Building a better community

Manila, Philippines -  The Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) recently extended a helping hand in an effort to not only pursue best business practices in the country, but to also have a hand in caring for our communities. The members of the EO Philippines chapter members, along with their family and staff, engaged in corporate social responsibility initiatives through the assistance of Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation. EO is a dynamic global network of 8,000 business owners in over 40 countries that invites learning and professional growth through an assembly of highly-experienced entrepreneurs. Through this partnership with Gawad Kalinga, EO was able to employ true entrepreneurial spirit by extending their strengths to assist the less fortunate.

Volunteers tried their hands in constructing under the hot sun at the marginalized community of Manggahan-Kawayan in Marcelo Green Village, Parañaque.

By engaging in a social responsibility initiative, EO brought to the community’s residents a touch of their own entrepreneurial spirit. Says Manny Ayala, EO Philippine chapter president, the EO objective is to encourage the residents to build the houses themselves. “The residents will contribute their sweat equity; that way, they will learn to value their homes even more,” he says. “This objective is further realized by our partnership with Gawad Kalinga.”

EO has committed to deliver 50 houses to the Gawad Kalinga community. Forty houses have been completed; construction is currently under way for the rest.

This endeavor is a continuous process, one that encourages the members of the organization to extend their hands through corporate social responsibility – a business trend that is quickly becoming the norm in conscientious companies and organizations around the world. EO hosts a build every three months. Ironically enough, raising funds has not been difficult – as would be expected from a business-related entrepreneurial group of people – but building houses has posed a major challenge. “Constructing homes is no joke,” chuckles Ayala. “We actually had to demolish old homes and build new ones in their place.” EO members and forum groups went back to the basics and willingly escaped their comfort zones by mixing cement, shoveling, carrying hollow blocks, bending steel, cementing walls and floors and even painting the finished products.

On this, their 16th year as an organization in the country, EO feels that their partnership with Gawad Kalinga is so much more momentous. “We’re not just building the physical houses,” expresses Ayala. “We’re building a better community and a brighter future for all involved.” Aside from helping the needful, EO came together as a group and experienced growth as a business community itself. It appears that more than just houses were cemented in this mutually beneficial partnership.