This December, Human Nature volunteers spread the Christmas spirit with our neighbors at Gawad Kalinga!

This December, Human Nature volunteers spread the Christmas spirit with our neighbors at Gawad Kalinga!

This season of our Savior’s birth, we felt overwhelmingly blessed by the support and patronage of dealers, branches, and customers this Christmas season that we wanted to share it with the communities that some of our staff belonged to, and with our neighbors in Barangay Old Balara. The many challenges this year - from our new social enterprise category, to the mid-year monsoon, to the tragedy of Typhoon Pablo - made us appreciate more keenly our infinite responsibility to love our neighbors and share with them the spirit of Christmas celebration.

We want to celebrate in a different way – not just among ourselves, but with as many people as we could. This is the true spirit of Walang Iwanan: that we share not only in their hardship and trials, but also in their joy and thanksgiving. As Team GK brings Christmas to 4,000 children and adults affected by Typhoon Pablo through Operation Walang Iwanan: Paraisong Pambata, we are all united in sentiments of service and nation-(re)building.

In this same spirit, we decided to celebrate Christmas with our neighbors in Barangay Old Balara, Commonwealth as well as our Gawad Kalinga neighboring communities in GK-Laura, GK-Brookside, and GK-Sitio Ruby, where many members of our Human Nature family come from. The little Christmas programs and salu-salo truly lit up the season for our neighbors and brought Gawad Kalinga and our Human Nature family together in the spirit of solidarity.

 


GK-Laura

Christmas came early for the residents of GK-Laura on the afternoon of Sunday, December 16th. It was an afternoon filled with fun and festivities, from delightful dance presentations to exhilarating parlor games, capped off by a merienda session of bonding with the residents.

As Maria May Mangila, a GK-Laura resident and Warehouse team member, reflects, “Nag-enjoy ako sa Human Nature party sa GK-Laura kasi ang kulit ng mga nanay, magagaling din sumayaw ang mga kabataan pati mga senior citizen. Nalaman ko din na may GK site pa palang iba, marami talagang natulungan ang GK. (I enjoyed the Human Nature party at GK-Laura because of the friendliness of the mothers and the impressive dance that the youth and the senior citizens presented. I also learned that there are other GK sites and that GK helps a lot of communities.”

Despite the rainy weather, blessings were abounding that afternoon at GK-Laura. As Emily Roman from HR reflects, “A little time spent with them is really worth keeping as memory. I’m glad to be part of a rainy Christmas party, showered with a lot of blessings and smiles from the villagers.”

 


Christmas with our Neighbors

On the morning of Friday, December 21st, while the rest of the world was busy worrying about the end of the world, Human Nature celebrated the gift of life and family. A handful of early bird volunteers gathered in front of our Human Nature Flagship Store along Commonwealth Avenue for a simple Christmas breakfast with members of Barangay Old Balara: our barangay tanods, traffic and fire brigade volunteers, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) cleaners assigned to Feria Road, members of the tricycle drivers’ association, ambulant vendors near the store, and even a mother and child living in the kariton-house at the foot of a nearby overpass.

Volunteers from various departments wanted to share the Christmas spirit in the form of a simple breakfast and little packs of ham to create a Noche Buena atmosphere. More importantly, they wanted to celebrate the spirit of the season by engaging neighbors and public servants in oneness.

Greetings of sunny smiles and warm coffee were exchanged among the people at the start of the activity. As Giselle German from Branch Operations recalls, “I personally saw familiar faces of manongs and manangs, kuyas and ates there who I never thought I’d be having breakfast with. We blessed the activity, the food, and the people there with a wonderful prayer and sharing about Jesus being a son of a carpenter. Like Jesus, we, too, have to take responsibility in our contribution to nation-building, however big or small our careers or roles are in this world.”

“Through their stories and sharing, we realized that the manongs and manangs acknowledge themselves as Pro-Philippines, Pro-Poor and Pro-Environment - just like what Human Nature stands for,” Giselle muses. “Indeed, the activity made our ties with the community stronger as we all are heading for a common goal, like one big family. It was a short activity; however, truly, it was a gift and celebration of life and family.”

 


GK-Brookside

On the bright and early Saturday morning of December 22nd, the residents of GK-Brookside welcomed the Human Nature visitors with a panunuluyan: a simple skit of the Nativity, timely for the Christmas season. The skit was followed by a rousing band presentation and cheerful Filipino carols sung by a choir of graduates of the Stella Maris School, followed by several children’s games. The highlight was a game of “basagan-itlog,” where several kids tried to break an egg on the floor with a bamboo stick while blindfolded, as onlookers shouted directions and squeals of encouragement!

Our beloved president, Anna Meloto-Wilk, gave a short Christmas message expressing the depth of Human Nature’s relationship with GK-Brookside because many Human Nature employees actually came from there and neighboring communities. As our extended family, we hope that our relationship with the residents of GK-Brookside will only grow stronger.

A modest holiday meal was shared in the Stella Maris classrooms among the residents, students, and volunteers. We listened while some of the residents shared with us how the whole village was submerged by flood waters during Ondoy, and how their classrooms were flooded up to the second floor. It was a tragic time for GK-Brookside, but because they all worked together as a community, they pulled through and always found a reason to be thankful and to celebrate.

 


GK-Sitio Ruby

The festivities continued as Human Nature volunteers headed over to GK-Sitio Ruby to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon with friends and residents. We were regaled by the kids' Christmas song medley, lively dance number - complete with stunts! – and enthusiasm in our line-up of games. They were definitely hours well spent in the spirit of joy, giving, and camaraderie.

The work and advocacy of Human Nature goes beyond giving gifts during the Christmas season. We believe in working towards year-round nation-building: in providing jobs for youth residents from Gawad Kalinga villages and rewarding them with salaries above minimum wage, empowering our farmers by offering them sustainable livelihoods, promoting 100% Filipino-made products to help buoy up our economy, and protecting Mother Earth with our chemical-free products. And it’s YOU, our dealers, branches, customers, and fellow advocates, who continue to make our vision a reality and bestow an abundance of blessing upon our communities - not just this holiday season, but all year round.

We hope that you continue to join us and share in our steadfast commitment to developing as a nation where nobody, regardless of social status, gets left behind. Less for self, indeed, leaves more for others to share in and enough for all to thrive.  May God bless you and your families this season and may the new year be even more prosperous for all – para sa bayan!

 

Want to practice loving your neighbor and bring Christmas to communities most in need of that spark of joy? Help out with Operation Walang Iwanan! Visit Gawad Kalinga's official page for updates and information on how you can help.