Gawad Kalinga


Gawad Kalinga is a Philippine poverty alleviation and nation-building movement known officially as the Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation.
Its mission is to end poverty for 5 million families by 2024.

History

In 1999, Couples for Christ built the first GK house for the Adduru family from Bagong Silang, a barangay in which the organization had previously held poverty programs. The name "Gawad Kalinga", which translates in the Filipino language either as "to give care" or "to award care," was coined in 2000.
The first GK Expo was launched on October 4, 2003, in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City. During this gathering, GK launched a campaign called the GK777 campaign to build 700,000 homes in 7,000 communities for 7 years.

Isang Milyong Bayani

On February 25, 2006, GK launched the Isang Milyong Bayani program, where volunteers from various nations would donate 4 hours of work per month to assist in GK communities. The program includes an annual event called the GK1MB Bayani Challenge, a one-week national immersion/build activity, where volunteers within the program come together to build homes in a GK community for a week. The Bayani Challenge has been held in Aurora Province and Quezon Province ; Albay, Camarines Sur, Sorsogon, Marinduque, and Samar
; Bukidnon and Lanao del Sur ; and Sulu and Zamboanga City.

Separation from CFC

GK began as a ministry of CFC, but as it grew into a national and now worldwide presence, disagreement within the organization grew regarding its alleged secularization. On February 20, 2007, Antonio Meloto and Francisco Padilla resigned from their posts in GK. Two months later, on Easter Day, Padilla released a statement alleging that Gawad Kalinga was responsible for alleged failures of CFC in its mission of evangelization. In this statement, he enumerated 18 points to support his conclusion, including involvement with Mormons, acceptance of donations from pharmaceutical companies that produce contraceptives, gradual secularization and erosion of CFC's presence, and excessive acknowledgment of Meloto as "founder and father" of GK.
However, what started as a conflict over GK led to division within CFC itself. The following months saw GK being criticized by Padilla and other CFC leaders for its failures, until some bishops from the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines proposed that GK be separated from CFC. CFC stood by GK, and the Easter Group decided to convince some CFC leaders and members to separate from CFC, leading to the formation of the Couples for Christ Foundation for Family and Life.
A resolution between CFC and GK was finally reached in 2009, when CFC Executive Director Joe Tale announced the major decision of the CFC International Council "to let go of the governance and corporate structure of GK" so the latter can focus on its expanding work within and outside the country as a non-religious organization.
As a result of the departure of the CFC International Council from the GK Board, Archbishop Oscar Cruz of the Lingayen-Dagupan archdiocese instructed the clergy and lay people in his area to withdraw from GK activities, because through this development, GK has disconnected itself with the Catholic Church and opened itself up to ties with organizations whose policies contradict Church teachings. This call was similarly made by Father Gammy Tulabing, a priest writing for The Negros Chronicle.
In response, Jose Tale appealed to Archbishop Cruz to reconsider the latter's instruction, particularly because of CFC's continued support of the now-autonomous GK and because of the remaining overlap in membership between the two organizations despite the change in leadership. Meanwhile, Meloto supported Tale's explanation; that there was no CFC-GK split as "no one has the right to remove Gawad Kalinga from CFC whose members have made heroic sacrifices to create this noble work that has transformed lives and deepened faith."

Development Model

Gawad Kalinga's plan, called GK 777, is split into three "phases," each 7 years in length towards a goal to ultimately "un-squat” the poorest of the poor, heal their woundedness, regain their trust, build their confidence, make them think and act as a community and to share the joy of a country rising from poverty.
The first phase's stated goal was to achieve Social Justice by raising 700,000 homes and start–up 7,000 communities by the end of 2010.
The current phase extends from 2011 to 2018, and focuses on what the organization calls Social Artistry: strengthening governance; developing community-based programs for health, education, environment, and productivity; building a village culture that honors Filipino values and heritage. The goal is to empower the powerless for self-governance, self-reliance, and self-sufficiency. One of these Social Artistry sites is called The GK Enchanted Farm, a community meant to encourage the growth of social entrepreneurship.
The final phase spans from 2018 to 2024, and is envisioned as a time of Social Progress. This phase seeks to achieve scale and sustainability by developing the grassroots economy and expanding the reach and influence of GK to 5 million families with support from key sectors of society in the Philippines and partners abroad. GK seeks to relieve poverty by providing an environment in which Filipinos may work and be productive.
After developing a model road map in the Philippines, GK seeks to create successful development templates that can be replicated in other developing countries in order to reduce poverty internationally.

