enjoying solidarity programs on Ban- tayan’s famed beach to unwind after a hard day’s work of building.

“The whole island is involved in the proj- ect,” Rosello notes.

Some volunteers from Globe also include those from Bagong Silang, Caloocan City, who are actually beneficiaries of Globe’s GK build there. These volunteers consider their partici- pation as a way to give back and share with others the same hope they received from Globe and GK as past beneficiaries.

Globe’s Bagong Silang GK project, says Tarayao, was the fastest village build in GK’s

history, with 1,200 volunteers constructing 50 homes in three months. This feat is especial- ly impressive considering that the volunteers worked on the village only during weekends and days off from work.

“The effectiveness of GK as a sustainable tem- plate of social development” is what Tarayao says is one of the main reasons why Globe has become a strong supporter of the project. “GK is offering what the country needs,” he adds.

Tarayao says the success of Globe’s tie-up with GK is due to employee engagement, GK’s openness to ideas and innovations that Globe has to offer, as well as advocacy and support of Globe’s leaders.

One of the innovations that Globe has devel- oped for GK is the Kalinga sa Bayan SIM, with features and special rates tailored especially for volunteers, supporters, and employees of GK, helping them to communicate with each other as they make plans and call for more vol- unteers for their projects.

Globe is also one of the companies that pi- loted the first GK farms in the Bayan Anihan project, wich makes each GK village truly sus- tainable by providing a means of livelihood and sustenance for the beneficiaries. Globe volunteers continually go back and help their adopted villages harvest their crops, creating an extended community and strengthening re- lationships between the GK beneficiaries and the volunteers.

Tarayao adds that aside from partnering with GK, Globe has also implemented many CSR programs for education and the environ- ment. In 2010, the company spent P40 million on CSR activities, with P15 million going to GK projects. For 2011, he says, they are projected to utilize up to 50 million on CSR.

“Volunteerism creates a good life-work bal-

Gawad Kalinga Bayani Challenge participants work tirelessly under the harsh sun in Madridejos, Bantayan, Cebu, to finish building their housing units and prepare a plot of land for farming in line with GK’s Bayan Anihan project. Globe volunteers in white and Singtel volunteers in red raise their fists in victory as they continue to build their team’s GK house (above).

ance,” says Tarayao, noting that the company’s volunteers include engineers, IT consultants and accounting officers who otherwise would not have the opportunity to have such an ex- perience as the GK build. The spirit of volun- teerism has been instilled so strongly in the company that the employees themselves are the ones who suggest projects that they would like to do.

A project that Globe’s CSR office is devel- oping is what Tarayao calls “Volunteaming... volunteering while team building.” Instead of doing the usual team building activities, the company has what it calls “Project Farm- ville” where the employees strengthen their relationships as a team and learn the value of teamwork and cooperation while setting up a farm for Globe’s beneficiaries at the same time. The experience of creating a farm together as a group – something that will flourish and grow, something that will be used to bring liveli- hood and hope to a community for many more years to come – is what will really make a good team.

“We’re innovating the way we do team building,” says Tarayao. “It is very simple, very sustainable, and very meaningful. ”

As evidenced by the village and farm built at the end of GK’s Bayani Challenge, not only sturdy foundations for structures were set, but even more importantly, good foundations for strong teams were created.