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?
IMMAP’s Pecha Kucha and the Liberal Project
There are two exciting things that happened this week.
(picture courtesy of Tonyo Cruz that he shared on Twitter)
I had the honor of representing the Yellow Boat Project as one of the speakers during the Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines' (IMMAP) first Open Mic Night event powered by Pecha Kucha last Thursday night at the Craft Pub & Grill at the Fort Strip (here's a comprehensive coverage by Adobo Magazine).
Thanks Janette Toral for this video!
Honored to have been part of a stellar cast of 20 speakers that used 20 slides at 20 seconds each to share stories of their personal projects or advocacy.
Carlo Ople made a very detailed narration of what happened here. (Thanks Carlo!)
It was an exciting night and I really congratulate Leo Burnett Manila's Pao Peña, LoudWhistle's energetic head Ysobel Hamidjojo and the IMMAP team for bringing together 300 of the country's digital, social media and marketing professionals in one night of engaging storytelling and fun.
I would like to thank Josiah Go and Chiqui Escareal-Go as well for taking time out of their busy schedule to see me present our project. Josiah Go was instrumental when we were starting calls for donations last November 2010 for what first became known as the Zamboanga Funds for Little Kids. As some of you may already know, we have now expanded to Masbate and about to launch in Iloilo as well that's why we now call it the Philippine Funds for Little Kids.
The simple Yellow Boat Project has really come a long way. Just last Tuesday (November 8, 2011), I was also in Zamboanga City to visit Layag-Layag with Ugat Foundation's Marinela Mirasol and Dr. Anton Lim took this picture which I believe clearly reflects where we are now.
We are now at a point where we are about to grow.
So I'd like to invite young social entrepreneurs and change-makers out there to join us in this amazing journey. Email me at jay.jaboneta[at]gmail.com if you are interested to become part of this exciting project.
We are really looking at making our operations sustainable and I'm excited to announce that Mr. Ronilo Acabo, a resident of Davao City, will relocate his family to Layag-Layag to oversee our first foray at a livelihood project concentrating on seaweed farming (we really need your prayers and help here).
In the last 12 months, we have been featured by every conceivable media organization out there (locally and internationally, check Yellow Boat Meets the Press), Yahoo! Philippines recognized me as one of the Pitong Pinoy (7 Modern-Day Filipino Heroes) last June 12 during the country's Independence Day Celebration, the student body of Eton International School - Manila also recently chose me as one of their Pillars of Hope, and just last November 9, 2011, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) recognized the project as one of the Liberal Projects in the country, these projects are initiatives that best promote empowerment and freedom in the Philippines.
Again, thank you to the support of our stellar cast of donors, supporters, volunteers and friends!
You know who you are and we are excited to continue building this country with you, one Facebook post at a time and one Yellow Boat at a time!