“People always take and take and
in order to give life a balance, people should learn how to give. People can
give their 3Ts- their time, talent or treasure.” –Romson Velez, Incumbent
President of Rotary Club Pasay Silangan
This was the statement the
incumbent president of Rotary Club Pasay Silangan mentioned in one of the
rotary’s meetings I have attended. This same statement became an embodiment of
a life-changing experience I had with the service learning activity I and my
groupmates have conducted.
Last November 28-29, 2014, our
group held a service learning activity at the Bridge Builder Foundation with
the help of the Rotary Club of Pasay Silangan in partial fulfillment of our
subject in Lasallian Business Leadership, Ethics and Corporate Social
Responsibility. On the first session (November 28, 2014), we discussed business
and entrepreneurship with the children of the foundation with their parents. We
started the lecture with an opening prayer followed by the introduction of
ourselves. It was a surprise that everyone participated and two of the children
volunteered in a warm-up exercise. An inspirational video was shown to draw the
attention of the audience and to gain the momentum of the discussion. It was
about Nilo who was a janitor before but because of hard work, has become a successful
real estate dealer.
Having watched the video about
Nilo and his journey to success, we instructed the children and their parents
to envision their dreams and draw it on an illustration board. This will serve
as their dream board that will set their goals in life and will guide their
actions towards their dreams. On this activity, we discovered that some of them
wanted to become a pilot, a dancer, a singer and most of them dreamt of having
a decent home because that is the very necessity of these homeless people.
Building their hope that someday
they could too become successful, we also showed them the pictures of some of
the business tycoons nowadays who came from a poor family. We also told them
short stories about their lives and these business leaders’ characters which
could inspire further the children and parents and for them not to lose hope and
that they can too escape poverty.
Understanding that this service
learning activity could be a one-time activity, we seized the opportunity to
teach these children and parents the basics of business—how to start their own
business which is related to their passion and a business that will attract
their interest. Most of them chose retail as it is common along the area near
Baclaran church. We suggested that they can arrange a consignment with stall
owners through reimbursing the cost of their products when already sold so that
they would not need to shell out money for capital. Some among the audience
responded that they are more interested in making and selling crafts like the
one that the foundation is currently working at for the parents which is making
and selling pillows.
A mother from our audience complained
that she continuously experience losses in her selling and we found out that it
is because that she does not control her expenses and she does not account her
personal expenses separately from her selling expenses resulting to her
shortages. This is a dilemma already foreseen by our group which is why we also
opted to include the basic principles in accounting and costing in the concept-teaching
session. We simply taught them how to correctly cost their products and how to
add mark-up that will still gain them a profit. We also reminded them to list
their sales and to account for their expenses so that they can monitor their
cash flows. Illustrative examples were presented to assess their understanding
of the lesson and we are happy of the results.
Having a profit, cash flow and
knowledge in basic accounting and costing is not enough without the discipline
of saving and having a financial literacy that is why we encouraged them to
save for their future and prioritize their needs first before purchasing a non-valuable
item.
We also shared the benefits of
doing business as a source of income for one’s self and also its contributions
to the economy and our country. Believing that these children and parents will
become businessmen someday, we also communicated our learning in business
ethics for them to aspire for a business that will challenge their moral
values, a business that will manifest integrity, and care to the people and
environment by discussing to them the La Sallian “Triple Bottom Line” – Profit,
People and Planet.
The second session was all about
honing the skills of the participants in making cards and lanterns out of
recyclable materials. Prior to the session, the children in the foundation were
told to make cards for their therapy—not for the benefit of the foundation to
make profit. However, thinking that these cards could be sold, we arranged a
business plan with the foundation and with the rotary whereby the proceeds of
the cards sold will be distributed to the less fortunate children in the
community so that the children who made the cards would feel that they could
also extend help by making such cards.
Resolving the issue on the
capital and money issue, we decided to use recyclable materials instead so that
these children will not always think that money needs to be involved in doing
business. On the other hand, Ms. Roslyn, the head social worker of the
foundation asked us to enhance the creativity of the children and the people
under the foundation in teaching them in making lanterns because they are
planning to conduct a contest in lantern making in the community for their
Christmas project.
Our group incorporated a sense of
competition on the card and lantern-making activities by declaring a winner who
best projected their creativity using recycled materials from the ones that we handed
to them and from the recyclable items which we asked them to bring as assigned.
We gave prizes in the form of food (bread, canned goods, and noodles), sanitary
items (soap, shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste and cologne), and piggy banks (to
encourage saving) for the winners and for every participation from the
audience. Candies and food were also distributed to those smaller children
under the foundation.
Overall, the service learning
activity went well and the participants showed their gratitude by giving thanks
to us speakers and facilitators.
A Service Learning is said to be: 1. experiential
or action-learning; 2. a method by which people learn and develop through active
participation in thoughtfully-organized service experiences that...meets actual
community needs in collaboration with the school and community; 3. provides
structured time for a person to think, talk, and write about what he/she did
and saw during the actual service activity
(Sawyer, 1991); 4.provides people the opportunities to use newly acquired
academic skills and knowledge in real life situations in their own communities;
5.enhances what is taught in school by extending student learning beyond the
classroom; 6. Learning by doing must be performed in combination with critical
reflection on experience; and 7.helps to foster the development of a sense of caring
for others (Lasallian Business Leadership…ppt 1).
What I with my groupmates did
this November, 2014 is a service learning activity and I think this activity
has brought me a lot of insights and has impacted me more than what we expected
for the children and their parents to learn.
Ms. Roslyn, Head Social Worker
I salute Ms. Roslyn and the other
social workers in the foundation by taking pride on their work to care for
people beyond themselves and their families. They set aside their worldly
ambitions to transform the lives of these street children and help their
families attain a decent life. It is inspiring to know that their dreams are
more for the community they are serving rather than for themselves. I also
commend the founder of this foundation for building such a noble foundation
uplifting the lives of the poor and the needy and who also fund for its
projects.
The Rotary Club of Pasay Silangan
It is heartening to know that
there is an organization of people who are willing to help earnestly without asking
anything in return but to extend and give back for the poor and to the needy. These
are groups of people whom I have a first impression of arrogance because most
of them are wealthy and who are known in the society, which I have mistaken to
put such labels on them until I was able work with in them in this activity.
They are such humble and kind-hearted persons.
The Children and Parents under
the Foundation
My deepest gratitude to these
people because they taught me to be always grateful of what I have right now
and for me to avoid complaining in life because they showed me the reality that
there are people who have less and yet appreciates life more than me. It was a
warmth experience meeting them and socializing with them especially at our
first encounter that they smiled at me, greeted me and the children made a “mano”
to me. They were so polite and welcoming. I believe in them and what our group
shared and did could somehow be a guide and serve as a starting point and that
they can be secured with the help of the Rotary. They gave me memories which
are more than the pictures we have taken with them.
It is fulfilling to serve and uplift
the lives of the needy. I learned that serving people for the betterment of
humankind does not always take the form of giving money and it takes more than
that. I can contribute my time (my precious resource), my talent (my gift from
God) and my treasure (my accessories here on earth) for the poor. In this
service learning activity, I felt the need to give balance on my life by giving
myself more by being socially responsible and by thinking others rather than myself.
I could say that helping people and integrating human development through my
deeds can be the greatest legacy I could give in this life.
