Bayani Challenge draws local, foreign volunteers
ALAMINOS CITY–Some 3,000 volunteers, 15 of them from Singapore, participated in the five-day Bayani Challenge 2013 held here from March 23-27, simultaneous with 32 other provinces in the country.
Of the volunteers, 150 helped build four houses at the GK Eco-Village in Sitio Sto. Rosario in Barangay Lucap, adding to the 18 existing houses.
GK housing projects, four of which are located in various towns in the province, are intended for the poorest of the poor as beneficiaries who contribute labor as their equity to the project.
The materials for the new houses were donated by the Sangguniang Panlungsod, the Alaminos City Government Employees Cooperative, and a daughter of business tycoon Lucio Tan, a frequent visitor to Alaminos, home of the Hundred Islands National Park.
The other Bayani Challenge volunteers were deployed for coastal clean up, planting of mangroves and forest and fruit trees, cleaning of clogged canals, Brigada Eskwela, community assembly, and medical mission.
At the end of the Bayani Challenge on Wednesday, the Singaporean volunteers assembled children from the different villages, made cakes for them and organized the biggest children’s party ever in the city.
“We are lucky to be chosen to host this year’s Bayani Challenge and show to the nation and the whole world that we are ready to take the challenge to lift the living condition of our people,” Mayor Hernani Braganza said.
Started in 2004, the Bayani Challenge is a yearly project of the Gawad Kalinga in partnership with the Filipinas National Flagship Volunteer Program of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) and other government agencies, private sector companies and groups, the media, non-government and non-profit organizations.
Dr. Eric Cayabyab, GK national executive director, said the Bayani Challenge showcases volunteerism in helping build communities and instill and inspire the spirit of unity, cooperation, industry and self-reliance among the people.
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