|
TRIP MAGAZINE VOL. 4
Making Inroads to the
Heart
It takes the feet a couple of
days for a JVP volunteer to arrive at one’s area of
assignment in Luzon, Visayas or Mindanao. But it takes the
heart a lifetime to understand what being a JVP volunteer
means.
On a hot and quiet June afternoon in 1992,
I arrived at my area of assignment: Anao-aon, Surigao del
Norte. One year in Anao-aon flew with the wind. With the
enormous work I had to do - teaching all of eight subjects
and being adviser to a sophomore high school class, plus
moderating the student government and some other clubs at
the San Nicolas High School - I was always wishing for more
time: to know my students, to prepare my lesson plans, to
check papers, to talk with my JVP partner Sarah Balane,
to relax and spend time with my foster family and co-teachers,
to see the sights of Surigao my students boasted of, to
write my family and friends, and to do a host of other things
like doing laundry and washing the dishes.
There never was enough time. Still, somehow,
in the midst of all the busyness, the people of Anao-aon
found their way into my heart. And when it was time to say
good-bye at the end of ten months, we could not help but
shed tears as I gave my Manila address to my students, family
and friends in my home of almost a year. I knew I would
henceforth carry these precious people in my heart.
True enough, when I started teaching Philosophy
of the Human Person at the Ateneo de Manila right after
my JVP year, I would find myself drawing examples from Anao-aon
when I taught about the value of the human person. I remember
telling my students how in Anao-aon people would say “labay
lang” (passing by) as they walked along the road and
passed neighbors who had come out of their homes in the
evening to chat under a star-studded sky. When I became
a lawyer in a huge law firm for a year and later at the
Supreme Court for more than four years, I would keep in
mind that I was dealing with the lives of real people though
I was faced with only mountains of papers and records of
cases. Through all those years, I kept in touch with the
people in Anao-aon and my life remained intertwined with
their lives.
Now that I am back in JVP as the Executive
Director, I strive to keep in mind that lives and people
lie at the heart of service and volunteerism. At the end
of the day, when you have spent every ounce of energy in
your body, the measure of service and volunteerism is how
much you have given of yourself in your effort to improve
the lives of the people you serve. When Christ entered the
world, He loved in the concrete - healing, teaching, and
living among the people in the society of His time. He strove
to improve their lives with all that He could give, to His
last breath and ounce of blood.
The whole history of JVP is about that
same love of Christ, a love that builds both the lives of
the volunteers and the people they serve. Each of the twenty-five
batches of JVP is a rock that builds our country and Christ’s
people -His Church- with each rock building on top of the
other. Aptly, JVP celebrates its 25th year with the theme
“JVP Rocks at 25: Building Character, Building Country”.
Over the years, JVP’s nearly 700 volunteers have served
hundreds of schools, non-government organizations, and parishes
in an effort to build His Church and our country. JVP has
formed these volunteers to commit to the vision of building
“a just society that celebrates the fullness of life”
so that even after our JVP year, we would, “try our
heroic best to live His life within the cubicles of our
careers”, in the words of Batch 1’s Fr. Jett
Villarin.
Following the example of Christ, the JVP endeavors to build
this country not only for but with the people we serve.
JVP volunteers go to the indigenous peoples high up the
mountains of Bukidnon or to the farthest fishing villages
in Samar, or to the most deprived rural high schools in
Nueva Ecija so that working with the people in these communities,
we would together see and awaken in ourselves the power
to make things happen, to embrace change and contribute
to the growth of our community and country. JVP Batch 22’s
shirt says it succinctly: “Imagine the power of one,
multiplied several times over. Together let us make a difference.”
Our country has just taken a turn, hopefully
for the better, with the recent national and local elections.
It is starting anew with the newly-installed officials of
government. But government, as the steward of progress,
cannot single-handedly steer our country towards development.
The key to building a just society where people have the
opportunity to realize the fullness of their humanity is
the people themselves committed to working for this society.
It is this commitment and passion to
follow Christ in loving and building that runs through the
lives of JVPs from Batches 1 to 25 which binds them all
together. As an organization, the JVP has had to go through
trials and difficulties, but it is this commitment of the
volunteers that has brought it to its 25th year. The songs
the JVP batches sing may be different, with Batch 1 singing
Pippin’s “With You” and Batch 25 singing
“Buksan ang yong mga Mata” at the Mission Mass
last May 29, 2004. But anywhere and everywhere, it is the
JVP cross which each volunteer wears that animates his service,
volunteerism, and love of people and country. And even when
the volunteers have stopped wearing their JVP cross that
marked their chest during their JVP year, the cross has,
whether they are aware or not, left an indelible mark in
their heart.
Long after the end of my JVP year in
1993, when my feet left far away Anao-aon, my heart continues
to strive to understand what it means to be a JVP volunteer,
what it takes to follow the Man on the JVP cross I once
wore. He continues to call me to build. The JVPs and the
people in their area of assignment make inroads to each
other’s heart, and together make inroads to the heart
of this country we strive to build. And all this because
Somebody had found His way first into our hearts.
|
 |
Trip Vol 01
Trip Vol 02
Trip Vol 03
Trip Vol 04
Josephine G. Maribojoc, Batch 13
Tina Pineda
Fr. Jose Ramon “Jett” T. Villarin, SJ
Nathaniel "Nikki" Hipolito
Jesus Enrique "Jay" G. Saplala
Sarah S. Balane
|