The Altruist 2013 - Insights

THE ALTRUIST The Official Publication of Tamaraw Volunteers

INSIGHTS

VOLUNTEERS SPEAK UP

FRANCESCA LIM EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OUTGOING

VOLUNTEERING

AS RADIANT PAGES OF ONE’S BIOGRAPHY In every story we see or hear, we await for the part when, where, what and why we should care about it – when it’ll all kick into action and excitement; where the moral lesson is, isn’t and how close they’ll strike home; what effect, if any, they have on us; and why did we even bother to stop to watch or listen to begin with. Are they even relevant or, in the very least, connected to us?

The irony of life: it takes the opposite to appreciate, well, the opposite (for lack of a better term). It takes seeing some ugly things to appreciate what little yet substantial beauty lies before us. It takes chaos before we can understand the need for order and discipline. Noise to appreciate silence. Absence to know the worth of what’s present. The list could go on, and I don’t doubt it will.

As volunteers, we operate in terms of philanthropy and involvement that we are able to see past what’s laid in front of us, and that’s what makes volunteering a radiant portion in one’s life. Through our works, we are able to assume responsibilities and take on roles far greater than can be imagined.

We adopted brothers, sisters and grandparents along the way, presenting glimmers of chance and shimmers of hope that the joys of life can be experienced, and much more worthwhile when shared, regardless of our difference in color, wealth, health, orientation and upbringing.

Behind every child’s laughter are cries of wanting to live. Their smiles bid gratitude and wishes for the simplest joys of life. Behind every calamity are opportunities to reach our hands out and help lift lives up. Every struggle are chances to be present - to show others that they’re not alone in their undertakings, that they’re not left out nor hopeless. Our presence is their comfort, their reassurance that they should keep on going their ways through and out of difficulties because we support them…because we are there for them. We see the substance beneath the surface, and we make it happen. Even if it’s just for a day, an hour or less, we make slight differences happen.

What did you find? Pieces of yourself? Limitations or implications? And if so, what does it mean? Does it even matter? Where do you go from here? They kept coming and the most anticipated monumental change may be out of the question for now, but we can be glad for the bits and pieces of ‘hopes for the better’ that we are able to do, make or inspire. They may not all begin with you, but you help keep it going so that others may do the same. In the end, it matters what you are able to give, share and gain in the process.

It’s remarkable how we, as volunteers, are so mindful of what we do and conscious of what’s possible that only when we look back we’d notice how much we have grown, understand and appreciate our very lives. We begin to be thankful for all the problems we do not encounter and the sufferings we lack.

We value what we can do, and we give it freely and not see it as any way close to being cheap. Before becoming volunteers, we stepped up to the challenge of changing lives only to find our lives changed in the end.

Oppose the negativity that surrounds you and you’ll learn to appreciate you’re part in the stories.

Paula Lee Esquijo

Environmental Protection Directress, Outgoing Secretary, Incoming “For me, being part of the Tamaraw Volunteers is a blessing. Through TamVol I learned how to use my heart wisely. Because heart is the only instrument you can use to serve other people without any hesitation or expecting something in return.”

Anne Marie Ramirez

Special Committee on Climate Change, Outgoing Finance Officer, Incoming “You’ll never understand your main reason or advocacy unless you are committed and passionate in volunteerism. Being a volunteer is being aware of another’s needs and doing something about it.

It is putting an action about the kind of community that I want to live in. TamVol made me realize, that as a follower of Christ, I should also learn how to serve my neighbors as well just like what God commanded us to do. That I should reach those who are in need cause this might be a chance to share the word of God. It gave me not just an additional reason of going to school but also a lot of learning as being part of the community. . It made me love and value FEU wherever I am and proudly say that I am not just a Tamaraw, cause I am a Tamaraw VOLUNTEER.”

Edwin Carpio

Director on Quality Membership “Helping will never be in vain. It will always be a two-way process, a give-and-take relationship.

Yes, it’s true that you need not expect something in return when you try to reach out to others, but as one is in action, unknowingly, s/he enriches him/herself to become a well-rounded individual.

