Save The Cheerleader!

(Wala kasing pumansin sa Friendster bulletin board) *grumbles*

I just saw a guy wearing a "save the cheerleader, save the world" t-shirt, and the "s" in "save" was the helix symbol they use on Heroes. I WANT IT! If anyone could tell me where to get one, I'd be eternally grateful :-)

Be The Change!

"I just got tired of feeling sorry," she said as I stood nearby. So I stopped to think.

I was at training for the Global Xchange Programme (which I'll talk about later) and some of us were talking about why we'd applied for it. One of my fellow volunteers had been talking about a beggar she would pass everyday on her way to work and how she would feel bad every time but how she felt like she couldn't do anything. Which is why, when the opportunity presented itself, she decided to quit her work in media relations and take a big step into the world of volunteering.

I thought about what she said later. It was pretty much the reason why I decided to do the work I do now, why I moved to Social Work (after flunking out of Public Health), why I kept at it until I got work at the Virlanie Foundation, which works with street-children, and why, now that the opportunity to volunteer has presented itself, I applied to the Global Xchange Programme.

But I know I'm terribly lucky to be able to do the work I do, living in a country as poor as the Philippines. To be frank, I can afford to be a social worker, with our minimum wage salary, no over-time pay and what-not. Because my family isn't exactly poor, I have the opportunity to do this. I'm no do-gooder; I know most young people my age have to fight everyday to stem the rising tide of poverty threatening to drown them. They have to look for work that pays, because they have people they need to support. Because if they don't make a certain amount every month, living in the Philippines will kill them. Those are the real heroes.

I do the work I do partly because, I guess, of guilt. Because I know I've not worked for any of the opportunities I have in life. Because I know, everyday, I can step from one opportunity to the next simply because my parents will open doors for me, while other people who work a hundred times harder than me will not get even a fraction of a fraction of what I have. I do the work I do because I know that what I have is an accident of birth. My parents worked hard for what we have now, but not me. I have all I have simply because the universe saw fit to have me born into this family, and not into a depressed community in Payatas or Tondo.

I know I'm one of very few in this country who can afford to be a social worker. Because most people have real problems and real responsibilities. Even my fellow social workers at Virlanie, after spending the day working with our kids, go home to help their own families, helping out parents, putting siblings through school, real responsibilities, in short. But, thanks to what my co-volunteer said, I know that I'm not the only young person who thinks these thoughts. And I know, you've opened a newspaper, or passed a beggar on the street, or heard about a landslide in Payatas and though, "I'm just tired of feeling sorry." I know you've felt like helping but not known what you could do. Or had the luxury to go out and help, because you have real responsibilities closer to home.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." Gandhi said that, or so I'm told. We don't have to sit by and watch the world go to hell. But we don't have to pack our bags and move to refugee camps in Palestine or Africa and leave our families either. Sitting where you are, you can make a difference.

So let's get down to the bare bones of this entry: I'm asking for money from people. Why? Let me talk about Global Xchange first.

The Global Xchange Programme (GXP) is a project of Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), an international volunteer organization, VSO Bahaginan, its local counterpart, and the British Council. Basically, GXP is a yearly exchange wherein nine Filipinos and nine British are brought together in a team and placed in two communities, one in England and one in Mindanao, for three months each. The teams work in pairs of one Filipino and one British, are placed in host families within the community, and are given the opportunity to work in diverse organizations tackling a variety of social and economic issues. Previous volunteers have worked with newly-arrived Somali refugees to Britain, or in environment conservation programs in Davao, or in after-school programs to keep kids away from gangs and drugs on the streets. This year, our exchange will be held in Newham in London, and in Iligan in Mindanao.

Now part of our work is our commitment to raise twenty thousand pesos each. But this money isn't going to us; it's going to be used for our projects in Mindanao, and as seed money for future exchanges, so that other young people can get active and go out into the world and volunteer.

Fund-raising is really something I want to do, because so many organizations and people have put work into sending us on this exchange, and I feel coming up with the money is one way of contributing. And asking others to help with funds allows me to go into the exchange, not just on my own, but with the support and spirit of everyone who contributed to the fund. I go into this exchange with the one hundred pesos my friend gave me, or the one thousand pesos my dad gave me, or the five hundred pesos a random stranger gave me, carrying with me, not just their money, but their hopes for change in the world, their spirit of wanting to make a difference, made real and physical in what they contribute to our fund-raising. I go into this exchange not just with my own goals and aspirations, but carrying with me the hopes and idealism of everyone who contributed.

And that's what this post is about: I'm asking for your money, long and short. It can be any amount as long as you give it in the spirit of wanting to make a difference. Are you tired of feeling sorry? Then be the change you wish for! You don't have to quit your job and move to a poor(er) country and help people there. But you can support programs that do work to end world poverty, such as our exchange.

I know, of course, you have reservations. I don't usually ask people for money. Okay, I never ask people for money, unless said person is my dad. So if someone comes up to me asking for cash, I'd definitely take time out to think about it (and double- and triple-check). So the only way I can convince you I'm legit... is to direct you to these fine pages. The British Council in the Philippines has a page about us here, and so does VSO Bahaginan here. You can also go here to find out more about VSO and VSO Bahaginan.

And just to make things fun (and to give you more bang for your buck, if that's what you're after), you can ask me to do a good deed for whatever amount you give. We call it the Kindness Revolution. You can ask me to do your groceries, arrange your bookshelf, sing a song to your crush, feed someone on the street, whatever (as long as it isn't too degrading hehe). This was a fund-raising activity started by previous GXP volunteers, and you can check out their site here for more explanations. Our team doesn't have a site up, but I can post updates and pictures on my blogs so you can see what I've been up to.

What you do and give now, no matter how big or small, will affect others. You don't have to watch the world go by, wondering what you could do. Even by just contributing to a fund, you can start changing the world around you. So help us help others, and be the change you're looking for!

If anything in this entry has tugged a heart-string, or sparked a fire, or even made you stop and think for a bit, and you want to contribute, please contact me. I'm taking a chance putting my contact details online so please, please don't spam me hehe.

http://ajeetvictor.multiply.com

http://profiles.friendster.com/kingajeet

darksaber41@yahoo.com (and if you e-mail, please put "re: GXP fund-raising" or "re: Kindness Revolution" in your message field so I don't accidently spamguard you away).

I finally whored myself out to Multiply...

So add me or die mofos!

My contact list is actually looking kinda sad right now tsk tsk tsk (two friends pa lang *cries*).

Go. Now. http://ajeetvictor.multiply.com/

And if someone could explain to me why this site is better than Friendster, I'd be much obliged.