By DARWIN MANUBAG
The night was full of fun and inspiration. Gawad Kalinga Australia held a very successful Hope Ball on 25 May 2013 at the Ultima Function Centre. The audience was enthralled with the presence of Mr. Tony Meloto, Gawad Kalinga founder, as main guest speaker.
Gawad Kalinga is a community development model that seeks to harnesses the love and compassion of volunteers to work together to bring about change and restore the dignity of the poorest of the poor. GK is not only about building houses for the poor as part of their 2014 vision. The First Phase (2003-2010) of this vision is social justice which covers land for the landless and food for the hungry. The Second Phase (2010-2017) is called social artistry which includes social entrepreneurship as one of the components.
Approximately 255 Melburnians attended the event. The excitement includes series of performances from Pinay model-author-singer Czarina, composer Sushi, the dance duo of Latin American ballroom dancers Candice Rosslind and Aaron Hu, and the ballroom dancers from Manila Ballroom Roberto and Marie.
Among the highlights of the event were the inspiring speeches of Mr Tony Meloto and Fabian Courteille. It ended with a video of the achievements and direction of the country with the GK Platform. Mr. Meloto moved a lot of Pinoys present during Ball when he said that the Philippines now is the new social entrepreneurship capital of Asia. He claimed that countries worldwide are now noticing the potentials of the Philippines. He said that by 2024, the Filipinos will celebrate the end of poverty in the Philippines. He also stressed that the Philippines is not anymore “the land of the corrupt” but “the land of the honest”. The country now has transformed from being the Sick Man of Asia to the New Miracle of Asia because currently we ranked as the second biggest economy in Asia after China in terms of GNP growth. We are now known as best resilient country in the world with the smiles, compassion, and hospitality of Filipinos unmatched by any other nationalities of the world.
Fabian Courtelle, a French former student, was taking up his Master in Social Entrepreneurship in France when he heard about Gawad Kalinga. His visit to the Philippines changed his life and he is now proud to be part of the opportunities that is about to happen in the country. Because of this desire to help the poor, he began to explore possible ways for the poor Filipinos to create something. He was able to produce toy jeepney made of bamboo. The toy is something Filipino and is safe for children. With the help of the community supervised by GK, stuffed toys were produced adding income to the community. The stuff toys were named after famous personalities of the Philippines like Manny Pakwan for Manny Pacquiao, Jessica Saging for Jessica Sanchez, to name a few. Other products were also introduced as part of the ingenuity of Human Nature which covers locally produced chocolates, perfumes, hand sanitiser, healthy drinks, and a lot more. With this business, the community is given emphasis so that their lives and well-being will be better.
To strengthen the solidarity between Australia and the Philippines, he invited Aussies and Pinoy Aussie citizens to invest in the Philippines because of the many opportunities it could offer. The raffle draw, silent auction and the free photo booth added colour to the event.
Meloto previously gave a talk during the Gawad Kalinga Social Entrepreneurship Forum at the University of Melbourne.
After the Hope Ball, he also met with politicians and Filipinos in Canberra.
For more information, contact Marisa Vedar, one of the Gawad Kalinga Australia Board Members for Victoria, at verdamfam@bigpond.com or mobile 0425 831 673.