On a personal note, I myself witnessed my transformation from an ordinary student to a studentleader. I learned to prioritize more the needs of my subordinates, to set myself as a good exemplar to my fellow students, to be responsible of my actions, among others. Through volunteerism, I learned a lot of things that textbooks can’t teach. And I do not have any regrets for the things that I have done, because I wouldn’t be what I am today, if it weren’t because of my willingness to volunteer. And I am fulfilled because I know that it my own little ways, I contributed for the betterment of our society.”

THE ALTRUIST The Altruist is published annually

by FEU Tamaraw Volunteers through its editorial board for members, alumni and friends. Address all communications to: The Editor, The Altruist, Tamaraw Volunteers thealtruist.feu@gmail.com ---------http://www.facebook.com/ TheFEUAltruist https://twitter.com/#!/ TheAltruistFEU

THE ALTRUIST Editorial Board 2013-2014

Editor-in-Chief: Francesca Lim Associate Editor: Mon Karlo Mangaran Managing Editors: Mary Joy Ballego and Darline Rasay Features/Literary Editor: Anna Katrina Resente Correspondents: Katherine Castil Micah Dalisay Alysza Mariella Buenaventura with contributions from: Gianina Napo, Michael Miatari, Jedda Punzalan, Cristeta Ventura, Paula Lee Esquijo, Anne Marie Ramirez, and Edwin Carpio

GIANINA JOY NAPO PRESIDENT OUTGOING

WHERE THERE IS LIFE, THERE’S ALSO KINDNESS HOW WE MAKE LIVES BY WHAT WE GIVE AS VOLUNTEERS

Every time I go in a volunteer activity, I do not just share my time.

I do not just extend help. More than that, I become part of someone or people’s lives as they become mine’s.

Some of my remarkable experiences as a Tamaraw Volunteer include going into typhoon-wrecked areas to attend to the victims, cheer and entertain aged people, party with cancerstricken kids, and play with indigenous kids. For four years, my college life became extraordinary because I was not exhausted with productions alone and was not limited to studying my lessons. I immersed from the four corners of the classroom and even the university. I extended my life to the community which changed my life and other people as well.

One of the reasons why I join outreach activities during high school and joined TAMVOL during first year is because it is my way of giving back and being thankful to HIM for having been blessed to survive any difficulties that me and my family have encountered.

Not only that, every experience makes me realize how blessed I am because I don’t have to work in a charcoal factory, I do not have to count the remaining days of my life, I not live in a place where there is no electricity and water and I do not have to fall in line and wait for people to give me food. Every volunteer opportunity puts me back into my senses whenever I am shakened and depressed by our situation in life. The people I encounter serve as a reminder that one can never be poor when he is rich with love.

Most importantly, all my experiences say one important thing: no matter how little my effort is, there is something I can do lessen my brother’s burden. Even if it’s just giving away flyers in the mall to find child sponsors, singing to make some lolos and lolas smile, feeding and playing with kids, packing goods for typhoon victims, etc, I was able to contribute and be part of someone’s life, someone I may not even personally meet. It will not always be in a financial form but sharing my time and putting my heart into every activity is what actually delights the people I met in every volunteer opportunity I join with.

But I realized that beyond the time I spend, the experiences and the people I helped became an integral part in my life that changed how I view things.

I was able to appreciate life more by sharing my life with others.

I do not just give back to the community when I volunteer, I give hope, I give life. Those Dumagats, those old people, those sick kids, those typhoon victims, their smiles and thank yous mean more than just gesture and words. They are signs of hope that despite what they are facing, people like me, the volunteers are willing to share and be part of their burden. People who they don’t even know are going to help them survive and alleviate their suffering and these are the reasons why they should continue and live life how it is supposed to be lived.

