Press Play and Add Volume ("Paradise" by Sade)
When the twin typhoons visited Bicol and Marinduque in December 2006, no one really knew how the smaller of the two, being Marinduque, would be able to survive. The devastation was massive. Houses along the shore were washed away. Coconut trees and banana plantation were fallen. Rebuilding would have taken a number of years - if not for its government and institutions such as Red Cross and Gawad Kalinga.
Fast forward to July 2007, barely 7 months since the tragedy, you'd see the effects of Christian Love, Caring, Compassion, Courage and Cooperation - the same building blocks of GK Youth Build - working its way to fulfilling God's mission for the heart-shaped island.
Marinduquenos are proud people who'd never allow fear get in its way. They've risen so quickly that you'd think the typhoons never came. The smiles of the villagers in the GK Village, their new found pride, their passion to life evident in their daily affairs, and how they welcome guests like us with such warm and tight embraces.
Everyone who has been to Marinduque and who plans to visit Marinduque will be touched in different ways.
We were.
Maybe if John Milton wrote another poem after writing "Paradise Lost" - he would have written about Marinduque as being "Paradise Found".
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Marinduque will be among the provinces which will be part of the Canada GREAT Adventure Tour (GAT) from January 4 to 10, 2008 and GK Youth Build in the summer of 2008. Please email gkyouthbuild@gmail.com to reserve a slot in any of the 2 build programs.
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