Women for others

I’ve been putting off writing this article for some time now simply because I don’t know how to start it. I know exactly what to say; I just don’t know how to say it. I find it difficult to write in the papers something that means so much to me without sounding too emotional or risking the journalistic requisite of being objective. But personal experiences hardly merit impartiality and in this article, I speak not only of my experiences but also those of the women who have given life to this piece. And they are worth hearing about.

Working for a publishing company where females make up about three quarters of the workforce has thought me a lot about being a woman. Women are independent, women are resolute, women are strong, women are fearless, women are creative. I believe that Summit publisher Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng epitomizes all these realizations, as well as some of the editors-in-chief and group publishers in Summit. Her idea to come up with a project promoting women’s issues last year further strengthened my belief. This project was called "Womanity" and it was conceived along with two other super-women, Kat Gomez and Marge Melendez then of ad agency J. Walter Thompson.

Womanity involves a series of print ads targeting women’s issues, beliefs, and capabilities. The first succession, a total of 10 ads dubbed "All About Womanity," came out in all Summitmedia’s magazines last year. Each one focused on issues concerning women. One ad concerning domestic abuse shows a woman in shades with a shiner discreetly showing from under her fashionable eyewear. Another defies stereotypes by putting three women in three different bottles labelled "Fat-free," " Hot," and "Extra Virgin." Still another shows the anatomy of a naked woman with the focus on the biggest part of her body: Her brain. The ads ran for almost an entire year, empowering women and inspiring further study (a group of students from St. Scholastica’s College chose to focus on the campaign for their thesis and an art professor from the University of the Philippines made "All About Womanity" part of her curriculum).

I was part of the all-woman team invited to produce the first Womanity campaign as stylist for three of the print ads. When Summit’s editorial director Myrza Sison asked me in late March of this year to come aboard the second Womanity stint, I readily agreed not realizing how immense an effect it would have on me.

This year’s campaign is called "Show Some Womanity" and is once again a joint project between Summitmedia and J. Walter Thompson. After proving that women can be strong, courageous, and self-supporting last year, "Show Some Womanity" focuses on the nurturing and compassionate characteristics of women. Kat and Marge, with the help of an all-female strategic planning team from J. Walter Thompson, found 10 women who, in their own way, are do-gooders for society. These women aren’t models, society darlings, or philantrophic housewives who show up in charity-oriented events for the sake of publicity. These are women who, despite having regular jobs and having to face up to daily responsibilities, still manage to regularly volunteer for various causes and organizations during weekends or after-office hours. These are women who really give a damn.

My role involved putting together all 10 shoots. I was to coordinate with the women, the photographers (Dulzzi Gutierrez, Gnie Arambulo, Claudine Sia, and Lilen Uy all offered to do it pro-bono), the makeup artists (Mariel Chua and Ces Guerrero), and the print producers. I arranged for locations (including Maximum Security Prison in Muntinlupa and a field in Cagayan de Oro), provided props, styled the shoots, and made sure everyone was fed. For three weeks in April, I lived, breathed, and sweat "Show Some Womanity".

It’s hard to remain unfazed and unaffected when encountering admirable people and hearing of their experiences. A lot of these women work with financially-challenged people, some of them with the sick, and some others with people with traumatic pasts.

Myles Habulan-Paris is one of those women who volunteer for an organization that works with people who come from distressing backgrounds. Myles and her husband are part of "The Breakfast Club," a sub-group of charity foundation Hands-On Manila. On Saturday mornings, Myles whips up a batch of pancakes for sexually-abused children. These children, now in the care of Social Welfare, range from about six to 18 years old and had experienced sexual cruelty at an early age. Most of the transgressors were family, relatives, neighbors, even peers. Myles and the Breakfast Club prepare activities for the children, teach them games, take them on field trips, and generally act as solace from the inner battles some of these children experience. According to Myles, most of these children look older than their years, they look beaten up, and resigned. Some of them keep quiet about their experiences but there are a rare few who confide in the volunteers, which is discouraged since the volunteers aren’t trained psychologists. There are some kids though, like this eight-year-old boy, who was sexually-abused by his older brother, who seem to want to talk about what they have gone through. It seems that there is a dearth of psychologists to counsel these children.

Psychology professor Sandy Ebrada is another one who works with people in sensitive situations. On Sunday mornings, she and other co-teachers who compose Eskuwelahang Sikolohiya, endure almost two hours of public transportation to teach the inmates at the Maximum Security Prison in Muntinlupa. Most people would call Sandy brave for doing what she does, and she is. She has had to tolerate the male-centered prejudices of her students and sometimes even their advances. She has witnessed how some of the inmates zero in ("binabakuran") on other female volunteers, keeping them "off-limits" to the other prisoners. But the drawbacks do not fully eclipse the rewards. Most of Sandy’s students, some of them despite being in Death Row or are sentenced for life, are really earnest about the education she offers. Most of them are polite and courteous, and generally bewildered about their situation. In a way, Sandy and her co-volunteers, help these Bilibid prisoners come to terms with the circumstances they are in.

