Building Better Futures: Utopia GK Village Visit and Fundraising Proceeds Turnover Ceremony

On May 24 2015, a warm and sunny Sunday, the resident brods headed over to Marcelo Green Village in Bicutan to visit the fraternity’s Gawad Kalinga site and turn over the proceeds of the fundraising efforts specifically raised for the community. GK Manggahan-Kawayanan/Utopia Village started out as an endeavor built from the ground up last 2007, and eight years later, it stood proud and completed as a result of the hard work of those who wished to make the undertaking a successful one.

From Utopia, it was Boss Tony Bernardo, one of the most lauded Utopians in our fifty-year history and a familiar face in the Gawad Kalinga community, who presided over the event. He was joined by Mr. Cornelio De Leon, the GK site director, Mr. Francis Balagtas, the GK Head for Paranaque and Muntinlupa, and Ms. Eva Abejero, the president of Manggahan-Kawayanan Homeowners Association and a Kagawad at Brgy. Marcelo Green, all of whom helped the brods feel welcome with their kindness, approachability, and hospitality, to the great appreciation of the latter.

Boss Tony shared how excited he was to spend his weekends and oftentimes other days of the week toiling at the site. Regular work involved not only supervision with construction plans, but also actual, strenuous physical labor, as attested to by many other Utopians who spent many hours working at the site. However, all the efforts were very much worth it. Through the regular visits, Boss Tony was able to build relationships not only with the individuals he worked with, but also the soon-to-be members of the community. These bonds stayed strong even after the completion of the project, and continued on in the children of the first members, who had been born and raised in the village. For Boss Tony, it was the duty of everyone to staunchly advocate social responsibility in any way and in every manner, something that all the Utopians took to heart.
 
After the short ceremony, the resident brods went around the village to look at the completed houses. The brods also took the opportunity to visit the members of the community in their houses, and converse with the families to learn more about the latter’s lives and concerns. The day culminated with mutual sharing – the members of the community members showing the trademark kagiliwan of the filipinos and filipanas by giving the residents delicious hotdog sandwiches, bananas, and juice, while the Utopians treated the kids to taho and ice cream.
 
To this day, the raising of the Utopia Gawad Kalinga village represents one of the greatest successes in our fraternity’s grand history. Many lives have been changed, many generations spared from misfortune due to the hard work and collective efforts of the brods that came before us, and we are optimistic that many more will be helped in the future. Indeed, the Gawad Kalinga initiative truly builds towards better futures, one small step at a time. Even the relatively minor act of the resident brods sacrificing their Sunday rest time to go attend this short but poignant event, see the finished community, and visit its members shows the fraternity’s sincere desire to be men for others. It is thus with great thanks that our service, sacrifice, and excellence has yielded fantastic results that we look to the future to strive to effect even more positive changes in society.

By Brod Diego Santiago