For the third time this year, volunteers coming from the kapitbahayan (the residents of the Gawad Kalinga villages) will be coming together to help in rebuilding, repairing and starting the ground work of the farm lots of families from a specific Gawad Kalinga community here in Camarines Sur. This October 4-6, the volunteers will head over to GK Ratay in Sta. Cruz, Calabanga, share what they know and learn from the KB of Ratay (which actually has a beautiful farm).
From about a hundred volunteers coming in to help GK Libmanan in the first farm build, to three hundred volunteers going to GK Ocampo for the second, we can only imagine what will happen next weekend in GK Ratay.
What happened in GK Ocampo was a miracle in itself – a gathering of friends from different communities and different sectors for a few days of hard work, meaningful talks and no rain – made for a productive weekend. With the support of the local government and the parish priest, Fr. Mojica, and the residents themselves, rebuilding the homes of 174 families in GK Ocampo is slowly becoming a reality. With renewed spirits, everyone is challenged to making the community sustainable. We are forever grateful to everyone that is pitching in – 278 Trees Planted with the help of the Department of Agriculture (Casuy, Coffee, Pili, Atis, Langka) and Sibol School support from the LGU. So grateful to all the KB that have come to serve. We all know that despite having their own homes, there are still so many challenges each family faces. And yet they come. A huge shout out to Manoy Ruben, a resident of GK San Rafael, for always volunteering. Manoy Ruben, despite his physical handicap, continues to work and do what he can to serve – and that amazes me constantly. He may be missing his right leg, but God knows, what he lacks physically is more than made up for in love and passion.
Simultaneously, Gawad Kalinga celebrates its anniversary in Metro Manila. The Social Business Summit and Expo gathers the most brilliant hearts from around the country (and the world!). Today, friends are coming together to learn more from the communities and those that lovingly work with them.
Inspiration happening all over the country. 🙂 Missing out on both the Expo and the Farmbuild – but that’s okay. We all have our own role to play in building our nation. Much pressure to raise a patriot. 🙂
Looking forward to hearing everyones stories and seeing photos!
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