GK Zontaville

It was a leap of faith for Carmen "Menchu" Padilla Pascual, Zonta Club of Manila I president (for 2004-2006) to agree to involve the prime women’s organization in building a housing project for the poor. The result of that decision is the completion of the first multi-level Gawad Kalinga housing project – the GK Zontaville, in Mandaluyong City. That the project would become Zonta’s source of pride is due to Menchu’s leadership. Menchu is a highly-motivated graduate of the University of the Philippines.

The Zonta club’s tie-up with GK gave rise to a colorful and compact tree-storey apartment complex of 46 one-bedroom units that replaced the depressing dwellings in a once blighted place in the heart of Metro Manila. It stands on an 800-sq.m. Lot donated by Mayor Neptali "Boyet" Gonzales III. The complex has become a poster model for the Department of Tourism (DOT). It is considered "a showcase for what concerned Filipinos can do to alleviate poverty and empower its citizens. It is a manifestation of the Filipinos’ love for country."

How would Zonta Manila find the money for such a project? Well, the Zontians are a formidable group that cannot say no to challenges. They raised funds through yearly Christmas bazaars and asking members and friends to chip in. The beneficiaries provided the labor. The building had been pre-designed by a GK architect, and Couples for Christ caretaker team led by Tito Cajulis supervised the construction. Zonta members also joined hands with the beneficiaries in laying blocks and applying paint to their new homes.

The project resulted in a gratifying relationship between donors and beneficiaries. And the fulfillment of the GK ideal: to develop an integrated, holistic, sustainable community based on the principle of "helping others help themselves."

One member, interior designer Imelda Cancio-Reyes, donated all the lights of the complex. Former and incoming president, Atty. Regina Padilla-Geraldez and Treasurer Gloria Durano-Sia each donated P150, 000 to finish the social hall. Former Secretary of Tourism Mina Gabor secured the giant Colorado-based IT company, Tele Tech, to donate three units. All the other Zonta clubs in Greater Manila donated their share.

Meralco Foundation put the finishing touches to the social hall and put up SIBOL, the GK-Zontaville school and provided the services of a nursery teacher for one year. The interior courtyard was landscaped by the Zonta and Couples for Christ members.

The CEO and employees of TeleTech were seen mixing and pouring cement on Saturday in June 2006. The Zontians themselves chose the voguish Mediterranean colors of each unit: sunshine yellow, bubble gum pink, ocean blue, and terra cotta organe. A carpenter who owned a model unit designed and installed the woodwork.

Zonta’s mission does not end with building the structure. It continues to give the women residents livelihood training programs in food processing, cosmetology, reflexology, Cathechism instruction and values formation. For Zonta believes that through self-help, the beneficiaries will rediscover their human dignity and capacity for empowerment.

The beneficiaries themselves make a monthly payment of P500 for their unit to the city government and they will get their certificates of ownership after 15 years.

This extraordinary undertaking was made possible because of the determination, generosity and enthusiasm of three Zonta chairs: Baby Perez Sison, Nonie Basilio, Evangeline Dumlao and Tonie Lingad.

The Zonta Club of Manila was founded in 1952 by some of the outstanding Filipino women leaders like Supreme Court Justice Cecilia Muñoz Palma, Sen. Geronima Pecson, Josefa Jara Martinez, Ambassador Trinidad Legarda, Victoria Lopez Araneta, Sen. Pacita Madrigal-Warns and Sen. Helena Benitez.Except for Senator Benitez, all of them have passed on.

The incoming president for second year term, Atty. Regina Padilla-Geraldez, a senior partner at ACCRA Law, hopes to continue Zonta’s commitment to the Zontaville project and to launch other noteworthy projects in order to help advance the status of women.

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CARLOS L. ESGUERRA was a computer consultant for 36 years.

Starting out as a programmer analyst for IBM Corporation, and later founding and heading his own company, CLE Systems, Inc., in New York. Three years ago, he retired to devote his time to his "rediscovered passion" – photography. Actually, four years prior to that he had begun his second career – as landscape fine arts photographer.

In a period of seven years, he has received more than 27 national and international awards, and his works have been selected in numerous juried exhibitions in many states in the U.S., Canada, China, and Austria, and drawn a growing group of loyal corporate and individual collectors in the U.S., Germany, Mexico, and the UK.

Just last May, his photograph, called "Baklad-5342" won the gold medal at the Trierenberg Austrian Circuit in Austria. Last year, a work in color won first prize in New York; three were among the top 20 finalists at the 12th annual international photography competition, American Institute of Architects, in Miami, Coral Gables, Florida.

In June last year, his work won first prize in the 2005th annual juried photography exhibition in Dallas, Texas; in May, he won two gold medals in Austria. In January, he was the best of show artist profile award winner at the Manhattan Arts International gallery, and that same month, he was one of top winners in the Call of Nature category of Photo Life Magazine of Toronto, Canada. He has held many solo exhibitions abroad.

Caloy says he loves "to capture the beauty of nature in the most suitable light, with the least number of elements, framed and composed in a simple austere view. He prefers the "quiet" or "silent" style of photography, having been influenced strongly by Japanese Zen and "wabi-sabi" principles. His philosophy: "I strive to make my photographs simple, clean, and uncluttered."

The public will have a chance to appreciate Caloy’s work when he exhibits at the Ayala Museum from August 29 to September 12. This will be his second show in the Philippines, the first one being held last March at the lobby of the Intercontinental Manila where he exhibited Zen-like landscapes of the American Southwest and China taken mostly with a fully manual Hasselblad 500 CM camera.

This time he will show his interpretation of Philippine landscapes taken with a Nikon D70 digital camera which he took during his last visit early this year. One of these photographs, "Baklad-5342" won a gold medal at the Austrian Circuit, the largest salon style photography competition in the word.

Caloy showed this columnist prints of some of his previous works; they’re fantastic photographs of sand dunes and shadows, of floating water lilies, amazing sunsets. His show next week includes two persons taken during the flower festival in Baguio City. The show is called "Salamism," the deep Tagalog word for reminiscences. It is sponsored by JUNO Healthcare Staffing of New York, in collaboration with the Foundation for God’s Glory, Alpha Phi Beta Chancery, Alphans in the Rotary, AB-CBN Bantay Bata 163, and NORFIL Foundation.

Caloy studied business and economics at the University of the Philippines and obtained his MBA from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. His images are posted in his two websites: http://clegallery.photofolio.com and http://clesguerra.photofolio.com.

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My e-mail: [email protected]