I am Ate Joni.
- I started GK in 2011, year after the farm started.
- One of my first tasks was to look after the construction of farm facilities - kaya baliko ibang mga poste
- Then came the other tasks - look after the souvenir shop
- Organized shipping of pineapples from bicol and kape from sulu
- Organized events - Human Nature Away Day - first time guests started overnight in the farm and first business camp
In all those firsts, I was not qualified for it. I did not know how to be an entrepreneur though I studied it. Batchmates kami ni Kuya Mark sa Ateneo.
In everything we did in the farm, it was always a daunting task of whether we can do it or not.
Naaalala ko everytime we were entering the farm before and we arrive at 6am, i will be praying i will survive that day.
I knew each day we were going to be faced with challenges. These challenges were not limited to the physical spaces we were creating - but most importantly it was making relationships happen with the community.
I will always remember that first Christmas ko sa farm nung 2011, when there was nothing really happening yet - no events, no visitors, only the people waking up everyday to farm or do construction.
We were looking forward to these occasions like christmas kase yun lang nakakagather.
Isa sa mga tita - salamat Joni andito kayo, ngayon lang namin naramdaman na tinrato kami na mahalaga bilang tao
That hit home for me - araw araw kase feeling ko napapagod ako sa physical labor na dapat matapos na ng mga farm plots, mga dorm rooms, organize ng materyales.
I was missing the opportunity to see the core of what we do - to witness caring and sharing.
Since then I have made it intentional to listen to the stories of everyone I get to work with. What lives they live, what challenges and victories they have experienced.
Ito ang baon ko. And these have fueled me even more to do the work we do - inspired and motivated to keep going despite the roadblocks.
I feel this is very similar to what we are going through today.
We are faced with a challenge of an uncertain future. We feel unqualified for what is ahead. We feel tired and impatient with the isolation and waiting.
In all these, we might be missing to come back to our core - the basics.
I am in research and - we did a reseach in SG about a campaign on Passion Made Possible - communication handle that SG wants to stand for - parang More Fun in the Phils.
One of the insights we got from that study and we did ask about thr current struggles today in the pandemic - how is everyonr coping? One of the insights - the pandemic has hit all of us hard - the battle we fight is personal - it is the challenge of facing yourself everyday in isolation - it is the challenge of facing your family everyday and struggle to provide for them - it has hit us all hard on a personal level.
If the battle we fight is personal - then it is the core that needs strengthened. We need to keep coming back to the WHY we do what we do.
Share I am Filipino.
This is who I am - what I come back to.
Everyday I chart for myself a schedule just to keep me on track - para hindi ako mawala - 530
We can be bold in embracing what we need to do - but I think at the start and end of the day - we need to acknowledge the One who has allowed us to do this work.
If being Filipino is who I am - being Christian is my Core and my Center.
Lord you have said I have called you by name and you are mine.
Guide us as we do our work, our mission for our families and our communities. May we never forget who we are and our core. Strengthen our resolve as we move forward armed with your grace. Amen.
