05 AUG 2004

Dear JVP Community,

Nangangarap pa kaya sila? Myke wondered as he watched his students quietly taking their exam.

Yesterday, I was sitting next to the high school students of Myke and Girlie, JVP volunteers currently assigned in an island in Masbate. Myke's topic for the day was center of gravity while Girlie's was computer language in a school with neither balance beam nor computer.

Now, I am in a banca facing scenic Mayon, on my way home to Manila from an island I reached by bus for eight hours, van for three hours, jeep for one and a half hours, banca for two hours and motorcycle for nearly an hour. I arrived in Masbate bearing canned goods, Milo and chocolate treats for Myke and Girlie; now I leave with my hands empty, but my heart full of hope and dreams.

On Sunday, the JVPFI will hold its Annual General Assembly. It is a time for us to look back at how the JVP has contributed to nation and character building in the past year, and looking further back, in the past 25 years as JVP marks its Silver Anniversary. It is an opportune time not only to look back, but also to look ahead at the direction JVP is taking to respond to the challenges posed by the changing life of our organization and country. To solicit the participation of everyone in the JVP community, a video conference with the JVP local communities during the Assembly has been arranged. The test run went well last Monday and so we are looking forward to that joyful event of having the local communities join the Assembly for the first time.

As you probably know by now from the emails you have received, a lunch program will follow the Assembly. Invited guests will speak to us about national development, volunteerism and faith-driven service to convey how JVP can best work with its partners and supporters in building character and country. As announced in the article on the JVP Assembly in the Philippine Star today, August 4, 2004, we are fortunate to have as speakers in the program Senator Roxas and Secretary Soliman from the government; Fr. Huang, S.J., Provincial, from the Society of Jesus; Fr. Nebres, S.J., President, from the Ateneo de Manila University; Mrs. Davide, Chairperson, from the Philippine Association of Volunteer Effort; Misereor and Mr. Lito Rivera from the JVP donors; and Ms. Nora Bandin from an institution where a JVP volunteer is currently assigned. Fr. Bill Kreutz, being one of JVP's founders, will give a short response to their messages.

Senator Roxas as well as the other speakers and the members of the JVP community - though in different stations in life - are bound by a common hope and dream: the JVP vision "to build a just society that celebrates the fullness of life." The students in far-flung Masbate also share this dream.

Oo, nanganagarap pa rin sila at di nawawalan ng pag-asa, tiyak si Myke. At malugod na nakikibahagi si Girlie at Myke sa pagsubok ng kanilang mga estudyanteng makamit ang kanilang pangarap sa bawat araw ng kanilang pagtubo. As much as those students of Masbate are part of our vision of building a just society, we, too, are part of their dream to lead better lives and see what lies beyond their island. We all have a part to play in building that just society where there is a place for their dreams.

In Christ,
Jo