Olla's Internship in The Philippines

Hi my name is Olla. I am a fourth-year student of International Relations in Parahyangan Catholic University, Bandung. Basically, I joined AIESEC for the exchange internship program. I was interested in doing such program because I would challenge myself to do something useful for other people in other country. When I got accepted, I said to myself that I had to leave good impact in the country where I’d be sent to. Then I chose Philippines as my internship destination country because physically, there are actually no big differences between Philippines and Indonesia, but the numbers of poor people in the Philippines is double times by Indonesia’s. I also found out the gap between the poor and the rich people in Philippines are too big. So I decided to go to that unique country to find out more about the poor people life.

I was assigned by AIESEC to the Non Governmental Organization (NGO), named Gawad Kalinga (GK). Gawad Kalinga translated in English means to “to give care”, and it is an alternative solution to the blatant problem of poverty not just in the Philippines but in the world. GK’s vision for the Philippines is a slum-free, squatter-free nation through a simple strategy of providing land for the landless, homes for the homeless, food for the hungry and as a result providing dignity and peace for every Filipino.

My Chinese partner, named Angela (Xin Yi) and I were sent to one of GK Village, named Brookside in the north region of the Philippines. It is located in Brgy. Bagong Silangan, Manila. It was used to be a rural area with undeveloped houses and dirty environment. But now, you would see 300 colorful houses with lovely community and developing environment. There is an alternative school, Stella Maris Alternative School (SMAS), where I used to work as teacher assistant for preparatory class students.

I stayed in GK Brookside for about a month, starting from January 11 until February 14. At the first time, I was really shocked when I met the children there. Their daily life is actually same as in Indonesia, but what makes them different is their economic situation. They are poor but they looked really happy. Then when I visited the school, I was surprised by seeing those clever students, I forced myself not to cry at that time. Day by day, I learnt to live a simple life in Brookside. Well, it’s not easy, because I used to have a lot of things to do back in my country. The Brookside people are very friendly and nice, even though it is hard for them to communicate in English, but they would try their best on it, especially the youth and the mothers. It was my amazing first night living in Brookside when I met the youth and they practiced their English with me, even though they often said “nose bleeding... nose bleeding”. That phrase shows the difficulty in using English.

I joined bible sharing program with the youth 3 times, together with the teachers, who were also my room mates. At last bible sharing I attended, there was a girl sharing about her daily life, how hard its living without parents, and how lucky she is for being adopted. She shared the story in Filipino language actually, but it’s not problem for me. I believe whatever language we used, when we shared something from and with our heart, everyone might not understand it, but they would feel it.

I observed SIBOL and elementary school most of the time there, especially grade 4 and prep-school. I love the children in prep school. They are very nice and open-minded. They might not understand what I was talking about in their class, but I know they love me. When I helped the teachers with feeding program, the kids would not let me go to serve the meals. In prep-school, one of my students, named Joel. His warmth, strength, patience and love made me love him as my youngest brother. Unfortunately, he only lives with his dad, who works as a Pedicab Driver, in the house #56 in front of the court. His mom passed away when she was pregnant, and they were buried together. I could see from Joel’s eyes that he needs care and warmth from a sister or a mother. It showed on his behavior to me. He could be a spoiled boy and would never let me go, hug me, and hold my hand every time. Even he could never say goodbye when I left him.

In short, what I did there besides being immersed were social actions. I created a CYD Presentation and short video to be presented to the partners and the donors of GK, arranged 2 field trips for the students of SMAS to Manila Zoo, Museo Pambata and Luneta Park, and I also transferred to the North Region Office to find out about NGO work. In the last of my project, my partner, Sarah, and I arranged a film showing in the village. The title of the film was Jesus Christ Superstar. From this great experience I found that ironically, those AIESEC people have never been in the site I used to work, they do not even know where it is. The question is why they do not care about their own people, while many foreigners are even staying in the village and fighting for the happiness of them. I do really hope that it won’t happen with AIESEC Indonesia.

Actually, Indonesian and Filipino have very similar values of life. We put respect, love, share, and family on the top of our priority. In Brookside, I learnt it more. I learnt how to save water, how to share happiness with the people there, even thou I don’t know them that well. But I know they know me. I love sharing experience with them, listening to the mothers when they told me about their children, singing with the kids, learning something new with the youth, such as: Filipino language, and others. This experience is priceless and amazing. Someday, I know by having it, I’d be a better person with warm heart and women strength.

Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to have a life-changing experience and also a short journey in GK Brookside.

Regards,

Intan Cinditiara (Olla)