Called to Serve
11 Outstanding Filipino Role Models
CALLED TO SERVE:
11 OUTSTANDING FILIPINO ROLE MODELS
Raquel S. Lucas and Queena N. Lee-Chua
Copyright to this digital edition 2017 by
Raquel S. Lucas and Queena N. Lee-Chua
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People on the cover (top to bottom)
Front: Girlie Garcia-Lorenzo (photo by Reynaldo Mendoza) and Illac Diaz
Back: Terence Ang, Mark Ruiz, and Tony Meloto
Book design by Martin Malabanan (cover), Ysa Garcia and Miguel Cabreros (interior)
ISBN 9786214201693 (e-book)
Version 1.0.1
For the Filipino youth, the future of our country and for their parents, their very first role models
All for the greater glory of God
ad majorem Dei gloriam
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
THIS BOOK would not have been possible without all the people who have journeyed with us.
IRA SAYS:
I would like to thank my dad, Dodie, the very first prosocial individual I know. Growing up, I have always seen his heart for helping others. I thank my mom, Vida, who has dedicated her life in service to our family. Through my parents I have witnessed what it truly means to respond to the call to serve.
I thank the people who introduced me to the people I interviewed in this bookHarvey, Rosa, Marty, Susan, and Kat. If not for these awesome people, I would not have met these equally wonderful and inspiring prosocial individuals.
QUEENA SAYS:
Thank you to my late parents, Drs. William and Anita Lee, known for their generosity and selflessness. Thank you to my husband Smith, our son Scott, and our dog Hershie, who make life worth living. Thank you to my sister Portia and her husband John, my brother Garrick, his wife Carol and their daughters Sophie and Samantha, for enriching our lives.
Both of us would like to express our gratitude to the outstanding prosocial individuals who had openly shared their stories with us. Their lives have brought this book to life, and we hope that we were able to do them justice.
We would also like to thank the thesis panelists and clinical psychologists Dr. Honey Carandang, Dr. Lota Teh, and Dr. Isabel Melgar, who suggested that we convert the thesis into a book for the public. Our heartfelt gratitude to past and present Ateneo presidents Ben Nebres, SJ and Jett Villarin, SJ, both of whom had kindly offered insights and wisdom that brought a depth to the thesis and this book beyond our own knowledge and imagination.
PROLOGUE
A MEETING, A CALLING
CALLED TO SERVE started out as a masters thesis for Ira Lucas. One Sunday morning at mass in 2012, the homily revolved around transcendencegoing beyond the self. The priests words struck Ira, enlightening her that transcendence meant dedicating oneself to serving others.
Ira was then in her first year of graduate studies. Right then and there, she decided that she would write about people helping others.
For Ira, another blessing came, three years later, in the person of Dr. Queena Lee-Chua, who had been her undergraduate professor in psychology. The two of them reconnected as they both worked on curriculum development at an exclusive girls private school.
When Ira took the chance to ask Dr. Queena to be her thesis adviser, the latter became as excited and passionate about it as her student. Dr. Queena is also an advocate of positive psychology, having done her PhD dissertation on best practices of successful family businesses, and conducted research on traits of public and private school achievers.
The two had several enthusiastic meetings. Ideas spread like wildfire, as they discussed whom to interview, what questions to focus on, and how to pretest the validity of methods used.
Meeting and talking with prosocial individuals took Ira to various places: the busy streets of Manila, Quezon City, San Juan; the cradle of heroes in Cavite, and Enchanted Farm in Bulacan.
WHY
PEOPLE SERVE
HUMAN HISTORY IS A RECORD of the ways in which human nature has been sold short, says American psychologist Abraham Maslow, the founder of the humanistic field. The highest possibilities of human nature have practically always been underrated. Even when good specimens, the saints and sages and great leaders of history have been available for study, the temptation too often has been to consider them not human but supernaturally endowed. If we want to know the possibilities for spiritual growth, value growth, or moral development in human beings, then we can learn most by studying our most moral, ethical, or saintly people.
Whether or not someone is a saint is debatable, but what is not is the fact that certain individuals, not necessarily priests, nuns, monks, or the traditional religious, have made it their vocation to serve others.
Modern-day individualswho engage in prosocial behavior and mobilize others to do the samedo exist. When and how did their journey of helping others begin? What drives them to help others? What gives them direction? What challenges have they encountered, and how were these overcome? What keeps these individuals going?
Outstanding prosocial individuals have rendered substantial contributions to the country through establishing non-profit organizations that focus on supporting and empowering communities and the youth. These individuals not only share their time and skills to help those who are in need, but they also inspire others to do the same with their vision and their passion.
In a society beset by problems of various sorts, it is helpful to understand how prosocial individuals are formed, in the hope that in the near future they will not be the exception, but the rule.
PEOPLE
WHO
SERVE
The greatest gift is to make yourself obsolete. If youre so good at helping people then you should be able to help people without you being always in the middle. This is the purest form of charity: you make yourself obsolete. (More on Illac Diaz )
TONY MELOTO
Gawad Kalinga
ANTONIO TONY MELOTO is the founder of Gawad Kalinga (GK). Established in 2003, GK builds homes and communities, and develops social entrepreneurship among the poor in the Philippines. Tony received the World Entrepreneurship Forums Social Entrepreneur of the World Award in 2012, Japans Nikkei Asia Prize for Regional Growth in 2011, and the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership in 2006.
