| 2 OCT 2004
State of the Foundation Address
Author; Jo Maribojoc, Executive
Director
This is the first of a two-part message
of the Executive Director. It is a SOFA (State of the "Five-Point
Program of Action" Address) two months after the presentation
of the program of action during the Board Meeting and General
Assembly last August 7 and 8, respectively. As the four-page
message is long, it was divided into two parts, with the
second part to follow suit next week. Comments, reactions
and suggestions are most welcome.
Dear JVP Community,
We are all angels with one wing and we
need each other to fly.
On the Feast of Angels, I would like to
begin with that thought. I do not know where that thought
came from, but a student of mine once wrote that in his
exam when he was in junior year in college. Then he joined
the JVP.
In his speech during our Silver Anniversary
Lunch Program last August 8, 2004, Fr. Ben Nebres, president
of the Ateneo de Manila University, stressed that one of
the most important things that the Philippines has to learn
is how to execute and to persevere in getting things done.
He reminds us that St. Ignatius repeats that point several
times. "Building institutions is not always glamorous
work. It is drudgery very often and that’s why we
would rather not talk about that part of the life of Ignatius
– because it is not as dramatic. It is not as romantic
but it is what has made a big difference ultimately. It
is why you and I are here today in this institution. That
very patient work that he did."
It has been well over a month since I
wrote you on August 13, 2004 after the General Assembly
and Lunch Program. In that letter, I wrote that if we put
in our time, talent and treasure, we can get things done
in and by our Foundation. When the silver dust had settled
after the inspirational talks during the Lunch Program and
the presentation of plans during the General Assembly, it
was time to buckle down to work.
During the remainder of August and early
September, I went to Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga and
Naga to get to know and meet the JVP local communities outside
Manila, solicit support for the Five-Point Program and find
out the different needs of the local communities, and visit
some of the current volunteers. Each local community I visited
was different from the others, just as each of the Ateneos
I went to had a different personality. Underneath the differences
among the local communities, however, is a common desire
of the former volunteers to continue to be effective agents
of social transformation, Christians rendering faith-driven
service. I also spoke with the rectors and/or presidents
of the various Ateneos and their Jesuit communities, bearing
a consistent desire to work more closely with them in pursuing
the common goals of the Ateneo and JVP.
September saw the planting of seminal
efforts to give life to the Five-Point Program. On the First
Point: Organizational Structure, JVP and the Center for
Organization Research and Development (CORD) signed a Memorandum
of Agreement after negotiations and agreements on how the
organizational audit would be conducted and the amount of
financial investment needed. As described in the JVP website,
the audit will be conducted in three phases: (1) interviews
of key people in the Foundation and focus group discussions
in the local communities from October to November, (2) research
and its application to the data gathered, and workshop to
formulate recommendations for the best organizational model
where representatives of the local communities and the central
leadership will participate in November, and (3) presentation
of the recommendations to the Board in its February 2004
meeting. We have begun to put in time, talent and treasure
into this project. We hope that you will also do so as the
success of this project that will be seen through the years
will depend on your participation in the interviews, FGDs,
and workshop.
On the Second Point: Strengthening Ignatian
Spirituality, the JVP has met with the Center for Ignatian
Spirituality (CIS) to discuss how a spiritual formation
program might be designed, implemented, monitored and evaluated
for the former volunteers and how the program for current
volunteers can be strengthened. Based on the focus group
discussions conducted by the CIS in the local communities,
CIS recognized that the former volunteer community is a
potent force for nation-building whose contribution can
be maximized by a support structure for spiritual growth
and a tight community where membership is clear and defined.
Without considering yet the Five-Point Program of Action,
the CIS’ recommendations and the direction our Foundation
is taking converge towards the same conclusion that we should
mobilize and support the former
volunteers of JVP.
The Ignatian Spirituality Core Group was
also convened in September. It is composed of Fr. Mario
Francisco, SJ as the National Chaplain, Mrs. Bebs Sim of
the Christian Life Community (CLC) and JVP associate member
and Trustee, former volunteers Jonjee Sumpaico, SJ of Simbahang
Lingkod and Chris Reyes of the Campus Ministry Office of
the Ateneo de Manila University, and the Executive Director
and Formation Program Officers from the Central Office.
In the initial meeting, we discussed how to concretely address
the specific needs for spiritual formation of each JVP local
community. For this purpose, we will very much appreciate
your specific suggestions on what spiritual activities your
local community needs for spiritual formation to help us
design the formation program and identify the activities
that could be implemented in the local communities and the
resources we can utilize for this purpose. The Core Group
will meet again on October 13, 2004.