THE DIFFERENCE

Memento Mori

God is someone who uses ordinary things and calls ordinary people to make an extraordinary difference and He continues to move even in this generation, He moves in the smallest act of difference, from someone who extends his hand to others, a silent word of prayer for others, or a simple act of courage to stand by one’s virtues and principles, a word of kindness to others or a smile that could change a person’s day. All of those simple acts create a spark that could change the tides of a generation. It all begins with a humble answer to His call, and that answer creates a huge impact that would reflect across centuries. Indeed, we are all called to leave difference, a kind of difference that would leave a legacy.

We may not have all the best things in life; our past may not be that good, we may have experienced a lot of pain, frustrations and rejections, because all of those are a part of our nature, those are one of the things that makes us human, it makes us common, ordinary, it makes us become more closer to His heart, for He is a God, whose close enough to understand and touch, and strong enough to hold. A next door friend who is not unfamiliar with pain, frustrations and rejections, for He’s been there, and He can even use those things to reflect Himself to others, He can use those things in you as an instrument of grace, to those persons who are longing to find comfort in pain, joy in frustrations and acceptance in rejections.

God is someone who calls ordinary people to make an extraordinary difference, and He will continue to move in this generation.

He would continue it in you and I pray that would answer that call.

I may not be able to know who you are, or by what means you’d hear or read this, but here’s something that I would like to share to you, at least once, God used a part of my journey to deliver His message to you.

It started into the mountains, trekking four mountains and crossing two rivers, there in Sitio Malasya, a community who has been close to the hearts of the people from Tamaraw Volunteers and V4change, during my first immersion in a hot summer season. The climb along the long trail was exhausting, not being able to have enough sleep before the day of the immersion, and being thirsty in the midst of the hot summer temperature, you hear no cars, busses or jeepneys passing by or blowing their horns, you see no tall structures, billboards and roads or that suffocating smoke that is familiar to anyone who lives along the city. There along the trail, you’ll meet a friend called silence, and that silence thought me a lot of things, You began to hear your footsteps, walking along the rocky trail, you feel those dirt in your feet, you hear yourself breathing, you feel your sweat trying to cool your body, those things, which one could hardly notice outside the midst of silence. Then you also hear others, sharing various stories of their own, one who talks about his personal life, another one who talks about his experiences at the campus, and then there’s another one who just shares some funny and interesting facts, you hear them and you’ll appreciate them, at that time, they are not walking the trail as a student, or a leader, or whoever they are outside that trail, they are walking that trail as a person, as your companion, as your friend. Then you would notice your surroundings, you feel the heat of the sun embracing you, you hear those birds harmoniously chirping, you hear the wind as it gently sweeps the trees that you see, you

God used a part of my journey to deliver His message to you.

MICHAEL MIATARI VICE PRESIDENT EXTERNAL OUTGOING

God is someone who is familiar with the uncommon, in the past generations, He used the common things to do something uncommon, He made a sling be used to defeat a powerful enemy, a staff be used to save a lot of people from being enslaved, He used pieces of loaves and fishes from a young boy to feed a thousand men and women, He allowed a young shepherd to be the king of a kingdom, an old man to be the descendant of a nation, a carpenter to be the saviour of the world.

appreciate the ground that you’re walking into, the skies, the waters, all of those things heap your tiredness, makes you forget your baggage and burdens outside the trail, and would make you come back again and again. Then as you reach the community, you see those children, more excited than you are, running close to you, some of them are shy, some of them are eager to share their stories of some sorts, then you’d see their parents, happy as the children, an experience like going home after a long time, an experience of encountering a friend after being distant from each other, indescribable. You come down from the mountains, renewed, bringing in all of those memories you have upon walking in trail, treasuring the people that you’ve encountered, climbed with and helped, treasuring the silence which brought you closer to God’s presence.

Out of everything that I could be thankful from this journey, it is when God gave me friends, who have the same passion and heart, who could accept you by who you are, who would step in when the rest of the world steps back, someone who believes, inspires, pushes and motivates you, someone who believes in you at times when you fail to believe in yourself. More than the titles, or the achievements that you could earn from this journey, it is these people that really matter. Higher ethical considerations depict that the value of an individual is not measured by the amount of titles one does make for himself, but by the amount of service that you render to others, for these people, that you’ve encountered along the trail, you have been your companion, your friend, are the greatest treasure that one could keep where your paths may lead you next. Tamaraw Volunteers is more than just an organization, but a family, bound by one culture, and that is the culture of selfless service.

