Popularity counts

I had just finished my elective class and I was on my way to the comfort room when I saw some college students having their photo taken with a guy shorter than me wearing a gray polo shirt.  From the whispers of the students, I made out the name Efren Peňaflorida. I was surprised to see him so I decided to seize the moment and joined in the picture taking. I was motioning to my co-teacher, Emman, who was with other teachers, to join us but they refused. After the photos were taken, Emman and I proceeded to the comfort room. I was about to start talking about Efren when I noticed that Efren was also inside the comfort room. He was getting ready, freshening up for the talk. To break the ice, I asked him how he is and Angel Locsin. Amused, he replied that they are okay. I told him I was just kidding and welcomed him to Poveda. When we stepped outside, people were waiting for him to have their pictures taken with him. Afterwards we all proceeded to the Little Theater for his talk. The session started and we all listened to him on how the Dynamic Teen Company started, its mission, and the message that their team would like to impart to everyone.  He said that everyone is a hero - we just need to unleash the hero within us.

Efren told a lot of stories. What struck me most was when he told the story of how their team almost gave up because they were being criticized and condemned by the people in their community.  They were called “istorbo sa kalsada”, “mga magbobote” to name a few disparaging remarks.  One of the members shared his frustration and said that it is hard to be appreciated if one is not popular.  That is why they almost gave up.  But their founder posed these questions to them: “What will happen to the children that they reach out to and help? Is it right to stop doing what is good?” This was when they thought of creating a YouTube account to upload their audio-visual presentation.  They tagged their video as, “Slum dog Educator” capitalizing on the popularity of the movie “Slum Dog Millionaire.” They did it right the first time and people started to take notice. A staffer from the Oprah Winfrey Show sent them an email to inquire how the foundation started. CNN followed and the rest is history.

Everyone has a purpose

Part of Efren's talk was to show video clips on how Dynamic Teen Company started and of his experience during the awards night of the CNN Hero of the Year. It so happened that the laptop first used to play his videos malfunctioned. Efren started kidding around saying it’s a pirated video, and everyone started laughing. Emman told me to offer my laptop. So I volunteered my laptop and the videos were shown.  I realized that maybe, that was my purpose there.  I was supposed to leave my laptop in the faculty room but then, I saw Efren and I was told by Emman to just bring it with me.  This incident proved to me that everything really has a reason. For Efren’s team, it is to educate those who are out of school, and those who cannot afford to go to school. They believe that education is important to each individual and is a way for the community to grow.  

A challenge to all

I used to watch him in the news, but personally hearing from him the different stories of the people in their group was a different and meaningful experience. I had a firsthand glimpse of the noteworthy accomplishment they did. It was a moving experience for me. He challenges the students and teachers to be heroes to anyone by doing simple acts of kindness, and goodness. I realized that I can make a difference as a teacher.  I have a great role in moulding the character of my students.  As the story of making a difference says, “You can never tell what type of impact you may have on another’s life by your action... or lack of action.” I realized that this challenge has been there a long time ago, and it is knocking on my doors again to make it my mission in life, and to make a simple yet positive difference to my student’s (and to everyone’s) life... TODAY.  I remember the message of Saint Pedro Poveda – “You do not have to be rich in order to give... you just have to be good,” and “To believe and to remain silent is not possible.” 

As a Povedan, are you willing to face the challenge of being a hero for others, too?