Day 12 of my Europe Tour (Leaving Paris)
Visiting Europe for the first time was a great experience.
It made me realize so many things in life while I was in-flight.
FIRST, is that it allowed me to find a deeper meaning for HOPE and these are:
H is about harnessing one’s potential. It is about finding your passion in life. I personally feel, even after 16 months into the project, that I have found my life’s mission and it is to help children who struggle to go to school.
And more than that, it is to help bring communities in the Philippines the resources they need to get a better chance in life. Without discovering what you are passionate about in life, it is very hard to stay focused on a mission, on a project. You’ve got to find what you love to do.
O is about opening one’s mind and one’s heart. When I first heard about the story, I couldn’t shake it off. I didn’t know what to do then. I shared it on Facebook, not thinking that it would transform into a thriving national movement helping children in 3 communities around the Philippines.
P is about Perspiration. You cannot help people without getting both your hands and your feet dirty. When we want to help people, we should act on it. Only in doing so can we gain insights into how our efforts and operations can be made better. Perspiration is very good for the body and the soul too, as it cleanses our system. Personally, I have become thinner as a result of my involvement in the project.
E is about empowering others. And this is for me, where the challenge really lies, even when you think of our national leadership. In order to succeed sustainably, we must equip and empower more leaders to take on the challenges in education and the other challenges our country is facing.
SECOND, I gained a deeper understanding of the world and how the shift of both economic and political power to Asia from the Western nations is now slowly happening. This was clearly pointed out to me by the entrepreneurs and businessmen I met over coffee in Europe. The tide is truly changing and it is pointing to Asia.
THIRD, I fully realized the significance of continuing what we are doing in the Yellow Boat Project. To the naked eye, it seems we are just building boats to ferry children to school and to help provide tools to their parents' livelihood. But on a deeper level, we are providing HOPE, opportunities and more importantly, a platform where these communities can take center stage, teach us a thing or two about community development and then bring and scale it to other areas. Take note that I am not saying we are teaching them about development, THEY ARE TEACHING US. (If you want to learn more, you can take me to lunch or even just coffee.)
Social Entrepreneurship is an amazing new field that allows us to tackle social problems with an entrepreneurial attitude and skill set. Governments and the corporate sector must encourage it, if not fully embrace and support it.
The only reason why poverty continues to exist is because we expect it to.
Wouldn't companies have bigger markets and bigger incomes if we get to enlarge the pie? Think about it...
Eradicating poverty is a lot like climbing these mountains, it's hard, time-consuming and sometimes might lead to failures - the important thing is we keep trying! Sooner or later we will make a dent!
HELP US!
If you have read this far, I invite you to jump on board the Yellow Boat and together let's save the world from the flood of indifference and hate.
You can reach me at jay.jaboneta[at]gmail.com.
Thank you!
Day 2 of my Europe Tour (Yellow Boat of Hope)
re-posted from Rappler.com
The yellow boat of hope
Posted on 02/08/2012 3:04 PM | Updated 02/08/2012 5:15 PM
Last Jan 20, 2012, I spoke in TEDxMontpellier. Montpellier is a cosmopolitan city in southern France, close to Spain. I was invited to share my experience in using social media to bring about social change in the Philippines – particularly about my experience in building up the Philippine Funds for Little Kids (or as it is popularly known, the Yellow Boat Project).
It has been an exciting journey for us over the last 15 months since I first found out about the story of the kids who have to swim just to be able to get to school in the mangrove village of Layag-Layag in Zamboanga City.
We gave the first yellow boat last March 27, 2011. And we have since expanded into 3 communities, namely: Layag-Layag, Bgy Talon-Talon, Zamboanga City; Isla Mababoy, Bgy Guinhadap, Monreal, Masbate; and Lakewood, Zamboanga del Sur.
We’ve also given 3 big motorized yellow boats and 120 smaller yellow boats to these communities.
BOAT OF HOPE. Kids are now able to go to school because of available transportation. Photo from Philippine Funds for Little Kids
Journey of learning
It was not a journey without failures and mistakes. We learned a lot during the last year especially about the real essence of volunteerism and about the challenges our country faces in education. But we continue to face these challenges.
The Yellow Boat Project became more than just a dream to help these kids get to school safe and dry – it has become a national movement dedicated at helping communities become empowered agents of economic and social change.
When we were in the first months of the project, I wrote about how we are harnessing Filipino “people power” online and about how the project is leveraging on the power of Facebook, social media and volunteers from all across the nation and even the globe.
We have volunteers in the US who continue to raise funds for our projects, we have partners in the business community who continue to support us, and we have so many volunteers on the ground who mentor and shape decisions together with the 3 communities we are currently helping.
Early on, I emphasized the importance of using “people power” and volunteerism not just during elections but also during the governing period, when it is most important. And that is what we are trying to do.
BETTER FUTURE. If armed with education, these kids can have a better life. Photo from Philippine Funds for Little Kids
Hope
At TEDxMontpellier, I shared the 4 key lessons I learned from the project and fortunately, it is easy to remember. It stands for HOPE precisely because the Yellow Boat Project has become a symbol of HOPE.
H is about harnessing one’s potential. It is about finding your passion in life. I personally feel, even after 15 months into the project, that I have found my life’s mission and it is to help children who struggle to go to school.
