YELLOW PAD: Humanity's Team Philippines Newsletter JUL/AUG 2006

POVERTY IS HISTORY

by

Nancy Abeleda (Southern California), Nikie Jacinto-Lingad (Metro Manila), Sandra Alzona (Metro Manila), Sonny Faylona (Tagaytay)

NANCY:

     I just read a most exciting thing on the yahoo website today. On the area "Yahoo answers", Bono of U2 poses a question for the world - "WHAT CAN WE DO TO MAKE POVERTY HISTORY?"  Anyone and everyone can post their answers on the yahoo website for Bono (and who knows who else) to read and take action.

     This to me is very exciting because unlike political leaders, one can be certain Bono will take the time to read, review and take action on the suggestions we make. And Bono is a person whom political leaders as well as the general public will listen to. Also, just the amount of positive energy that millions of people can generate just by thinking of any possible solution – it’s mind blowing. I can see it creating the force, which can wipe out world hunger eventually even if we right now can't come up with an actionable/doable solution. Actually, I think by Bono simply posing his question, someone out there will decide to do his/her own little thing to help alleviate world hunger and the little thing will become something huge. Kinda like the very inspiring story of Ryan's Well, which I shall post separately.

     So I invite everyone on this group to please think about the question and come up with a solution and post your answers on the Yahoo Answers site. Share your answers here too. Please also pass the message on to everyone you know.

Here is the link :

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AlxPKjzJfx0PpA98AFak2Lnpy6IX?qid=20060706201547AAy10c8

PS:

     Okay - I should have written help solve world poverty/hunger instead of just world hunger since Bono's question is on world poverty specifically. I guess in my mind poverty=hunger. Same sort of thing. Anyway but wanted to clarify in case someone thought it weird.

NIKIE:

     I read a few of the answers to the query and funny that many mentioned the following solution: PRAY.

     It’s okay to pray but I think it would take more action than that...

     Trying to analyze it, to solve hunger/poverty people need food or money to buy food. How will they get that on a consistent long-term basis?

1. They need jobs to earn money and buy food.

2. They need land to plant their own food (or sell their crops to buy food).

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1. Let’s do #1 first. How will they get jobs? They need to be employed, thus, there needs to be the following:

a. They have the skills or are educated to be employed.

b. There has to be the opportunity to be employed or an employer to hire them.

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1a- Education is therefore necessary, but specifically, one that will teach them specific skills to use to get employed.

1b- Option 1- To be employed where they currently live, that means there must be job opportunities there, thus, the government must provide the necessities, infrastructure, laws and a stable, peaceful environment conducive to business.

1b- Option 2- To be employed elsewhere and that means free movement to other places where they can get employment, thus, there should be less or no barriers to migrating elsewhere to work.

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1b- Option 1- For the government to take the right steps, first they must settle the peace and order situation in their country, so that investors don’t get scared and they have more time to devote for economic reforms. But many times the government/dictator themselves are the "bullies" and the very ones causing terror. How can this be solved? It may require outside/foreign intervention to get rid of these bullies. If you rely on locals to do so, a new bully may just replace the former bully, but other countries are hesitant to get involved. What do they get out of it?  If there's nothing in it for them, read: no oil.  Thus, it has to be a world-sanctioned thing, and this is where the U.N. or similar bodies come in. The U.N. has to be made stronger and capable of active intervention when necessary. But this is still a tricky issue. Some may argue that you should allow people to decide on their own fate and outsiders should not intervene. One can counter that by saying that the greater masses are powerless to do anything (i.e., if there is no democracy) against the bully. But then again, how can you determine if the foreign "savior" is not after their own interests? (i.e., US in Iraq?)

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1b- Option 2- Why are there migration barriers? Because countries are still trying to protect the jobs of their own citizens. It’s kinda inconsistent that trade barriers are being brought down so that goods can compete in the free market, but labor/employees cannot compete the same way. Maybe its the rich countries that benefit from having no trade barriers because it’s their goods going to a wider market. But it’s rich countries that will be put at a disadvantage if cheaper labor comes to their shores. Thus, it’s a question of how poorer countries get more empowered vs. the rich ones - obviously, in the UN, the rich countries dominate. There has to be a way to make everyone agree on what is "fair" without thinking of each country's self-interest.

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2. Giving them land, the idea behind agrarian reform wherein tillers of the land are given part of the land. Problems are: 1) Once they start having kids, the land is subdivided and subdivided into smaller and smaller parcels; 2) No economies of scale in production given small parcels; 3) Assumption that fertile land is available (may not be the case in some areas); 4) farmers may not be business experts and may not run business well, thus, personally, I am not so inclined to this solution. Better yet, let a professional or expert run the agri-business and just hire these people and pay them. So the solution is similar to #1, which is to give people jobs. 

