Invitation to volunteer in Gawad Kalinga’s Bayani Challenge as one Team Ateneo

WHAT IS BAYANI CHALLENGE?

Bayani Challenge (BC) is the biggest annual gathering of volunteers in the country. Spearheaded by Gawad Kalinga as a national unified response to the mission of poverty eradication, hundreds of volunteers gather in various locations nationwide to perform acts of selfless service for the poorest of the poor in their communities. BC happens yearly on April 9 (Day of Valor) lasting until June 12 (Day of Independence).

This event started back in 2006 when Team GK called for a disaster response and rebuilding operation for the landslide that happened in Pinutan, Southern Leyte. Overwhelmed by the massive response and turnout of concerned citizens from all over the country, GK decided to turn it into an annual volunteerism event that will spark the spirit of heroism in each and every Filipino. Seventeen years later, BC still continues to ignite the spirit of solidarity and compassion for the least among us.

We encourage the Ateneo community to volunteer as one at Cabiao, Nueva Ecija from June 8 to 12, 2023. As part of team Ateneo, volunteers can expect to participate in activities that range from house builds, school refurbishing, feeding, set-up of community food farms, health trainings, clean-up drives, and the like.

On June 8, an opening ceremony will mark the official start of activities. After almost a full week of community service, the volunteers gather to celebrate their hard work and camaraderie by sharing songs, stories, and dance moves with the commemorative "Unity Dance". With full hearts and a renewed commitment to nation-building, BC volunteers can attest to this once-in-a-lifetime experience. Bayani Challenge is also a venue to create stronger local multi-stakeholder partnerships where LGUs, schools, corporate partners and private groups can have a chance to work together on shared projects that address the different forms of poverty in their community. 

With this year's theme "Tataya Para sa Bayan", GK Executive Director Dan Bercasio, calls on the youth who are the nation's future hope-bearers, to make a stand for their country now.

"𝘏𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘬𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘭𝘢𝘭𝘰 𝘯𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘢𝘯, 𝘯𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘱𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘢 𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘵𝘶𝘨𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘢 𝘮𝘨𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘨𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘩𝘪𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘱 𝘴𝘢 𝘬𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘭𝘢-𝘬𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘰𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘥. 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘥𝘢𝘭𝘢 𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘭𝘢, 𝘨𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘭, 𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘨-𝘢𝘴𝘢 𝘴𝘢 𝘮𝘨𝘢 𝘱𝘶𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘶𝘨𝘢𝘳. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘻𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰𝘰. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘺𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘢𝘺𝘢𝘯𝘪 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵." - 𝘋𝘢𝘯 𝘉𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰

VOLUNTEER AS ONE TEAM ATENEO

SInce the early years of Bayani Challenge, Ateneo has been sending a team composed of students, employees, alumni, and community members from our partner communities. The multitude of sharings, encounters, learnings and volunteer experiences throughout the event has made a lasting impact to every participant that most have been thankful for being a part of Bayani Challenge.

This year, Gawad Kalinga Ateneo, invites you to join us as we participate with our fellow nation-builders in this week-long event filled with the mission and inspiration of volunteerism.

For those who are interested to know more about Bayani Challenge and how to be a part of this national volunteerism event, we encourage you to coordinate with Paolo Inting of Gawad Kalinga Ateneo either through e-mail (pinting@ateneo.edu) or through mobile (09173679789).

We look forward to volunteering with you!

Walang Iwanan!