Big business for a day, compassion for a lifetime

On October 27, the long-awaited International Bazaar will be held with the participation of an extraordinary group of ladies who are members of the International Bazaar Foundation, Inc. (IBF Foundation) and of foreign diplomatic and consular missions in the Philippines. Under the chairmanship of Susana V. Ople this year, one of the nicest and certainly one of the most inspiring chairpersons of any project I have ever met, this year’s theme is "Shopping Around the World in a Day."

At the meeting of the IBF Inc. that I attended, Susan Ople was in her element. Speaking in the vernacular, she was friendly, charming, humorous and very inspiring. I became an instant victim, for, without knowing that the deadline was just around the corner from that day, I promised to get five ads for the bazaar brochure. Surprisingly, I made the deadline and met my promised quota.

I know I had indeed discovered a person extremely committed to helping what she called "the poorest of the poor." This is not just a cliché for Susan. Unknown to many of us, she has been involved in some very outstanding charity and civic projects all these years as the wife of a gentleman whose career as a government leader has spanned a number of decades. Susan Ople has always been in the background, serving without much political fanfare or the customary media hype, absolutely without guile, but definitely with the greatest compassion in her heart.

We are a people that amazingly, within the last five years or so, have become addicted to bazaars as the festive season approaches. A lot of booths and stalls that one finds in a Christmas bazaar display goods that you don’t find in the department stores and shopping malls around town. And they do make extraordinary gifts. Like election banners, streamers compete against each other especially along McKinley Road, announcing the Unifem bazaar, the Casa y Jardin bazaar, Catholic Women’s Club, Rotary, Alliance Francaise, etc.

What has always been a favorite of mine and a great many other women is the "International Bazaar" because of the participation of the ladies of the diplomatic corps, from Australia to Vietnam.

This year’s bazaar chairman is Letty Syquia, wife of Malta Ambassador Enrique Syquia. I know Letty’s capacity for work is enormous, and when I met the members of the IBF Inc. at a meeting in her house, I knew right then and there that the 2002 bazaar will be a great success. One of the ladies that I’ve always known has been the spark plug in activities of this nature: Penny Farolan. She instantly gave me several copies of the advertising contracts after I promised to procure a number of them.

Susan Ople has an extremely efficient staff composed of Cathy Villar-Macapagal and Menchu Velasquez to help her; an outstanding secretariat headed by Rosamy Villa, with Grace Abarquez, Cecile Domingo and Christine Arias; as well as the chairman of the publicity and souvenir program, Melissa Lecaros whose assistance in providing all the material required is enviable. In spite of time constraints and a whole army of female members of the IBF to cope with, their efficiency shone. Mrs. Ople’s got a great right-hand woman at her side – good, sturdy, efficient, and seeing that everything runs smoothly, Lilia Lardizabal, an excellent bureaucrat in the good old days of the Department of Labor when Susan’s husband, "Ka Blas," was at its helm.

And the present members of the IBF Inc. are a sight to behold...every single one of them without exception has charm, spunk and vim. If they are going to be behind the booths and stalls of the international bazaar, they will certainly be able to sell out all the goods for sale without any difficulty at all. The camaraderie, the teamwork I witnessed that afternoon was impressive.

I am aware that the goods for sale at the national booths of the participating countries are the specialties they are known for, because I have been a customer of this bazaar for many years now. The food and gourmet items are my favorite...from the jars to the cans of fabulous delicacies, the wines, the patés, the spices, the Swiss chocolates competing with the American variety, the meat cuts, rare fish delicacies so efficiently preserved, cold cuts of every kind, spicy and tame, the jams and jellies, every possible national epicurean delight. And the gift items that are the country’s pride; the beautiful shawls and fabrics, the tablecloths, linens and lacework, the extraordinary national handicrafts, the unbelievably attractive curiosity items of every country; even carpets and clothing – all this at the World Trade Center along Roxas Blvd, making the world seemingly untroubled and unterrorized.

The business transacted at the international bazaar has to be swift and efficient because the goods go so fast and brisk. It is good to arrive at the bazaar before the doors open, and, equipped with the most comfortable pair of shoes you own, start from one end to the other.

It is an education by itself, an enriching experience to go from one national booth to the other and see everything on display...it’s like getting to know what makes this particular nation tick.

Beyond all this, however, is the magnificence of the bazaar’s charity objectives...from its medical thrusts: the Tala Leprosarium crying out for sustenance funds, to community hospitals all over the country like the Parañaque Community Hospital, the National Children’s Hospital, the East Avenue Medical Center, to the impressive livelihood program – the Metropolitan Child Development Center, the Enterprise Volunteer Assistance Charity Foundation that helps the Aetas set up livelihood programs and preserve their indigenous culture; the St. Peregrine Livelihood and Education Foundation which badly needs a multi-purpose dryer for the farmers in the fishing villages of Surigao del Norte; the Third World Movement Against the Exploitation of Women which provides assistance to female victims of violence; the Carmelites of Charity, and a number of others providing financial assistance and scholarships for the youth. There are also recipient-foundations like the Bata Foundation providing homes for abandoned and needy children, and as they grow up, giving them access to vocations and livelihood courses.

The IBF Foundation founded 36 years ago continues to thrive under dedicated leadership through the years, benefiting the "poorest of the poor" in our country, with the invaluable participation of close to 60 embassies and consulates, the extraordinary commitment and the compassion of each and every member of the IBF.

This great big International Bazaar at Christmastime is one big business for a day, but with exceptional compassion for a lifetime.