Summary of solution is thus:

1. Education.

2. Business-friendly conditions in a country, which means PEACE, a way to take out war-freak/violent dictators.

3. Less barriers to migration, which means, the wealthier countries agree to a fair game, not only in goods but in labor.

Principles behind the solution:

1. Instead of just donating money/goods to people, we need to empower them to be able to take care of themselves, which is the sustainable solution in the long-term.

2. People are motivated to work when they can feel the benefits of their labor. Thus, those who study hard and work hard should reap the benefits of such efforts. If people get the same treatment or rewards regardless of their efforts, there is no incentive to work harder. Thus, the rich should not be forced to give up all/most of their wealth, else, otherwise no one will be given the incentive to work harder or smarter to earn. But policy makers should allow equal opportunities for anyone to be able to get rich.

3. There should be equal opportunities, not just within one society, city or country, but within the whole world. The US motto is "equal opportunity" but they only mean this for US citizens. Most of the world still thinks in terms of separation, in terms of some should get better or more opportunities vs. others.

SANDRA:

     My friends and I have running jokes about each other's "quotable quotes" and they came up again last night. While we were helping each other out in the kitchen once, we were thinking of ways to promote "hilot" (a Philippine massage). One guy's "qoutable quote" is always structured as, "Hilot is hilot." The other guy's, "Hilot is good, but we need cash!" Last night the topic was business, so the same thing. "Business is business," and "Business is good, but we need cash!" Haha! Now how about self-sufficiency?

     Another thing we discussed last night from out of the blue opened me up to the realization that there are as many walls as there are possibilities in this country, but last night we discussed the walls (religious, language, culture, gender, social class, etc). On a hungry stomach, prayer is not enough, unless, of course, you are on drugs or a natural altered state of consciousness that actually changes the course of one's life for the better. You can just imagine how many irritable if not impetuous people there are on a hungry stomach, and if the druglords are more accessible than the Lord, well... Prayers are there to tap into a natural source of wisdom and knowing that usually gives clarity of vision or openness to what's been there all along. And if there's one thing that has kept the country together and moving somehow along the rocky paths it is faith. It gives people hope when they are in that state of mind of seeing none. Because ultimately, they will want to see it. As you said, "People are motivated to work when they can feel the benefits of their labor." Ultimately they have to see it as themselves. They are the hope. Can you feel a "rising above ourselves" sort of suggestion here? Haha!

     As for the oil industry, alternatives here have not yet been allowed even though there are a lot of other alternatives. In travel industries, as you might know, fuel prices have gone up but fares have been kept down and flight employees, at the very least, who do not comprise the impoverished are taking the burden of that  (by the way, Northwest is buy-one-take-one to the US at some $1,500). The competition could have been healthy, but only to the extent of their clients and perhaps long-term ROIs plus other investments on the side. While businesses are stretching their capacities to very thin rubber lines, we never know when a backlash can occur. Cost-cutting is down to a technology now. So you can just imagine what kind of burdens the impoverished are taking, and their capacities, as well as patience, are not as, what, elastic? And there's basis for that. Some people are actually fighting for their lives already, on the brink of death. There are so many NGOs here in the country, so many, and they also act as channels to international funds together with our OFWs. I trust that this country, at the very least, is actually doing something about it in the best way they know how.

     But anyway, while there are many micro and macro factors and trends to consider, when corruption takes place, and it's easier for it to take place in a divided and thus vulnerable area, that's it. The flow of abundance is blocked. When the consciousness of poverty rules, areas become very vulnerable to corruption. You will hear all sorts of, "But you don't understand, we had to do this..." It's already the system, even the voting system is conducted in a corrupt manner, and if the president herself could not help it, what more the poor? It's a vicious cycle. So what I see as a good starting point is some sane focus on the vicious cycles and breaking out of it gradually. Gradually. It will take time and a lot of patience to those who can give patience. We must always remember the medical relationship: doctor and patient.

     Just my take on it for now...

SONNY:

     Greetings of Peace to you all! I was reading my emails and I would like to share some thoughts about it. Anyway, if poverty is the issue, then what could it mean to those who practice fasting not occasionally but on a day-to-day basis and lived a full life? There are yogis and saints in some parts of the world where they just take ether and water but lived to enjoy life, also in the case of Jesus Christ and other Masters, who were not moved by such for the mere reason that they KNEW what was only so.

