By: Joel O. Marcaida, Executive Director

National Youth for Servant Leadership Inc.

On the second day of the Bayanihan Supply Chain Conference and Trade Exhibit organized by the Coalition of Socially Responsible Small and Medium Enterprises in Asia (CSRSME Asia) at the University of the Philippines on November 14-15, 2008, a meeting between the National Youth for Servant Leadership (NYSL) and On Eagle’s Wings Foundation (OEWF) resulted in the organization of four (4) Bayanihan Centers (BCs) of young people, namely: Generation BC Jesus, Jesus, Calvary Church BC, University of Caloocan City BC, and Carmelite BC . Each Center had a bayanihan facilitator from the NYSL, who will also act as the Account officer of the BC.

The Carmelite Bayanihan Center (CBC) was the first bayanihan youth center to become operational after the conference in UP. On November 22, 2008, they held a meeting and twenty (20) youth agreed to start their savings program. Each member committed to save P10 per week and elected their officers, namely: Jeannet Borrega – Chairman; Ronald Sawa-an – Vice Chairman; Joana Marie Calma – Secretary; Janille Macahito – Treasurer; and Jaymar Albiola – Auditor. They are the leaders who will coordinate and plan for the development of their group.

The oath-taking ceremony of the officers and members of the Carmelite Bayanihan Center was conducted last December 29, 2008. Their parents, friends and some residents in their area joined the program. Ms. Hilda Panganiban, Executive Director of CSRSME Asia, gave her inspirational message and challenged those in attendance. The event became a fun activity because of the games and presentations of the youth. NYSL gave small gifts, courtesy of On Eagle’s Wings Foundation, to the members of CBC and the residents.

Like other organizations, the Carmelite Bayanihan Center also experienced many trials and challenges. There are times when they stop giving their savings, when other youth would criticize and mock them, and when members clash and disagree. With the help of NYSL facilitators Joel O. Marcaida and Noelle Contessa Y. Paz, with the additional support of CSRSME Asia, the Christian Businessmen’s Forum International Inc. and On Eagle’s Wings Foundation, these challenges were overcome. Their greatest achievement is their persistence in pursuing their dreams and aspirations for their community.

They now have over Php2,000 in savings which they will use to start a small business this summer.

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Mary Rose Rontal is working as an Assisting Professional in a USAID-funded project that focus on implementing strategic actions for environmental management while observing the principles of transparency, accountability and participatory decision-making in the local government units…

Feeding the piggy bank is what I and my husband taught Amyrrh, our one-year old son. We save every ten-peso coin we collect during the day from buying something or paying a fare.  We save it in my baby’s piggy bank ever since he was still in my tummy. Now, he’s already enjoying the feeding time of his “piggy”.

However, I can personally say that my or my family’s saving habit is poor because we only save every time we got a ten-peso coin, otherwise, no savings happened.

As an economist, I know that savings should come first before spending your money. Yet, I am not practicing it. The idea to save comes across my mind every time I can think of something I want to have in the future like house and lot, car, clothes and Amyr’s education. Bad thing is, the moment I received my salary, no thought of saving. All I can think of are the payments for my debts, my baby’s milk, the showing on the cinema, the food I craved to eat prior to my payday, groceries for the week, transportation expenses, board and lodging expenses, latest gadgets, everything except the thing called Savings.

I tend to ask how, when and where to save my money. How to start? When to start? And where is the most secured place to save? I already heard several financial institutions that did not succeed, got the money of their investors and become thief of the night, or they just simply bankrupted because of bad management. The uncertainty of financial institutions makes me anxious to save and invest in any particular financial institution.

It was then during the BSV workshop that I appreciated more the importance of Saving. I was enlightened with the idea of saving not just for myself but for the economy, more importantly for the small and medium enterprises, which I know is the “backbone” of the Philippine economy.

As an individual, I am not quite aware of the specific things I can do to help achieve a better state of nation, but thanks to my dear friend Jerick who invited me to join the BSV Workshop. It is very interesting to know that I am sharing the same vision with my groupmates and with other groups. As a Christian, as an economist and as an environmentalist, I was delighted to know that all of us hope for a “God-fearing” nation, a stable economy and a sustainable environment. These three aspects are underscored and for me, these characterized a perfect country. Though we are different individuals, yet we found out that we have common hopes for our country and that we are not just driven by our selfish desires but of what is good for the Filipinos a whole. That was indeed a “shared vision”.

I was also awakened on the topic “Learning Organization”, which made me realize my learning disabilities that I am not quite aware of for a long time. No wonder we hardly reach our goals in life. Now, I’m excited to share it with my colleagues.

As a whole, the one-day workshop on “Building Shared Vision” was indeed very informative. In fact, I would like to know more about the technical side of the cooperative, its management and operation, how to become a member, what are the logistical requirements to become an official member of the cooperative and the sustainable mechanisms of the organization. I think this should be discussed more during the Pre-Membership Education Seminar (PMES) which I believe is one of the requirements prior to being a member of any cooperative.

Further, I am glad that this concept was introduced to Filipinos. Though savings, credit and investments are not new to me but combining the three, with emphasis to “savings” in order to achieve a “Solidarity Economy” is relatively a new and fascinating concept. It is a good news that I find it very interesting to share with my networks of family, friends and colleagues. Indeed, I myself even want to conduct the same workshop to groups of people I know. Aside from that, I also want to see myself as part of the “think tank” of the CSRSMEAsia and be able to contribute in the development of concepts and designs that are worth implementing for the development of our community.

By Jezza Luz Sioson, University of Caloocan City

On May 13, 2009, the third day of the Bayanihan Youth Camp in Looc, Calamba, Laguna, we visited a social enterprise owned and operated by Patrick Evangelista, a young entrepreneur. Patrick has two different types of  business, the SVL (Super Vitamin Lugaw) & Pat”s burger.

SVL & Pat’s Burger can be classified as social enterprises because these enterprises are not meant to generate income and profit for its owner only, but also for the purpose of helping low income people.  It is a kind of business that is socially responsible.  It does not aim only for the success of the business owners and co-owners; it also seeks to provide other people a better future by enabling them to put up their own business using their own small savings as start up capital.

While SVL & Pat’s Burger gain profit, they continue to help others. They are willing to support small groups/organizations of low income people who want to have operate the SVL & Pat Burger business as their own enterprise. Patrick allows these people to own the business through low-cost franchising.

by Ma. Karen V. Gomez, University of Caloocan City

I have learned so many things from the Bayanihan Youth Camp, with its theme “Building Shared Vision” (BSV).  I learned to praise and worship God with all my heart.  Every morning before we start the activities of our workshop, we sing praise songs to Father God,  we worship Him,  and we put Him above all the work and activities for the day.

This camp taught me a lot – how to be a participative member of a team, become benevolent, cooperate with other team members, and how to share my feelings.

On the business side, this camp taught me how to set up a business even though I may not have huge amount of money. All that I need to do is just save. This is the best thing that every man should do… save, save,save…….. and continue saving!!!

The camp facilitators opened my mind.   They taught me that people perish for lack of “VISION”.  Everyone who exists in this world for a purpose has a vision.

I now have a vision not only for my own self but also for the benefit of others and the nation as a whole!!!