JESSICA VERONIQUE O. YU
I was 35 years old then, married with three children, running a business, and serving in our parish, when I received an invitation that would radically affect my life. I was invited to join the 2005 Bayani (hero) Challenge in Buenavista, Marinduque.
I intimated to my husband, Dexter, my plan to organize a group of 15 volunteers to come and see how we can help those who had lost their homes due to a typhoon in Marinduque.
He agreed and even encouraged my proposal.
On the contrary, my co-parishioner friends thought the idea was unimaginable: going to a far-away place, spending a week away from home, leaving family.
However, a week before departure, I received a letter from Kyra, my eldest, which read: ‘Don’t worry about us, Mom! Please go and help the poor. We are proud of you!’ The letter alone was enough for me.
Organizing the group was the next hurdle. Many were skeptical. Some thought five days away from home was too much. Some worried about basic provisions: shelter, food, sickness, and danger. My parents supported my mission by giving me money for sustenance, so off we went.
I finally organized a group of 11 volunteers. None of us had any experience. We all had willing hearts and were ready to rough it up: sleep on floors, cook our food, and go without the internet. To top it all, we were excited to go and experience this adventure.
When we arrived, we found that basic needs were not readily accessible in the area. The nearest ‘talipapa’, where fish, meat, vegetables, “pandesal,” and coffee could be bought, was a few kilometers away and only open between 4 and 6 a.m. daily. No sari-sari stores or carinderia were offering cooked food. I was forced to cook food for the team even if I didn’t know how. The house-build activity was on a hilltop, 3.5 km from the campsite. If we needed to buy footwear or slippers, we’d have to travel to the next municipality.
We met the beneficiaries that day; everyone was smiling and excited. We did everything together in the ‘bayanihan’ (community cooperation/participation) way and became very close. We ate together, shared food, played games, dug holes, carried hollow blocks, and painted houses.
At night, despite an exhausting day, we’d gather to listen to Kalinga Night talks. Volunteers and beneficiaries would listen to inspiring speakers discuss mission work and values like honor, sacrifice, heroism, “bayanihan”, and love of God and country. They’d then share their personal experiences living out these values.
The topic that struck me most was ‘Para sa Diyos at Bayan’ (for God & country). We were called to do all in excellence: pleasing to God, honorable, well-done, decent, not for self-gratification or the approval of others.
I remember being so touched by the sharing that I couldn’t sleep that night. I thought about how I might do the same as a way of life. I asked myself, ‘Is this how God wants me to serve Him all my life?’ Will I have the time, energy, and ability? These questions kept me ‘awake,’ even after we had returned home from the camp.
Seeing poverty and the hard life in Marinduque opened my eyes to the plight of the poor in our neighborhood. I began to see the realities of being poor and how hard it is to be inadequate in our country, so deprived of basic needs, health care, and growth opportunities.
Soon after an interim of rallying potential ‘bayani(s)’ in our midst in the GK I Million Bayani campaign, which brought us to schools, offices, and organizations, a second invitation came our way.
My husband, Dexter, and I were invited to serve in the GK Child & Youth Development Program in Paranaque and Muntinlupa, covering 30 GK villages. With the help of 120 volunteers, primarily mothers and youth volunteers, we organized the children and young family members into the various GK programs: SAGIP for pre-school age, SIBOL for school-age, and SIGA for teenagers.
Seven years of engaging the children and their families taught us empathy. We understood the pressures the young were going through, growing up poor, as keeping them in school became challenging. Some parents would rather have their children work to add to family income.
We listened to them share their dreams and hopes. We saw many potential leaders who were determined, committed, and passionate and had the strong will to escape poverty. Accompanying them, cheering them on their victories, and crying with them in their low moments made us realize the value of presence. To love is to be present in other people’s lives. Seeing them pray with much dependence on God in all their struggles, our faith grew in leaps!
Typhoon Yolanda in 2013 will bring me to the next destination in my faith journey. As my home province, Capiz, was severely hit, and many poor people lost their houses, I went home and organized relief operations. My parents offered a place where volunteers packed relief packages for distribution to 6,500 families. Partners interested in helping the victims expressed interest in building homes and organizing communities. This gigantic task needed a dedicated head, and I was suggested to handle the service.
Realizing the vast responsibility that lay before me, I had to thoroughly discuss the matter with my family, who all agreed and pushed me on.
(borrowed my parents’ minibus).
Today, 11 years later, our team of seven strong Provincial Management Team members reaches out to people with low incomes in 7 GK villages in 5 municipalities and one city in the province.
Still recovering from the pandemic, life continues to be challenging, but most beneficiaries say they are not as poor anymore. They can plant for food, work for salary, and sell their products in the market. In my interactions with the old poor, I have learned the importance of shared values such as respect, love for community, and the spirit of “Bayanihan.” They have shown me that if the community cares and shares their blessings, no one will go hungry or feel left behind. If they continue to listen, care, share, and work together, no problem in the community will go unresolved. I had gained so much wisdom working with them.
To this day, some continue to be challenging to work with. But just like in our families, we continue loving them anyway. Because of them, I have learned to love better, be more patient, and be more forgiving. I have also learned the value of sincerity and genuine intentions to earn their trust and make them feel loved.
I have been blessed to be a part of the GK mothers’ lives, raising their children and guiding their youth in making tough decisions. Seeing many of the youth now with college degrees or graduates of vocational courses, have good jobs, married well, and are raising their children makes me feel very proud and happy. I have also witnessed many GK families now out of poverty, then beneficiaries, now turned benefactors.
In my 18 years of mission, God’s gifts of a loving and supportive family, a grateful and faithful community, and a solid provincial management team whose heart of service is anchored on the love of God and others have contributed significantly to my leadership journey. They are all blessings in my life that I will always be grateful for.