     Some can take these things because they chose to or it is part of their beliefs, which later turned out to be a system, a system that was taught and then transferred from one thought to the other [without understanding what it really is]. Such were the basis of such beliefs like, the basic needs of man, shelter, food and clothing... All were for one's survival, thus the cycle exists, until those who had much became powerful and those who had less became unfortunate. Silly and foolish, if one only knew what it is then such belief would cease to exist.

     Jesus Christ said, "What I have done you can do BETTER." So if he could create wine from water and bread from air, I guess we can do better than that. The first step is to take poverty out of our minds and know that it is a thing of the past because we really don't need it and its effects are negative to one's fulfillment.

     Now the issue here is not poverty anymore but HOW?... yes, it still exists because people still believe in it.  Fine, everyone and everything has its own process, the process of KNOWING what it is. If we could only RE-member Who and What we are then such beliefs are impossible. KNOW what is only so and live life like the Masters did.

     Just a thought.

POWER OF TOUCH

by Marissa Nicanor

Metro Manila

     Relationships can be messy. Most of us, if not everybody, has experienced a degree of pain caused by a loved one or has been the cause of it.  I have known nobody who has escaped it. We are oftentimes drawn to people who either share our misery (misery loves company) or who can help us move on after it. We are constantly on the move searching for ways to forgive the person who has hurt us or to forgive ourselves. And that’s how I came to be connected to Humanity’s Team.

     Last June, I was invited by Sandra to become a facilitator for a workshop called Power of Touch. While I was honored, my first instinct was inadequacy. How can someone whose life was full of challenges, being a single parent and breadwinner of 3, help people resolve or come to terms with their own evils? Nevertheless, I saw it as an opportunity to attend. Moreover, I was told that this seminar will be guided by the practice of Reiki – the transferring of positive energy through touch. 

     You can draw in the healing energy of God (the Universe). Your hands transfer it to whomever you are working with if your hands are allowed to work from your heart and soul and share it with another child of God.

     My feeling of trepidation was borne out of ignorance but as I read what Reiki was all about, I decided that not only could I transfer some of my good energy, I could receive some too as I have just recently gone through a very harrowing and painful falling out with a good friend.

     The facilitators met once before the workshop. Since Sandra was the only one I knew, I wondered what kinds of people I’d be working with and how they were into such endeavor. I was pleasantly surprised that Noel and Vic were very accomplished people and that their participation was due to a passion for “soul work”. 

     As I entered the room, I took a look around at the faces of those who were participating in the workshop. Like in any large group, you begin to get a feel of each person; some you will be drawn to and some you will resist. But we all had something in common: an open mind to accept whatever blessing or lesson that we can take from the workshop.

     As the workshop came to an end, I felt that I walked away with a piece of somebody after giving away a piece of myself. When you’ve spoken of your hurts, sought forgiveness and given it to people who started out as strangers 6 hours before, how can you not do so?  Did each participant walk away truly letting go of the past that has burdened them for so long, a past that has defined who they are today? Maybe a little, if not completely. After all, letting go and moving on is a process, not a one-time affair. Perhaps we will all meet again one day and form lasting relationships, continuing the process, or we will just bump into each other and smile and just wish each other well in our hearts.

MALAYSIA HT COUNTRY COORDINATOR VISITS MANILA

by Sandra Alzona

Metro Manila

     A business trip turned thrilling for Chiew Boey Lim when she decided to attend the Ortigas study group on July 11, 2006.  Art, Cynthia, Nikie, Erich, Pol, Mike, Bert, Dino, Shane, Tato and myself were all there to welcome her.   It was a visit Philippine Country Coordinator Art was looking forward to for months when Ms. Lim's  trip months ago was delayed. 

     After I read a few pages of the book, Tato presented the usual question pertaining to violence: "Is that what God wants?"  Naturally the consensus was No, an answer one would expect from people who have been in a CWG study group discussion together for years.  God doesn't want violence but we have the freewill to be violent.  Perhaps God wants us to realize freewill more than violence.  Since there was great emphasis on religion-inspired violence, the discussion moved on to the implications of the separation of church and state, as if to say that people were already making that subtle distinction between what they felt to be What God Wants or what their Higher Selves would choose and What They Want based on the far from ideal realization of What Life Is for them. It seems that for more people violence is no longer being attributed directly to God.  Cynthia also made it a point to share with us her thoughts about religion and said that while it had an equally deep purpose for those who understood God in a certain way, the deeper one got in his or her own faith, the demarcation lines between this religion and that disappeared. 

      What made the night doubly exciting was the topic and the Malaysian presence.  We were glad that Chiew joined our discussion because the study group has always been a great experience to take home for its participants.