Outstanding
TAIPEI — The world does not run short of heroes.
Many young people around the world are out in the street making a difference in the lives of others. Yes, they think of themselves, but they also think of others more. They are governed by the complex yet achievable dictum that positive change in a society should be the aim of every human being. Their hearts beat for those who have less in life to have meaningful existence. Their minds keep on spinning to bring help and solutions to those who need them.
In this city, last Tuesday, at the awarding ceremonies of the 2012 Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World (TOYP) accorded by the Junior Chamber International (JCI), I became privy to the lives of 10 young men and women whose common advocacy is to effect change in the lives of others. According to JCI president Bertoit Daems, the 2012 TOYP awardees were selected from 115 nominees from 37 countries. This is the 30th year the TOYP awards were given to distinguished individuals.
Among those recognized were two Filipinos — Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV and Dr. Edsel Maurice Salvaña. Bam was named TOYP for his business, economic and entrepreneurial accomplishment while Edsel was honored for his humanitarian and voluntary leadership.
Of the 10 TOYP awardees this year, two came from the Philippines and two from United Kingdom. The other six came from the Maldives, Spain, Ireland, Botswana, Madagascar and Zimbabwe.
“Because of the efforts of this year’s 10 honorees, the world has changed for the better. They recognized a problem, developed a solution and took action to better the lives of the people around them. These individuals are an inspiration to all of us and serve as living examples of the power that every individual has to create an incredible impact,” says Daems.
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To most Filipinos, Bam, a 2010 awardee of The Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines, is already a household name. To the many Filipino women whose lives he touched because of his six-year-old social enterprise called Hapinoy, Bam is an answered prayer.
After his stint as the chairman of the National Youth Commission, Bam, together with his good friend Mark Ruiz, founded the Microventures Inc., a social venture that supports micro-financing institutions to provide business development opportunities for the underprivileged. Under the Microventures Inc. is the Hapinoy program that helps impoverished women across the Philippines to set up sari-sari (variety) stores. To date, there are more than 10,000 Hapinoy stores nationwide and Bam shows no signs of losing his steam at this venture.
Because of his advocacy to bring change to the lives of his countrymen through Hapinoy, Bam was named Asian Entrepreneur of the Year by the World Economic Forum’s Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. On top of that, the Hapinoy program also won the UN’s Project Inspire Award in 2011, winning over 400 other social enterprises around the globe.
“The Filipinos are a great people with an indomitable spirit. This award (TOYP) shows that the Filipinos can make a huge difference in the world through our passion, creativity and our will to transcend challenges,” said Bam, a summa cum laude Management Engineering graduate of Ateneo de Manila University, in his acceptance speech at the TOYP ceremonies.
Bam’s uncle, the martyred Ninoy Aquino (who spent Aug. 20, 1983, the last night of his life, in Taipei en route to his date with destiny in Manila), would have been so proud of his nephew. Moments after Bam accepted the award, the Taiwan Chinese Orchestra played Tie A Yellow Ribbon, said to be one of Ninoy’s favorite songs. No one among the jam-packed crowd at the auditorium of the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Memorial knew the repertoire of the orchestra. Bam said he felt closer to his uncle when the JCI billeted him at the Grand Hotel, near Room 606, the hotel room his uncle occupied before taking his China Airlines flight to Manila on Aug. 21, 1983.
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Dr. Edsel Maurice Salvaña, a physician of tropical medicine and infectious diseases, was recognized with a TOYP trophy for his “extraordinary work” in awareness and treatment of HIV/AIDS in the Philippines.
Four years ago, he gave up a lucrative medical practice in the United States and joined the government’s Balik Scientist program. He now teaches at the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital. His take home pay is incomparable to the $400,000-annual salary that he kissed goodbye in the US but Edsel is very happy and fulfilled with his decision to be back home.
“That’s only money. I want to save lives in my own country,” says Edsel, a magna cum laude graduate from UP Manila. Edsel returned to the Philippines in 2008 after six years of training in the US, first as an internist, then as an infectious diseases specialist.
Daems says, “Dr. Salvaña turned his knowledge and career in healthcare to help those suffering from HIV/AIDS. After discovering an increase of HIV/AIDS cases in his home country, he started a vigorous awareness and research campaign in 2008, long before the Philippine government officially recognized the epidemic.”
Upon Edsel’s return to his beloved homeland, he found out that the Philippines is one of the seven countries in the world with rising incidents of HIV cases. He instantaneously became a staunch advocate of combatting the disease by launching a massive information drive and giving hope to patients faced with the dreaded disease. For this year alone, Edsel says, there are 315 cases of HIV/AIDS in the Philippines. He says this is included in the total 11,000 reported cases of HIV/AIDS around the country.
“On a happier note,” he told the international crowd at the TOYP ceremonies after presenting HIV/AIDS statistics in his own country, “I’d like to think that our message and our work have made a difference. There are now more young Filipinos on proper treatment and care. The government has acknowledged and has started addressing the HIV problem. We have trained many young doctors to take care of HIV patients, and we continue to work to decrease the stigma and increase testing.”
Much is expected of Edsel because much knowledge and expertise are given to him. More than that, he does everything with his heart — unflinching service to those who need to be helped.
Edsel treats HIV/AIDS patients at the Philippine General Hospital. To create more impact, he founded the first Philippine HIV/AIDS fellowship program to increase care for the disease and mentor interested medical students.
Like Bam, Edsel is also a recipient of The Outstanding Young Men award in 2010.
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Bam is bent on making the lives of a number of women around the country become more meaningful by providing them access to capital through micro-financing, giving them the needed training and helping them look for markets.
Edsel, on the other hand, continues to fight for a better day for his patients who face each day with still strength and steely courage.
Bam and Edsel operate by the condition of compassion for the marginalized. It has never occurred to these two to turn their back on those who need them. They can only hope that what they are doing is already enough. But they know they have to deliver more.
And they will — because the world does not run short of heroes.
(For your new beginnings, please e-mail me at bumbaki@yahoo.com. Follow me on Twitter @bum_tenorio. Have a blessed Sunday.)
