Speech of MBM Ignacio R. Bunye before the Kiwanis Club of Salitran
(07 November 2009)
Thank you, Eric (Tan), for the kind introduction.
Past District Governor Anthony Macaraeg, PDG Jack Dominguez, PDG Mar Sison, Lt. Gov. Luz Mapili, President Meshell Gertsen, Kiwanis Club of Salitran President Louis McPherson, my fellow Kiwanians, ladies and gentlemen, good evening.
At the outset, allow me to add my own congratulations to the Kiwanis Club of Salitran on its 19th anniversary. Congratulation, too, to both the outgoing and the incoming officers.
The theme of tonight's event, "Give time to make a difference," is indeed very timely.
Amid the calamities our country has been experiencing lately, especially the merciless destruction caused by Tropical Storms Ondoy and Pepang, our selfless service to our more unfortunate brethren is most needed.
There is no better time or opportunity to practise both sacrifice and generosity than now.
Anne Frank, the young Jewish girl who has become internationally known because of her well-publicized diary, once declared with much hope:
"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."
These are such positive words coming from a teenage girl who lived during the Holocaust-when public persecution and concentration camps were a way of life for the Jewish people.
Difficult times really have a way of bringing out the best in people; and this is what we should be proving now in our own homeland, with our own countrymen.
Tony Meloto, 2006 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Community Leadership and one of the moving forces behind Philippine-based-and world-renowned-poverty reduction and nation-building movement called Gawad Kalinga, recently wrote a book to impart to his readers how their movement began and the stories of the people who created it.
Mr. Meloto wrote that from February to March of this year, he has been invited to speak at nine universities abroad on topics such as radical volunteerism, conflict resolution, social innovations, enlightened capitalism, character-building and nation-building.
In his engagements, Mr. Meloto was able to observe a clear shift in global trends from profit and power to a bigger social conscience and a growing focus on others over oneself.
He said that the sudden interest of those prestigious universities-which included Columbia University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard Kennedy School and University of California Berkeley-in Gawad Kalinga's faith journey served to affirm the relevance of the movement's ground-up initiative, and more importantly, the universal wisdom of the heart that it is only love that can make this world better.
It is this statement about love that struck me the most.
There are many advantages to using social science frameworks in eradicating poverty and improving the overall economic situation in our country, but when all is said and done, love is the one great solution to any challenge.
Only love of a poor neighbor, love of a lonely orphan, love of an oppressed brother will drive us to change ourselves for others and to widen our perspectives about the world.
If we trace the beginnings of Kiwanis, we will see that this great organization sprang from a realization among its founding members of the need to make a difference in the lives of the less fortunate, particularly the children.
The word Kiwanis, as we all know, was coined from an American Indian expression, Nunc Kee-wanis, which means "We trade." or "We share our talents."
We recall that this was the motto of Kiwanis, which has since been translated as "We build."
Mr. Tony Meloto again has a thought-provoking and inspiring opinion on this.
He said that dreaming and building actually go hand in hand, and by dreaming together, the Filipino people can build a nation.
The Kiwanis motto "We Build" and the Kiwanis theme "Serving the children of the world," provide us a perfect platform for us to dream and a perfect platform for us to build.
By dreaming and building together a better life for everyone, by believing in the power of good to overcome evil, by having faith in the human spirit to turn adversity into opportunity, and by harnessing the potential of the least to become the best, we are giving our children a brighter future and more reason to hope.
The effects of globalization have shown us that we are all interconnected in so many ways, that our decisions here have actual repercussions in other parts of the world.
This, coupled with other disturbing global developments such as climate change, should prompt us to do our best to alleviate their possible effects on our less fortunate brethren.
We should remember also that the greatest enemies of love and compassion are indifference, apathy and cynicism.
Tonight's theme, "Give time to make a difference" is indeed appropriate.
It teaches us several important lessons.
First is the importance of time.
Astrophysicist and novelist Alan Lightman, who wrote the beautiful book "Einstein's Dreams," describes time as the clarity for seeing right and wrong.
In our busy, everyday lives, we tend to think of time as a commodity, we tend to think of it as something we could not get enough of, or we tend to think of time as an important possession that should only be reserved for the most important things in life.
But thinking of time this way only understates it. It only devalues it.
Alan Lightman was right when he said that it is through time that we realize the right and wrong things in this world, that we should use time to fulfill our moral obligations to our brothers and sisters.
And it is through dedicated and wholehearted service that we accomplish this.
The second lesson is the real meaning of making a difference.
People tend to throw these words in an apparent show to make their lives more meaningful-but more for their own than for others.
It is up to us to instill new meaning into this phrase, to make it count more for those who need it, than for ourselves.
The third lesson is respect.
When we make time to help others and to change their lives positively even in our own little ways, we respect their right to a better life, we respect their right to dream, we respect their right to the same bright future as the more privileged.
Respect is an essential component of service: without it, all our efforts to make a difference will be for naught.
This very important concept also leads us to the most significant word in the history of mankind: Love.
When we love our brothers and sisters, we are compelled to give them lives equal to, if not better than ours.
Love is the formidable force that makes our world a better place, that makes all our hopes and dreams achievable.
Love is the presence of God and the absence of evil in our hearts, and where God is, the faces of our less fortunate neighbors are likewise there.
It is important to remember therefore that in giving time to make a difference in the lives of others, we are also making a difference in our own lives.
The Kiwanis Club of Salitran, born of the same tradition as other Kiwanis clubs all over the country and all over the world, was founded on a fervent desire to serve and help both the government and the people build a better community.
I am proud to be a part of that noble tradition as an active member of the Kiwanis Club of Muntinlupa.
Together, we will fulfill the vision of our founding fathers, a vision of creating extraordinary life-changing moments for ordinary people.
Before I say good night, let me leave these words from African-American tennis great, Arthur Ashe, who, aside from being known as one of the best players ever, was also remembered for his efforts to further social causes.
Arthur Ashe had poignantly declared, "From what we get, we make a living; what we give, however, makes a life."
May his words serve as one of the proverbial torches that will continue to light our way in our quest to serve others.
Salamat po at Mabuhay tayong lahat!