This is just one of the greatest stories I could ever tell :)

I could remember it as if it was yesterday.

April 12, 2009. I was with Team CSB, boarding the plane for the 4th GK Bayani Challenge in Zamboanga. On the same plane was Team GK Ateneo. If you asked me last year if it were possible for DLSU and Ateneo to have a joint team during for the Bayani Challenge, I would say, that is a humongous mountain to climb. Maybe I'd need more prayers if I wanted that to come true. It was something that seemed nearly impossible to me. Considering the circumstances our team was subjected to last year, I didn't know how to take the first step towards approaching Team Ateneo and asking them if they wanted to participate with us. I had my hesitations, and along the way, I've given up on the prospect of participating for this year's Bayani Challenge. I did not even consider heading a delegation of Lasallians. I declined invitations. I told Ate Cla and Dhang time and again that I won't be coming. Of course, I have a more valid excuse to tell them. I am a student (again) and we have deadlines. 

Fast forward mid-February 2010. Here's how I could truly say that if God wills something for you, He'll find ways for you even if you've turned the opportunity down time and again. I randomly decided to go to the office that day to give updates to Br. Roly.(I'm usually at GK Baseco). He had his own kwentos about his recent GK meeting with a certain Mr. Frank Chiu from GK Ateneo about the Social Enterprises. Of course, I listened to his plans and stuff. And then he remembered that Frank mentioned this "Bayani thing in Palawan". Oh, the Bayani Challenge! Haha. And he said that DLSU should participate WITH Ateneo. "Leave your rivalry in the basketball court," he told me. 

He did not give me any contact numbers so I did not know what to do. I suppose that I could say it was fate which brought me to that GK1MB volunteer management training in Ateneo the following Wednesday. While I was waiting for my friend Jai to finish his meeting with Justine and Leigh, I was able to meet Frank. And I was praying after that, "Lord, salamat at alam ko na kung paano silang icontact!". Haha. 

And so the team started planning: I, together with Frank, Ate Cla and Jai, with whom I've found great support when everything seemed so up in the air. Almost every single day, I found myself exchanging texts and calls with them making sure that every single detail was taken care of. Really, the task was difficult, pero dahil WALANG IWANAN, everything became possible. I talked to the community organizers of Baseco, Tito Jun, Tito Isaac and Tita Baby, who have all been really great to me. I've made Dhang kulit time and again about the details. The participants weren't even sure of coming. Our target was just then reduced to producing one (1) DLSU/DLS-CSB team at that time!
Phone calls left and right had to be taken! And these weren't just from ordinary individuals! These were actually from people who had a lot of influence in the University! GRABE lang ang masasabi ko everytime I had to take one call or meet someone personally! It was quite a rollercoaster ride! 

Letters were sent to solicit funds. We needed a lot since we really couldn't afford to go to Palawan unsupported. I personally found myself praying even more constantly and hoping that somehow, we could get enough funds to get us through the whole Bayani Challenge. A bit of extra wouldn't hurt, I told God. And when we asked, God did not just open one door but several floodgates. We've raised a couple of thousands more than our initial target. We don't really even have to spend a single centavo because everything's already been paid for.

Everything went from slow to fast. It seemed as if everything was still a dream. And even today, as I finished packing the things I need to bring, I still could not believe that it was all coming true -- that what our team has worked for is being realized. 

Even more so, the two best schools (YES!) in the country, which people tend to pit against each other, will be working TOGETHER to end poverty! 

My doubts and fears from last year have been cast! Excitement is an understatement to what I'm feeling right now. I would never be able to put into words just how great and inspiring this story is. This is where leaving no one behind takes us! 

Like what I said during the orientation, "Puro sobrang galing lang talaga ang nasasabi ko kasi sobrang galing lang talaga ni God na nangyari ito." This story is greater than how I could put it into words, really! I myself, couldn't give justice to the marvel that has unraveled in the span of a month and a half!:) 

God has given us to work and see how the country could rise before our very eyes! :D

AD MAJOREM DEI GLORIAM!

(Thank you to everyone who are making this trip possible. I'm so excited for tomorrow!:D)