DND

Today is the start of my three-day leave. In effect, I am getting a five-day break that started last Saturday. For somebody who has zero (0) sick leave and only two or three vacation leaves distributed only on one-day intervals for the WHOLE fiscal year, I believe I deserve this break. I wanted to take my mind out of work before I start my aggressive ‘campaign’ in the following fiscal year. I take my vacations the same way that I perform my job: with utter seriousness. So I hope nobody calls me for anything work-related. To my co-workers: Do Not Disturb (DND)

Sagip Olympics

Note from the author: I am suppose to describe my Sagip Olympics experience. Instead of creating a totally new entry, I decided to simply post the article I created for the event. Enjoy!

Children’s Play
By TA

What happens when you pack more than 3,000 kids in one venue? The result is chaotic fun! It was Olympics time once again last August 27,2005 at the Marikina Sports Complex! But this is no ordinary Olympics. All the games were participated by kids. And these children are not ordinary either. They are all members of the Sagip program of Gawad Kalinga.

I arrived just in time for the parade and field demonstration of sectors. The bright colors worn by each sector along with their banners were a feast for the eyes. The display would have given United Colors of Benetton a run for their money. Sagip Olympics began in full swing and the Gawad Kalinga (GK) sites of East A were in full force! Thirty-five (35) kids came from Janssenville. Another Thirty-five (35) participants were from San Andres. Hapay na Mangga site had thirty-six (36) kids and the Karangalan village site had twenty-three (23). An additional fifty (50) participants came from Rizal.

After singing the Philippine national anthem, listening to the opening remarks and watching a dance number from the SFC dance ministry, it was time for the torch lighting ceremony. No wonder why Sagip kid Wendel from Janssenville wouldn’t move from his post even after the facilitators asked him to go to the bleachers where all his friends were. He was tasked to pass the torch for our sector so not even the scorching heat of the sun could deter him from his role. It was apparent to me then that all these kids were taking this event seriously.

After a few stretching exercises, it was sports, all sports and more sports the rest of the day! Our sector participated in Athletics, Basketball, Badminton, Chess, Field Games, Soccer, Swimming, Table Tennis and Volleyball. We also had a storytelling booth that presented ‘Mga Likhang Ngipin ni Benito’ featuring our very own SFC actors and actresses. As I walked around and observed each competition, I saw our Sagip players battle it out with other sectors in the hope of winning and bringing home the bacon as they say. This was the result of weeks and weeks of practice and preparation. Who would have thought that most of these children were once squatters who lived in depressing houses and belonged usually to criminal neighborhoods? Today, they can just be normal children – playful, active and without a care in the world. The competitive spirit was so high that not even the rain could stop the momentum of these participants.

Our sector had its shares of ups and down, of victories and defeats. But ultimately, we had our share of fun! I realized that at the end of the day, it didn’t matter much whether you win or lose as long as you participated, shared your talents and gave your all. This was what we delivered – our best shot.

My heart goes to the facilitators and coaches of the different events of our sector. The facilitators for their unending patience and hard work. The coaches who behaved as if their pride and dignity was at stake on each game their team played. They were the first to be happy when their teams win and secretly sad when they don’t. A big thanks also goes to the East A CFC and SFC communities who provided the lifeline that made the participation of our sector possible.

So who said that the work of nation building is boring and serious matter? Well for sure they were not in the Sagip Olympics. This event is one proof that the work of Gawad Kalinga is exciting and enjoyable! See you all next year!

Team Building

Yesterday, we had our office team building. From a company where team building is as common and necessary as brushing one’s teeth, this one was quite different from our previous activities. We are very used to lunch-outs, dinners, parties or beach activities as team building events. But a race in the heart of Makati?! This ought to be quite interesting.

Actually it was. And it was tiring as well. We had to run from GT Tower to Glorietta 2 to catch up with the other teams who had an early lead because they were able to finish the first pit stop by correctly answering a puzzle. We also had to dance to an unknown beat, get a picture with strangers in front of a Jolibee mascot, buy anything in the grocery that amounts to exactly 101.25 pesos and figure out the last stop by counting letters back and forth from a chapter of a novel. The last stop was National Sports Grill, where we also had buffet dinner. It was a good feeling that we were able to finish the race. It would have been better though if we won. Hehe. But in the end, I think everybody enjoyed the break. After all, our fiscal year is ending and we all deserve to reenergize before we start another one.

Activities etc.

