My friends at Ideals Creative, an advertising agency focused on social-responsibility projects, have been hinting to me for months about an exciting project that they can’t wait to get off the ground. Finally, it was recently launched and it is not just idealistic but also realistic. The campaign — called One Tama — was brought to them by the youth empowerment organization Duyan ng Giting (Cradle of Valor).
One Tama, according to the website, started with the question, “If we want a better country, what can we do about it for one day?” The organizers then decided to focus the campaign not on a whole day, but on one action for the day to help our country make progress and to encourage everyone to privately commit to make good things happen. This is because the campaign, as they describe it, is not about waiting for changes to come from above — such as the government or a big dramatic event — but from below as well, meaning you and me.
ONE LINE
To engage people in this very personal advocacy, One Tama launched its campaign with a website listing little activities that everyone can do amid the flurry of deadlines that come our way. At same time, they also promote people to share their own One Tama moments in various ways. To encourage more people to be more Juan Tama than Juan Tamad, they even tallied the number of the online actions shared with friends and the actions completed by readers. So far, only 199 One Tama Tasks have been done. Yet hopefully, with articles such as this, we can do more individually.
Below are five One Tama tasks found online that you might agree with and hopefully can try, too.
1. Give other customers a chance to sit in crowded restaurants.
2. If you’re a Filipino, travel around the Philippines first.
3. Meet your deadlines.
4. Get to know the helpers around you!
And the most important one...
5. Get up-to-date on the news, locally and around the world (by reading The Philippine STAR and Supreme).
MY ONE TAMA TASKS
1. Don’t rush to your destination while driving.
I noticed that road rage occurs when unnecessary swerving happens. If we all drive straight and safely, traffic will be more bearable.
2. Please let women and senior citizens sit on the MRT or buses.
It won’t kill you to stand for, at most, 30 to 40 minutes.
3. Please read and understand instructions given to you first. Also, try doing things yourself and ask for help only when needed.
In this instant-click world, reading has become a burden and made people too mentally lazy to read instruction manuals; so they rely on call center agents or service crews for every question. We can take care of our things better such as our cell phones and gadgets if we take time to read the instructions before asking for help immediately. If we read first, we can even exercise our noggins to be mentally independent.
4. Take a few minutes to plan ahead for each day.
You won’t be huffing and puffing the whole day to a dead-end if you know where you are going and how you’ll get there.
IT’S SIMPLY UP TO YOU
As you can see, this article is the most stripped-down piece I have written. It is because One Tama is about greatness in simplicity. I would like to quote One Tama’s tagline: “Actions speak loudest shared.” Thus, I am sharing this campaign rather than excessively writing about it. So, how about you? Are you a Juan Tama or Juan Tamad? Please write your own One Tamas and share them. Remember, a better you means a better country.
_______________’s ONE TAMA TASKS
1.
2.
3.
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Visit http://onetama.com to see more One Tama Tasks.
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Do you agree with my One Tama list? Send me your One Tamas at readnow@supreme.ph.