‘Fidelity to duty’

Assumption girls stand out for more than just their distinctive penmanship, their flair, their accent, the inimitable way they blend style with substance (like Senators Loren Legarda and Grace Poe).

And there are the “tusok-tusok the fish balls in the park” jokes, too.

But what really sets aside a true blue (or in our case, a true-plaid) Assumption girl is her fidelity to duty in order to effect a positive transformation — in circles big and small.

Assumption Cares, a charity arm of the Assumption Alumnae Association,  aspires to transform the lives of 9,900 people in 1,400 households in Samar. At present, construction of 156 homes is ongoing while 49 houses, six community halls, one parish hall and 12 chapels in 16 barangays have been turned over already.

What Assumption alumnae did for Mercedes town in Samar in the aftermath of Yolanda is Exhibit A of the best that they can be. In the words of Assumption girl Mely Diaz, this is their story:

Nov. 8, 2013 will live long in our nation’s memory. Yolanda pummelled through the Visayas wreaking devastation the likes of which our storm-tossed country had never seen...communities, families, lives forever changed.

An Assumption girl is moved by the plight of neighbor and friend. The call for help was sounded and the response from alumnae here and around the world, most specially Spain, was immediate and generous.

Archbishop Soc Villegas in Dagupan gave us a signpost when he announced his archdiocese was adopting Guiuan in Eastern Samar, the site of Yolanda’s first landfall. We followed the Archbishop in our search for a community to help. Through the Internet we found the municipality of Mercedes, eight kilometers away from Guiuan whose parish was dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi. The parish name coincidentally, like our beloved Holy Father’s name Pope Francis, affirmed our choice.

It was no small miracle that in the terrible aftermath of the storm, we were able to contact the parish priest on his cell phone. Fr. Moises Campo had never met an Assumption girl in his life, but there in the midst of a blackout came a promise, a promise not only for immediate relief but also a promise to rebuild and rehabilitate Mercedes.

“Fidelity to duty” — words of our school song that an Assumption girl, in time, come to live by. Yolanda was a duty to our fellowmen. In Mercedes, we see the flowering of the Assumption Spirit —  faith, fortitude, determination and unparalleled social network harnessed for transformation of a community. In Mercedes, we see a promise fulfilled.

Once in a lifetime we are faced with a challenge, daunting to accept yet unconscionable to turn away. Yolanda was such a challenge.

 It led us to a place far from the beaten tracks to encounter people whose concerns were so different from our own. The storm took away all their material goods but dignity and hope, the best of the human spirit, remained undimmed. By rebuilding their lives, our lives were transformed.

So what is it to be an Assumption girl?

 We are more than a script and an accent. Our foundress St. Marie Eugenie said, “Every duty God requires of us is a mark of his love and mercy.”

 Mercedes is our act of fidelity to duty. Mercedes is a mark of God’s love and mercy. (You may e-mail me at [email protected].)