With respect to the current volunteer
program, steps have been taken to strengthen the Ignatian
rootedness of JVP service by infusing the Midyear seminar
design with an Ignatian retreat and consciousness examen.
The volunteers will also be provided regular prayer guides
for their talking, sharing, and praying (TSP) in their areas
of assignment after the Midyear in the hope that the guides
will help the volunteers regularly do their TS and end it
with a P.
Arrangements have also been made for the
Central Office staff to begin their regular prayer meetings
in November. It is hoped that these prayer meetings will
not only contribute to their spiritual growth and well-being,
but will also help the program officers imbibe the principles
and values of Ignatian spirituality more deeply, in turn
helping them implement more effectively the Ignatian character
of the JVP service programs. To make time for the prayer
meetings, the JVP office will be closed by 5:00 p.m. every
other Monday beginning on November 8, 2004 as the meetings
will be held from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. on those days.
The second part of the SOFA was further divided into
two parts as there are attachments that will make the e-mail
heavy. The flier for the EmitAsia Philippines-JVP project
is attached to this first sub-part of the second part, while
the speech of Fr. Ben Nebres is attached to the second sub-part
to be sent at the end of the week. Again, comments, reactions
and suggestions are most welcome. [CLICK
TO DOWNLOAD FLIER FOR THE EmitAsia Philippines-JVP PROJECT]
On the Third Point: Effective Service in the Context of
National Development, JVP and Pathways for Higher Education
had a meeting for a possible partnership for the three-year
development plan. The goal is for the partnership to give
rise to regional centers of Pathways for Higher Education
that will mobilize youth groups around the country, which,
in turn, will address the need for quality education of
the youth. Pathways will provide the structure and program
while JVP will provide the human resource/volunteers to
put up and run the centers until they have become self-sufficient
at the end of three years. The partnership is awaiting the
standards and guidelines that will be set by the Executive
Committee on how to choose an institution for the three-year
development partnership. This is the next step to be done
prior to the program officers’ visiting of partner
institutions that are potential partners under the three-year
development plan. We would appreciate inputs, materials,
insights for the formulation of the standards and guidelines
especially from those in the social development sector.
For the current volunteer program, we
have included a module on volunteerism and development in
the design of the Midyear seminar to articulate the role
of JVP in national development. We will also discuss JVP's
social development theory and strategy with which volunteers
are to evaluate and plan their work in their respective
areas of assignment.
On the Fourth Point: Pursuing Self-Reliant
Funding, we have taken steps to avail of funds from other
sources in addition to the grants and donations which have
primarily run the JVP program over the years. After several
meetings and negotiations, the JVP entered into a Memorandum
of Agreement with EmitAsia Philippines, Inc., a leading
marketing agency in the Philippines of Time, Fortune, Reader’s
Digest, National Geographic, Philippine Graphic, and other
local and foreign magazines. Under a special subscription
package, annual subscriptions to Time magazine made through
JVP will enjoy a 60% discount compared to newsstand price
and around 20% discount compared to regular annual subscription
price, giving the subscriber a savings of Php 2,808.00 and
Php 486.00, respectively. The annual subscription to Time
will thus cost only Php 2,052.00 for 54 issues. For every
annual subscription made through JVP, 15% of the special
subscription rate or Php 308.00 will be donated to JVP.
You are encouraged to subscribe now as the regular annual
subscription rate of Time magazine will increase by December
1, 2004 to Php 2,700.00. The special subscription rate will
thus also increase to Php 2,214.00 and the donation to JVP
will go up to Php 332.00. With even just a hundred subscribers,
JVP can make about Php 30,000 which can cover the living
allowance of a volunteer for one year; with a thousand subscribers
all over the country, JVP can generate around Php 300,000.00
that will cover the costs of supporting four volunteers
for one year. The special subscription package is good for
first time subscriptions and renewals, making this project
a continuing source of funds.
We have mentioned the EmitAsia project
to Fr. Nebres and requested that JVP be allowed to offer
the package to Ateneo employees, students, alumni, and offices
and he looked upon the project favorably. We will submit
a formal proposal this week and are hoping to receive official
approval for the project. A copy of the flier which explains
the special subscription package and includes a request
for subscription form is attached to this e-mail. We hope
you, your relatives and friends will subscribe to Time and
Fortune magazines. Other magazines such as Reader's Digest,
Architectural Digest, National Geographic, etc. and over
a hundred other magazines in computers, psychology, sports,
physical fitness, crafts, etc. are also available from which
JVP will get a donation of 5% of the cost of annual subscription.