A few of these women work with the sick and terminally ill. Monica Alcid and Kritzia Santos, the two youngest women in Womanity 2, volunteer their services to give some happiness to children diagnosed to only have a few months to live. Monica Alcid has been a part of Kythe, an organization that works with children diagnosed with cancer, since she was in college at Ateneo. She didn’t let go of her voluntary services when she graduated and until now spends weekends and free time playing with the children, flying kites with them, and teaching them games and activities. Monica, who is naturally friendly and perceptibly sincere, seems to be a natural at what she does. She relates how she sometimes visits the wakes for children who have passed on and how the gratitude from parents can be emotionally relieving.

Kritzia Santos, 18 years old and the only student in "Show Some Womanity," has been part of the Make A Wish Foundation since she was 16. MAWF is an internationally-founded organization that grants the wishes of children with life-threatening diseases. In her print ad, Kritzia talks of how she and her fellow volunteers granted the wish of a young girl who wanted to become a princess for a day (they took her to Enchanted Kingdom where "statues" came to life with the stroke of her magic wand). Some children ask for simpler things. A few dying wishes include meeting April Boy Regino, meeting Jolina Magdangal, or owning a computer. Recently, Kritzia and a few friends put up another voluntary organization called Kapatid.

Daisy Santos and Chary Mercado also work with children, though they come from the street rather than a sickbed. Daisy, a graduate student and researcher at UP Diliman, gathers the kids from her neighborhood together every Saturday morning. Along with other members of the community, she teaches them art and songs, and plays sports with them. Anything to get them off the streets and to prevent them from getting into drugs. Daisy, petite and small of frame, is hardly bigger than the children, but she has gained their respect. They reciprocate her kindness by coming to the community center early to clean up the place.

Chary Mercado is part of a locally-based French organization that houses orphaned streetkids or children whose families don’t have enough means to take care of all their brood. Every weekend, Chary takes kids into her home to tutor them with their studies and help them with their homework. She has established a great rapport with them so much that these kids see her as a surrogate mother. Chary is also a big supporter of fostering. She encourages families to take babies or young orphans into her homes until they are adopted or until the family decides to adopt them on their own, just like she and her husband have done. Her eldest son is adopted and she is now fostering a baby girl.

By day, she’s a bank officer. After office-hours and on weekends, Icar Castro sings with the Bukas Palad Ministry, a choir group that helps raise funds for charity. As part of Bukas Palad, Icar has helped Bilibid prisons, churches, and the Philippine General Hospital. She and her fellow choir members also sing at funerals and wakes. They have also been sent abroad to raise funds for NGOs and local groups.

Similarly, Anne Castro is part of an organization called Bukas Sarili Foundation that helps raise funds for the Internal Medicine ward of the Philippine General Hospital. Anne is a chef by profession but her responsibilities with Bukas Sarili has her heading bazaars, rummage sales, and writing to other companies who are willing to give grants to the PGH ward.

Of all the women in this year’s campaign, Senny Macas is the only one who volunteers for the environment. Along with her fellow mountaineers from the De Oro Mountain Explorers, Senny plants seedlings in certain parts of Cagayan de Oro. As protectors of the environment, Senny and DOME inform other people about the importance of nature conservation by offering tours and mountain climbing expeditions in Cagayan de Oro. They are also passionate in their battle against those who threaten their environmental cause, issuing opinions against and defying illegal loggers, crooked politicians, and political red tape.

Joy Belmonte may be a credited archeologist but her charitable cause has much to do with the living rather than with fossilized beings. As chairwoman of the Quezon City Performing Arts Development Foundation, Joy has ushered many of Quezon City’ s underprivileged children into the world of ballet and dance. By holding auditions in public schools over Quezon City, the foundation finds talented children who eventually become dance scholars. With the help of Tony Fabella, Luther Perez, and Eddie Elejar, Joy transforms these scholars into confident individuals with a future. Right now, the foundation boasts 250 scholars studying different levels of ballet. Former scholars now perform with professional dance groups, dance for TV, or are instructors themselves. She has introduced these kids not only to dance but also to other cultures – her dance scholars have performed all over the country as well as in Japan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and are preparing to dance in Macau. Joy and the foundation have also instilled a sense of discipline and courtesy in these kids. As I observed during the shoot, the children have learned how to greet their elders politely, how to organize their own costumes and props, and above all, they have learned how to be gracious. These children realize that as long as someone cares about their future, then there’s no reason why they shouldn’t work hard for it.

Sometimes, we need people like Mother Teresa and the Dalai Lama who take on the world and give all of themselves to set an example of goodness and charity. And sometimes we need people like the Womanity girls to tell us that it’s more than OK to lend out even just one hand.

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The "Show Some Womanity" ads will appear in Preview, Cosmopolitan, YES, Real Living, Smart Parenting, Seventeen, Candy, and Good Housekeeping magazines until June of 2005.