I can’t believe that another year has passed. It was again time to meet my counseling family. Last night after work, we had dinner at Krocodile Grill in Greenbelt. There were a lot of new faces this time. Out of the 9 or 10 counselees that were in the dinner, there were only 3 old-timers. I didn’t really have a lot of questions since I am already acquainted with the performance evaluation process in my company. I went there primarily to see my counselor again, to meet the new counselees, and of course the food! The dinner was short and sweet and it was refreshing to meet new people from my company

After the dinner, I hurried off to attend our chapter gathering. I was super late but I had to attend because I have some announcements to make to my chapter mates. When I entered the venue, I was surprised to see that a lot attended the meeting! This was not common in our chapter. Hehe. We have around 80% attendance and I thought that was great. I announced the formation of the sector news bureau and thankfully I got an interested volunteer! Thank you Lord! Now I have 3 interested writers for our GK site! Whew! The next for them is to get trained like we did.

It was a good day.

GK News Bureau

The Meeting

It was my first ever official meeting as a Singles for Christ in the CFC Center. I thought it was just going to be us SFC guys. When I entered the room, I was surprised to see all the titos and titas in the room! Apparently, the meeting was about setting up the local news bureau for each sector. I guess the meeting was for the higher level leaders in the ministry. Nonetheless, I was not to be intimidated. Perhaps, it’s one of the perks of having a Cluster head father. Leaders go in and out of our house for years. So I was quite comfortable. But more importantly, I was a man on a mission. Jay and I were the only representatives in our sector and we are tasked to start the news bureau in our place. The meeting was very productive and the localized GK news bureau is slowly taking off

The Service

I have been involved with Gawad Kalinga(GK) for almost 2 years now. I wouldn’t say I’m working full time for them because I am still keeping and enjoying my career. I am, however, giving my extra and personal time for this effort through the various builds in the GK site of our sector. I was also initially part of the SAGIP program in the GK site assigned to our chapter. I wasn’t able to sustain that service because I could not commit to the regular early Saturday sessions. I didn’t have enough time to prepare for the classes and just couldn’t wake up on time especially on days when I have a gimmick.

Then came this opportunity. It was almost a light bulb moment for me! I knew I would be able to contribute a lot to this service because it combined two things that I love but do not have enough time to pursue: Writing and GK. We are only at the early stages in the formation of our sector’s news bureau and I am excited more than nervous. Thanks to my equally dedicated brothers JM and Jay plus with the guidance and blessing of our Lord, I believe we can make this work!

The Reason

That is the reason why I created this blog! I needed to find an outlet to channel my creative/writing side. I am constantly bombarded with all these technical stuff that I somehow lost my way to creative writing. It usually only took me 1-2 hours to produce quality articles. Now, it’s taking me twice or thrice the time! I have been so used to communicating the corporate way that I forgot how to write in a ‘neutral’ way. For the past 2 years, I have always been writing from the mind that it became harder for me to write from the heart. So what better way to write from the heart than to write about you!

This is my exercise. So please feel free to correct me on any grammatical, verb tense, or spelling errors.

I probably would not post any articles that I created for GK here. But if you’re interested to view them, along with the other stories, just go to this site:http://www.gawadkalinga.org/

Pinoy Big Brother

I wanted to know what the hype was all about. ABS-CBN is putting a lot of their advertising money on this new show called “Pinoy Big Brother.” I wasn’t able to watch the premiere last Sunday cause I was out so I tried to catch it last night. I watched the primetime edition and it was quite entertaining. It was a good from escape from all the scripted drama, fantasy or action that we see in our local shows.

They have one more show. Something like a midnight edition where they supposedly can show “more” scenes that are not allowed for viewing on primetime. The show was after “The Correspondents.” It was actually quite boring. They should have directed the show immediately to the good parts instead of stalling the scenes. It could not keep a sleepy head up. I slept at 2am not getting any entertainment value from the midnight show. Oh well, lessons learned.

Hesitant Mind

Alright I give in! I’m starting my own Blog site! Not because of some narcissistic quest to be known or to be in on what’s happening in the cyber world. I actually value my private life and I like the fact that only a few people really know a lot about me (ok I’m having second thoughts now. Hehe) I’m doing this for a simpler purpose:

1. Ultimately, to keep my writing juices flowing. This purpose has become a necessity for me. Why? I’ll explain in the coming posts.
2. Additionally, to have an instant alternative outlet in my oh-so technical line of work. I think I owe it to that seldom used side of my brain (I’m not sure if it’s left or right) to at least provide something to process.

Photos will be rare because I will just allow my words to paint the picture.
I would avoid mentioning real full names. If I do, then maybe they deserve to be recognized.
I would avoid bashing other people. If I do, then that means I’m really pissed.
In short, this is supposed to be just about me and my random thoughts…

Oh and by the way, Welcome to my life! (at least the part that I intend to tell you about)