ROSE CABRERA
When I turned 53 two years ago, I remembered that my eldest sister, Malou, died when she was 53! Feeling I’m now living on borrowed time made me more circumspect about life.
I told my son then, “Rafa, we should make sure that every waking moment of ours has meaning and is offered to God for His glory. Make the most of our life. We never know when our time is up.”
This is why I am so happy about the divine mission I am undertaking now with about 80+ of my fellow volunteers called KLIK Mobile Education (KLIKme) and the social enterprise I am building called The PHL Hub.
KLIKme is a facilitated alternative learning program for Filipino high school dropouts. It bridges them towards productivity using technology (web-based mobile learning) and the global Filipino diaspora (Global Learning Exchange – Kapwa Kaibigan, Kapatid, Kaakbay). See www.klikme.ph.
The PHL Hub is an online platform leveraging the latest web3 technology to support organizations for community development. It links them to benefactors worldwide to make their work more effective, efficient, and transparent.
This has made my every waking moment meaningful and offered to God for His glory. I remember Fr. Albert Haase, a guest priest in our parish, said, “If you don’t see God in this world, you will not see him in heaven.“
“We are the Body of Christ on earth…
Christ has nobody now on earth but yours,
no hands, but yours,
no feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which Christ’s compassion
is to look out to the world.
Yours are the feet with which Christ is to go about doing good. Yours are the hands with which Christ is to bless all people now.”
I’ve spent most of my last 26 years working for social justice, even giving up a lucrative job as a lawyer in Los Angeles and my dream to be a California judge so I can focus on that work because it’s my way of being the Body of Christ on earth somehow.
From 2001 to 2008, I headed ANCOP Foundation USA, which became a significant supporter of Gawad Kalinga Philippines. In 2008, I set up GKONOMICS with Cecile Dayrit, Marivic Pineda, Divine Duran, and Pinky Poe to build a social enterprise development platform to help sustain the work started by GK. Although it has been a difficult and thankless path, with me constantly questioning the impact of my efforts since the poverty statistics remain about the same as when I started, I never regretted a single moment. Now I know why.
Everything I have been doing in the past is the foundation for what we do in KLIKme and The PHL Hub. It’s so exciting! We now have a blueprint for breaking the cycle of poverty for five million Filipino families in five years! It captures the essential learnings from our work in GK, GKONOMICS, government, church, business, and academe, and builds on PRESENCE, which gives HOPE that multiplies LOVE.
Meaningful Encounters
Nothing happens by accident, and I see God’s hand in our journey through meaningful encounters.
We in GKONOMICS took on KLIKme 10 years ago because we realized that to SCALE the excellent work that we do and exponentially help more families and communities, we need to use TECHNOLOGY, particularly disrupting the EDUCATION arena. KLIKme is addressing the problem of poverty in a very creative and genuinely Filipino way, using the BAYANIHAN style and scaling it.
I am so blessed to be working with dedicated, passionate, and excellent volunteers from all ages and all walks of life, from the US, Canada, Singapore, the UK, and the Philippines, ranging from super wealthy people to super poor people, from super accomplished and educated professionals to super hopeless grade school dropouts. We are all bound by a shared vision of a better Philippines and a productive Filipino citizenry!
Our hardworking KLIKme Team is led by Lissa Moran, Mara Salvacion, Glenn Onia, and Cherie Woo, and I could not have asked for better co-workers in the Lord’s vineyard.
My KLIKme partner and co-founder Freddie Tinga (former Taguig Mayor/ Congressman) describes our journey for the last ten years, “I was pushing the realm of the technology skills while Rose was focusing on the social aspects and the community building, and we’ve figured at some point, ‘magtatagpo ‘yan’ (the paths will converge). And that’s what I’m seeing now–you’re seeing community involvement merging with a technological approach, and if we can get this concoction done right, I think the impact can be immense. My mind is racing with possibilities. This is where it’s headed. This is the last frontier if you will. And if we get this right, I hope we can change many people’s lives.”
Pinky Poe, my GKONOMICS and KLIKme co-founder, is now focused on supporting social enterprises and making them sustainable through ATBP (an accounting and business consulting firm) and the Ateneo MESEDEV Program, where she serves as a Professor. She is now spearheading our innovative KLIKme Agripreneurship Training with Rey Balatayo of Bohol, where we are building a model of sustainable countryside development with Sec. Cito Lorenzo, Jeff Barreiro of MAYANI and Prof. Joe Travero.
I fully realize the starkness of our reality in the Philippines. My spiritual guide, inspiration, and KLIKme Advisor, Fr. Ben Nebres of Ateneo de Manila, best describes it, “We are not one country–we are not one people, we are not. The culture between the middle and D & E classes is huge. It’s not just economic–it’s not just money, it’s a whole culture–the things we think about, the things we talk about, the stories we have, things we care about. Magkakaiba talaga ano (They are really very different right)? So it’s tough to unite this country.”
That is our challenge. I have taken that on as a personal challenge to try and do what I can in my remaining years to do something about that.
Our GKONOMICS USA Director, Dino Pineda, says, “KLIKme is huge. It’s hard. It’s going to be difficult. But are we going to do something small? We’ve done that all our life. So this is the big ask for everyone that wants to get involved. Let’s get involved big, whether it’s time, talent, or treasure. Let’s do it wholeheartedly and big to move the needle in this country.”
My seemingly incidental encounter with Singapore-based strategic consultant VJ Genato last year became a crucial answer to my prayer and search for the sustainability of KLIKme. Our weekly consultations guide us towards sustainability through the social enterprise The PHL Hub, which I will be transitioning as CEO later this year. It’s something outside my comfort zone, making me quite nervous, but God assures me through VJ that it can be done and that I should trust Him and His perfect plan.
The PHL Gift: Presence. Hope. Love.
At the heart of KLIKme is the GLX, which connects Learners with people outside their community. This connection is critical to building a culture of caring and sharing. KLIKme is about relationships and connecting people in a meaningful way.
We are now piloting KLIKme in 9 communities nationwide, with the target to reach five million Filipino dropouts in five years; doing so will create a tipping point for the Philippines because you have somehow broken the cycle of poverty for them with their high school diploma, digital literacy and life skills, and mentor connections worldwide.
KLIKme is the PHL Gift. Presence. Hope. Love.
It’s a gift we take for ourselves because it adds meaning to our lives.
We give Filipino high school dropouts a gift to help them break the cycle of poverty.
It’s a gift to our motherland to take it out of its sorry state.
It’s a gift to the world, to be an inspiration amidst all the ugliness.
And most of all, it’s a gift to God.
Could you help us share that gift with the world?
Be a Kaibigan peer.
Be a Kapatid mentor.
Be a Kaakbay tutor.
Be a Sponsor and Volunteer.
Mag KLIK tayo sa KLIKme.
Let me end with this quote from St. Basil:
“The bread which you do not use is the bread of the hungry;
the garment hanging in your wardrobe is the garment of him who is naked;
the shoes that you do not wear are the shoes of the one who is barefoot;
the money that you keep locked away is the money of the poor;
the acts of charity that you do not perform are so many injustices that you commit.”
May we find meaning in sharing more of ourselves with others, especially people experiencing poverty.