A facility will soon be available in the JVP website for
this purpose. You can also coordinate with other fund-raising
organizations for them to avail of the special package and
market it to their members, or scholars in need of financial
assistance, and the organization or scholar will get 10%
of the 15% donation to JVP. In this day of multi-level marketing,
our fund-raising strategies can also benefit from this marketing
development. Please get in touch with JVP if you would like
to help in this regard.
We are also in the process of arranging
a fund-raising vehicle through a dry goods booth at the
"Pasiklab sa Quezon City" Christmas fair which
will run from November to December 2004, similar to "Big
Bang sa Alabang" and "Payanig sa Pasig."
Joy Belmonte, JVP batch 13, donated a booth to JVP. We are
open to enterprising former volunteers who would want to
avail of the booth and donate an agreed amount/portion of
the sales proceeds to JVP. We will soon inform you about
the mechanics for operating the booth and the donation that
JVP will receive from the booth operations.
These special projects are being undertaken
through the new office of the Resource Development Officer
for Special Projects in the Central Office.
This is the last part of the SOFA.
Attached is the speech of Fr. Ben Nebres, SJ, President
of the Ateneo de Manila University, during the JVP lunch
program last August 8, 2004. Again, comments, suggestions
and reactions are most welcome. [CLICK
TO DOWNLOAD the speech of Fr. Ben Nebres, SJ]
On the Fifth Point: Promoting Volunteerism and Love of Country,
JVP met with The Philippine Star officers, again thanks
to Joy Belmonte, for JVP to come out with a 25th Year Supplement
on a Monday issue in The Philippine Star in early February
2005. The visibility will help promote JVP for recruitment
and fund-raising purposes and at the same time, will promote
volunteerism itself and love of country to the national
audience. The supplementary will be funded purely from advertisements
and paid compliments, thus we need your help in identifying
companies that cannot sponsor our volunteers and programs,
but will allocate a portion of their budget for advertising.
We will also solicit from the companies and individuals
who have supported JVP in the past 25 years.
The JVP has also engaged the pro bono
services of Leo Burnett advertising agency and the Association
of Communication majors to help us in our promotions and
recruitment efforts. We hope that their out-of-the-box promotion
vehicles and tools will draw more students and young professionals
to talk and ask about JVP, and get to know more about it
and join if they feel called.
There is much work to be done, both in
continuing the programs that have been running through the
years and in exploring the new directions the Foundation
is taking. The calls to action in this SOFA are addressed
to each one of us. I hope you will heed the call and contribute
your time, talent and treasure, animated by even just a
little hope and a lot of love. Many pledged support and
expressed happiness over the plans that were laid down during
the Board Meeting and General Assembly; plans based on the
results of the strategic planning engaged in by the local
communities and members of the Foundation. Many also expressed
confidence and relief that the Foundation is in good hands.
I am very appreciative of and thankful for your trust and
expressions of support, especially since a lot of time,
talent and treasure went into drawing up the 71-page program
of action and plans. In the end, however, it is not the
Five-Point Program of Action or any plan on paper that will
make a difference. It is the implementation that will build
character and nation, that will improve lives, form communities,
and contribute to the development of our country. And we
have only ourselves to rely on.
My heartfelt gratitude goes out to those
near and far who have been helping the Central Office team
- who work hard and constant with love and joy, volunteering
extra time, talent and treasure - in pursuing the goals
of the Foundation. There are only seven of us in the Central
Office team, we need and request your volunteer heads, hands,
and feet to extend our reach. We trust that you will heed
our call as all of us in the Foundation have a heart for
volunteerism; we were all once Jesuit volunteers ourselves
or share the spirit of service of the Jesuit volunteers.
Thus we say that JVP is a champion of volunteerism. JVP
sent us off to our areas of assignment as volunteers to
build lives and serve communities. Now, we are called to
send ourselves to JVP as volunteers in our various contexts
and capacities so that in building and serving our Foundation,
it may, in turn, build more and better lives and communities.
Let me end with Fr. Ben’s conclusion in his speech
during the Lunch Program. The JVP years are like Ignatius
of the pilgrim years. They are years when your hearts are
formed, when your commitments are formed, when you are internally
transformed. But as the years go on, I hope you and I move
on to the Ignatius of the leadership years – the Ignatius
who understood what it meant to build an organization and
institution, committing himself long term to it. Less romantic,
less glamorous but in the long run, it makes the greatest
difference.
We need more Ignatiuses of the leadership
years to work together in JVP. The rise or fall of JVP is
in our hands; hands held together by the singular vision
of a just and humane society built by carpenters animated
by faith, hope and love. We are all angels with one wing
and we need each other to make our Foundation fly.
In Christ,
Jo
|