Development Programs

Community Infrastructure: The GK Community Infrastructure Program builds homes and facilities for impoverished people using labour paid for by charity and the future residents of the houses themselves.
Child and Youth Development: The GK CYD program aims to develop the skills and talents of the children and youth in the GK communities by inculcating values that bring out their full potential. SIBOL, which means “to grow,” provides value-based education to pre-school children, aged 3 to 6 years old. SAGIP, which means “to save a life”, is a support program for children aged 7 to 13 years old, which consists of free academic tutorials, sports and creative workshops and values formation classes. SIGA, which means “to light”, empowers teens to become productive citizens through sports, creative activities and mentoring sessions.
Community Building: The GK Community Building program provides GK villages with mentors who try to instill a sense of community within the villagers.
Environment: The GK Environment program aims to create "green" model communities. The program operates under a tagline of "Save the poor, save the environment", and partners with environment advocacy groups and government agencies to provide seminars and environment-friendly programs for community members.
Bayan-Anihan: The GK Food Sufficiency program is a program which aims to provide sustainable farming for its beneficiaries. In this program, families are provided a 10 sq. meter garden, and basic agricultural education by Agricultural State Universities.
GK Kalusugan: Kalusugan is a community health program with the goal of improving health among impoverished people by educating them about first aid and nutrition, as well as connecting hospitals and medical professionals to needy communities.
Center for Social Innovation: CSI tries to encourage entrepreneurship and connect would-be entrepreneurs with experts and volunteers from fields necessary to build successful enterprises.

Awards and recognitions

2006 Ramon Magsaysay Award

On August 31, 2006, Gawad Kalinga and Antonio Meloto, GK Chairman, both received the 2006 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership in relation to their work in poverty relief in the Philippines. Francisco Padilla, former CFC Executive Director and GK Chairman, received the award for GK.

Paraiso: Tatlong Kwento ng Pag-asa

In 2006, GK began collaborating with some Filipino actors to produce a film about the program. The production, which translates to English as "Paradise: Three Stories of Hope", is a compilation of three films, each with a different cast. "Paraiso" is produced by Butch Jimenez, Tony Gloria, Tony Tuviera, and executive produced by Bobby Barreiro.
Umiyak Man Ang Langit is based on the life experiences of Jocelyn Llorente. Llorente, along with her husband and six children, were victims of the mudslides in St. Bernard, Southern Leyte on February 2006, in which one of her children died. The movie follows her and her family through their recovery from this incident.
Ang Kapatid Kong Si Elvis is a story based on events in Southern Leyte. The story centers on a boy named Michael who suffers from rectal prolapse and compulsively eats stones. On April 7, 2002, Dr. Jerome Paler, a GK worker in the CFC Medical Mission Foundation, visited the area where Michael lived. Upon learning of the boy's condition, Paler brought Michael to the hospital for treatment. He convinces his wife and son, Pepe, to adopt Michael as their own, where they raise and treat him.
Marie tells the story of Ruby Abad,, after the death of his wife, Marie Rose Abad in the September 11, 2001 attacks. Disraught, Rudy sets out to fulfill Marie's vow of helping impoverished street children in the Philippines on her behalf. Abad, a graduate of the Ateneo de Manila University, meets his former classmate Mike Goco, a GK volunteer, and Abad begins to realize that Marie Rose's dream can be fulfilled by dedicating an entire GK site for her. This site is now the Marie Rose GK Village in Baseco, Tondo, Manila.
The movie premiered on June 12, 2007, at the SM Mall of Asia, and was made available for local showing on July 4 of the same year.