Now it is up to you my friend, we may be far from each other by the time that you’re reading this, or by that time, I may not be able to hear your voice anymore but I firmly believe that we are bound by our hearts, even if we don’t belong to the same generation.

A word of gratitude to you for looking in the past, at least in you, it makes us alive, our journey is relived, and at the end of the day, all of titles and the achievements that we have earned right now will not be remembered, only this culture, this journey, this passion, it keeps on living because it is being sparked by people like you. May you continue to live that journey, treasure every people that you encounter and make the most out of it, make every moment count and take every opportunity to be an instrument of God’s grace, be the person that you are, be common, and feel with others, yet strong enough to stand by your values.

Who are we? That we’ve been so blessed, to be given a life and an opportunity to live a life that would become a part of His message that would speak across generations, and you now have that opportunity.

Let that message be your life, continue to be that flame, no matter how small it is, it still makes a difference, even the smallest star gives a light in a dark night.

With much hope, I pray that our paths would cross one day

CRISTETA VENTURA PRESIDENT INCOMING

WHY VOLUNTEER? ENCOURAGING MEANINGFUL VOLUNTEERISM

Often in our lives, we think of the future.

We think ahead of what could happen to us next, what is in store for us, how successful can we be years from now, how must we live our lives so that things would be great in the upcoming days, and so on. We have set our different goals in our lives. What if one day, all the planned goals we have made for ourselves would be ruined by some unexpected circumstance? What would happen to us then? Are we going to learn from our mistakes and continue it? Are we going to change it? Or are we going to blame the world for being unfair to us?

Most people claim that they have already known how life works. Well, come to think of it we have just seen a little part of life. We have just seen how it works on us, but not on others. Our entire existence has focused on ourselves and sometimes to those people whom are close to us, but have we ever thought of those people whom have different stories than us? Those people we could have met in some superfluous place? Those people who are struggling more than we do? Perhaps, but only

a few had. While we are too busy aiming for our goals, most have forgotten the real purpose of our existence, and that is to share God’s unending love and grace to others.

All of these are my realizations when I joined TamVol. I learned not just to think of myself and those people who are close to me, I learned to weigh in my goals and in line it with my purpose, I learned that volunteerism is not just merely about giving something good to others without asking anything in return; it is also about thinking what good thing you can teach to others that they may foster, and share it to another.

It has been a year since I entered TamVol, and I’m still looking forward to learn a lot more from the organization itself. Big challenges await those who are left, and the experience must still continue. I could not answer why we must volunteer because my journey through volunteerism is not yet finished and I guess it will never be finished, but there’s one certain thing I know. . . when you love something, you love it for no reason at all. You love it because you do and that’s just all about it.

Most people claim that they have already known how life works. Well, come to think of it we have just seen a little part of life. We have just seen how it works on us, but not on others.

JEDDA PUNZALAN DIRECTRESS, HUMANITARIAN AID CHAMBER OUTGOING

SA PUSO NG ISANG

VOLUNTEER

Lately, napapansin ko lang ng lahat ng tao may kanya kanyang istorya.. may kanya kanyang drama sa buhay. Sa bawat kuwento na naririnig ko mula sa mga volunteers na nakakasama ko , lahat sila may kanya kanya kuwento… may kuwento ng kabiguan sa buhay.. halos lahat nga sila, may pinagdadaan at kapos din sa pera.