And more than that, it is to help bring communities in the Philippines the resources they need to get a better chance in life. Without discovering what you are passionate about in life, it is very hard to stay focused on a mission, on a project. You’ve got to find what you love to do.
O is about opening one’s mind and one’s heart. When I first heard about the story, I couldn’t shake it off. I didn’t know what to do then. I shared it on Facebook, not thinking that it would transform into a thriving national movement helping children in 3 communities around the Philippines.
P is about Perspiration. You cannot help people without getting both your hands and your feet dirty. When we want to help people, we should act on it. Only in doing so can we gain insights into how our efforts and operations can be made better. Perspiration is very good for the body and the soul too, as it cleanses our system. Personally, I have become thinner as a result of my involvement in the project.
E is about empowering others. And this is for me, where the challenge really lies, even when you think of our national leadership. In order to succeed sustainably, we must equip and empower more leaders to take on the challenges in education and the other challenges our country is facing.
Help us
In the Yellow Boat Project, we continually seek out community leaders who can help us manage things. We are also now looking at sustainable models of social entrepreneurship so that the families we are helping can earn more income and become fully empowered citizens.
I used to have a vague idea of what HOPE is. It’s now very clear to me. Hope is actionable. Hope is not just a symbol, it is an idea waiting to be executed and shared. So please come and jump on board our Yellow Boat (Project) and together let’s make it a better world for children! - Rappler.com
Watch the TEDxMontpellier video here:
The Yellow Boat Project is launching its website soon. In the meantime, they are on Facebook. The author, Jay Jaboneta, also writes a blog.
Day 1 of my Europe Tour (Paris and Montpellier)
Europe at last.
At 7 in the morning last January 19, 2012, my Singapore Airlines flight touched down in Charles De Gaulle (CDG) International Airport in Paris, France. It was cold but not freezing.
I didn't have to rush for my connecting flight to Montpellier in southern France as that flight's ETD was half past 12 noon so I had plenty of time to roam around.
I was pleasantly surprised when I entered Terminal 2F in CDG when the main supervisor was a Filipina, Ms Tesie Cinco Verpeaux. She has been in France for the last 33 years.
We talked for 2 hours and she gave out suggestions on where to go and and even invited me to stay at their place (more on that on succeeding posts).
Before leaving Manila, I was quite anxious because it was my first trip to the continent but after meeting another Filipino on the first day of my journey, I felt more excited than ever to discover Europe.
At around 2PM, my Air France flight from Paris landed at Montpellier International Airport. We went straight to the hotel.
After taking a shower, I proceeded immediately at the on-going rehearsal in Musee Fabre.
And there I met the wonderful cast of TEDxMontpellier. And my real journey starts.
An Awesome Project
In the next few weeks, you will hear about a project that I am helping build, along with 5 other inspiring and energetic individuals who are experts in their respective fields.
The project has something to do with being AWESOME in this day and age; and it stands for what we hope to become, a team dedicated at helping individuals and organizations become awesome at what they do.
Economies around the globe are being threatened NOT by a lack of resources but by a lack of creative imagination.
Traditional businesses are dying. New models are emerging. And the terrain is constantly changing.
More than 150 years ago, Charles Darwin stated this: “It is not the strongest of the species that survives; nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change."
No time in history has it ever been more relevant than today.
To give you a clue, here’s my proposed role:
Fire Starter Jay.
How to Change the World in 2012
Craig Newmark (Founder of Craigslist) recently asked people to write a blog post for his new Social Good Blog Series over at CraigConnects answering the question, How will YOU Change the World in 2012?, I felt it’s a question we should all ask ourselves today, January 1, as we start the new year.
photo courtesy of Veejay Villafranca
How I Will Change the World in 2012:
I will write a book on using Social Media tools for social change. The Yellow Boat Project has truly allowed me to walk my talk. In 2010 to early 2011, as the New Media Head of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (the renamed Office of the Press Secretary), I kept on insisting that the 27 million Facebook users in the Philippines and almost 30 million Internet users in the country should use their time and efforts online to bring about social change. I've met so many amazing people and the stories they shared convinced me that there are so many change makers out there. Their stories are enough to fill an entire book and help inspire another generation of change makers.
I, along with the team behind the Yellow Boat Project, will officially establish and launch the Philippine Funds for Little Kids as a non-profit organization devoted at helping improve children’s access to education in the Philippines. You can find the updates here: http://yellowboat.tumblr.com and http://www.facebook.com/philippine.funds.
I will continue to share the Yellow Boat Project to individuals, organizations, companies and other groups in the hope that it becomes a how-to-guide for them on how to galvanize online support for their causes and advocacy and turn it into a grassroots movement to change the world.
Lastly, I will continue to share during my lectures that leadership (for me) is primarily two things: first, it is about inspiration and influence; and second, it is about reproduction. Leadership in this day and age should be more like a platform, leaders must become enablers for both personal and professional growth. The ultimate goals of leadership are two-pronged: influence and reproduction. Success without succession is a failure. Success without inspiring others to do the same is also a failure. In that light, for 2012, I will endeavor to inspire more change makers out there to start their own “little funds” or “little projects” that make a positive impact to individuals, communities and organizations.
So the big question is: What will you do to change the world in 2012?