GKYB 2007 in Video : Episode 5 : Immersion

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"Immersion" as defined in the dictionary is (n.) The state of being overhelmed or deeply absorbed; deep engagedness.

For a week, from sunrise to sundown, we were in the Gasan Village in Marinduque. Alongside the manongs (our elder brothers) and manangs (elder sisters), we exchanged stories and joked around while helping them build their houses. We never realized and never cared that for hours, we were under the heat of the sun. The sharings with the villagers were enough to while the time away. It was always a "good tiredness" when shared with people you care about.

As the children came from school, Angel played with them, Christine had sessions introducing Canada and Aldrich and Norson were there to teach them new sports, like Hockey. For the mothers in the village, Therese conducted Jewelery making which hopefully would be a potential livelihood project for the village.

With our conversations with one of the villagers, Aling Amalia, we were introduced to GK, the first baby to be born in the village. GK, being Gian Karlo is the youngest of the 2 children of a household whose house was blown away by the Dec 2006 typhoon. Now they have a much stronger house, Aling Amalia is thankful to GK that her husband can concentrate in his fishing instead of trying to find ways to build one temporary albeit unsafe shack after another near the beachfront.

The lives of the villagers have been changed. Their dignities as human beings restored. The future of their children has been assured. One villager mentions that "at least, her children will know how to live with dignity and pride, and with visitors like us, can learn new things."

We were deeply overwhelmed with the experience. As they learned from our workshops, we learned a lot from their sharing too. In the end, we both had deep appreciation of our blessings.

It was indeed a true immersion.

GKYB 2007 in Video : Episode 4: Snow Meets Sand

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Snow Meets Sand - what a poignant description of how our experience in meeting new friends from YFC-Middle East was. Those 4 days in Cavite was a memorable experience for all the participants. "I met new friends, and I bonded with them so well," Christine (or Skyy, as there were 3 more Christines in the group "family"), retold during our September 8 sharing with the rest of the GKYB who supported the team with prayers from Canada.

"I miss them." - Christine ended her sharing. Awww, we all miss each other. New friends are like rain in the desert...or sun during winter :)

Yes, snow met sand, in reality that could be slippery and dangerous. But back in Cavite, you wouldn't know, snow, sand, hot, cold, Middle East, Texas or Canada, we were just one - in our desire to help and love the poor.

GKYB 2007 in Video : Episode 3: Cavite Youth Build

One of the best things that happened during the GKYB 2007 experience was meeting 21 other friends and building with them a future of hope for today's youth and for the Philippines!

Our groups, with Dondi and Bai acting the roles of Ate and Kuya, met for the first time last Thursday, July 19 but if it was as if we knew each other for years. The Cavite build was composed of 2 teams now - the GKYB-Canada and Norson (US) as well as 21 Youth For Christ members from UAE, Saudi Arabia and Syria. The 2 teams came from the East and the West to prove that "youth is not wasted on the young"!

The experience was exhilirating. The video can speak for itself!

We miss our friends from the Middle East - we hope to do another build with you guys soon!