Pero bakit kaya sila nagvovolunteer pa din? Ayan yung katanungan ko ngayon eh - Bakit kahit kapos din sila sa pera, sa pagmamahal, nais pa din nila magbahagi ng mga iyon? Kahit minsan wala naman nang pamasahe, pero pilit pa ding pumunta sa bundok, sa mga volunteer activities… na kahit mapagalitan na sa bahay kasi hilbis na gamitin na lang sa pagkain eh pinangvo-volunteer pa yung pera nila. Minsan naman, mayroong di napapansin sa bahay, nabu-bully sa school, walang kaibigan, pero nagvo-volunteer pa din… siguro ang sagot dyan ay, siguro ayaw nilang ipadanas sa mundo kung ano man ang nararanasan nila. Na okay nang ako na lang, kaysa may mga bata pang makaranas kung ano man ang nararanasan ko. Gusto nilang ibahagi yung pagmamahal na siguro nais nilang maramdaman… o yung pagmamahal na natitira sa kanila.

MGA PAGBABAGO.

Siguro as a volunteer, sapat na sakin yung mga taong akong napapangiti. Na maramdaman ng mga taong tinutulungan ko na God loves them. Na hindi sila nagiisa. Na may tao pa ding handang tumulong. Siguro ang pinaka achievement ko na ay makakita ng mga batang masaya. Na kahit sa saglit na oras, nakaalis sila sa kinakaharap nila sa buhay, na maranasan nilang bata nga pala sila.

Doon sobrang saya ko na.

Sa ibang tao naman, siguro ang greatest achievement ko eh na-share ko sa ibang taong ang pagiging volunteer, na-share ko sa kanila yung kasiyahan na nararamdaman ko. Nakapag-invite ako ng mga volunteers na sa tingin ko na-touch din ang mga buhay nila dahil sa mga nakita at na-experience nila.

PAGMAMAHAL SA GINAGAWA.

Be passionate. Be on fire.

Love what you’re doing.

Pinakaimportante sa lahat, mahalin mo ang ginagawa mo. Oo, minsan nakakapagod.

Minsan may naco-compromise ka, may nasasakripisyo… pero ganun naman talaga ‘di ba kapag nagmamahal? Mahalin mo yung ginagawa mo kahit minsan masakit na. I-share ko lang na dumating sa point na pinapipili na ako ng parents ko kung pagvo-volunteer ba o pag-aaral, pero ayun ‘di ako

nagpatalo.

Then offer everything to God. Gawin mo ang lahat para sa Kanya. Be a reflection of His love. Share His love. Be used by Him! Sobrang wagas lang na kasiyahan kapag ganyan. May mga pagkakataon nga na feeling ko ready na akong mamatay, kasi sobrang saya ko lang, na feeling ko na achieve ko na yung extreme happiness!

LOVE IS SERVICE.

Higit pa ang TamVol sa paggawa ng proyekto patungkol sa chamber na kinabibilangan namin, higit sa mga boses na may ipapahayag, higit sa mga kamay na handang tumulong, higit sa mga tengang handang makinig… dito kasi pamilya kami!

Sa organization na ‘to naranasan ko kung paanong maging masaya kasi nakapagpasaya ka, na worth it kahit um-absent ka sa classes mo kasi may mga batang makakapag-aral dahil dun, kung paanong magutom para may mga bata namang mabusog, kung paanong maging worth lahat ng pagod sa pag-akyat ng bundok kasi ‘pag dating mo dun makikita mo yung mga ngiti ng mga batang matuturuan mo. Dito sa TamVol, matatagpuan mo ang sarili mong minamahal kung ano ba ang ginagawa mo. Hindi lang basta kung ano ang naiibigay mo sa iba, kundi kung ano ang naibigay nila sa’yo.

Kasi sa paglubog ng araw, hindi ito sukatan kung ilang tao ang natulungan mo kundi kung paano ka natulungan ng mga taong natulungan mo. Nakakataba lang ng pusong malaman na dahil sa TamVol, na-grow ako bilang isang indibidwal na hindi ko inaasahan.

Proud Tamvol

CONGRATULATIONS

to our two-term President Gianina Napo, our Vice President for External Affairs Michael Miatari, and one of our Luntiang Misyonero John Michael Lava who made made it to TOSP-NCR. We’ll always be proud of you!

TAMARAW VOLUNTEERS

executive board 2012-2013 signing off