"we make a living by what we get but we make a life by what we give"** Winston Churchill
I would be honest, had not my heart been shuttered I would not rediscover the joy of volunteering.
Yes I was educated in University of the Philippines where early on as freshman we had exposure trips to the poorest of the poor. Indeed it was this idealism to make a better world for everyone that drive me to volunteer for a year as a Biology high school teacher to the Bagobo in Marahan Davao City. Yet truth be told had not my heart been torn apart I wouldn't be doing what I do now in my free time.
Yes, volunteerism had saved me from the bottomless pit of depression that comes along when an important relationship if many years fall apart. I couldn't imagine how I would have weathered the emotional storms had I not kept busy and consciously alerting myself how blessed I was compared to many others. The being said I completely agree with Willie Nelson when he said "when I started counting my blessings my whole life turned around. "
I found Volunteers in Cebu in facebook. Back then, they had this monthly feeding program at various locality. They serve porridge or what we call "arrow caldo"meaning boiled rice with some chicken meat and some vegetables like carrots .In my first event, I volunteered for cutting the chicken to bite size. All the angst I had about my ex bf I manifested there that I bet my neighbors noticed how tireless I work and how heavy I blow the knife into the meat. I will still go through my timeline to gather the pictures for those early years with the group.
These pictures were taken back when the CICC ,a government project that is now an ongoing Ombudsman case, become a rehabilitation site to the fire that broke around it. Thousands of family were homeless so the group decided to raise money for water containers, used clothes toiletries and some grocery items for them. This was a pivotal day for me. Because had I not joined this event I wouldn't meet my fellow Steemians @fernwhenninja and @itinerantph who moving forward would introduce me to the exciting world of Steemit. With this can't help relate it to Steve's job famous line for the graduating class of Stanford when he said "you cannot connect the dots looking forward you an only connect them looking backward ".
Several years passed, the relocation site is still there. You can only imagine the difficulty they're having squatted very near each other with every utilities in common. As taxpayer, you'd surely ask yourself where is the hand of the government here but living in a third world country one of the skills one learns is to turn a blind eye as if nothing is off the grid.
I still have much to learn about human dynamics why some humanitarian aid are successful while others are not. My life motivation would be this, to learn as much how to run a successful non government organization and how to empower it's beneficiaries so they don't have to forever depend on us. As such when I can I join various group championing various causes to see what works from what doesn't and hopefully I learn the values and the heart to run one myself together with equally minded and passionate individuals.
It's far fetched I know but as Steve Jobs once again say it well "people with passion change the world "I hope to die leaving a world where rights to clean water, education, food, among others aren't subject to discretionary power of the government. So in a way this revolutionary nature of Steemit suits me well.
Cliche as they say let me end it by saying fellow Steemians live a life of passion short as it is.
Till next post,
Ayn
Beautiful family, congratulations friend and above all, a lot of health. Greetings from Vzla.
Thanks same to you have a wonderful day@black4life
Of course, yes, for you, friend. I invite you to check my blog, you will like to see a picture that I take and with which I am sure I will steal a smile from you.
My language is Spanish, however create a separate post in English :)
I LOVE your read! I'm am SO happy there are people like you willing to help someone's life out and don't look for anything in return. I will be #following to see your next amazing blog!
#follow back
#subscribe to my DTube Channel: kendradickens
@gratefulayn, very nice ate . you always do good things ate , god bless and see you soon.
Great! Nice posts.