Cherished Volunteer Moments

(The worst thing that can happen when one is writing a speech is when the printer malfunctions.  I had to handwrite bullet points).

Cherished Volunteer Moments
(Volunteers and IYV+10)

By: Aveen Acuña-Gulo
Former National UN Volunteer for Communications and Culture of Peace Advocacy
GOP-UN Multi-Donor Programme, 2001-2004

Mt Apo, Philippines
17 February 2011

Good morning fellow volunteers.  Assalamu alaikum. Peace be upon all of us.

When people ask me what a volunteer is, or what volunteerism is, I have a ready answer:

A volunteer is the one who has the ability to present him/ or herself unconditionally to get a job done ASAP.  S/he asks questions along the way in order to do the ASAP faster.  Volunteerism is not about asking questions first then presenting oneself afterward.

(It's nice to learn something new today, and thanks to Girlie Amarillo: that the Tagalog word for volunteer is laong-laan).

* * * * *
When Akiko sent out the message toward the end of last year that the IYV+10 will be celebrated in 2011, I was excited to be part of it because I was able to participate in the celebration of IYV in 2001.

For this kick-off activity, I will share our experiences as national UN Volunteers under the GOP-UN-Multi-Donor Program.  I hope I will give justice to the other 67 who are not here.

The GOP-UN-MDP started in 1997 right after the signing of the GRP-MNLF Final Peace Agreement.  It evolved into three phases before it became known now as ACT4PEACE or Action for Community Transformation for Peace.  As you are aware, ACT4PEACE (which is actually the the fourth phase of the MDP) was completed only last December 31, 2010.

During those first three phases of the UN Multi-Donor-Program, there were:

37 UNVs for Community Development
11 for Reproductive Health
5 for Relief and Rehabilitation
5 for Agriculture and Sustainable Farming Systems
3 Field Workers
2 for Gender Awareness

1 each for --
Commodity Delivery,
Management Facilitation for LGUs,
Human Resources Development,
Governance,
Education, and
Communications.

I hope I did not miss out anybody.

All these volunteer efforts were geared toward peace-building and conflict transformation in the conflict-affected communities.  As far as I know, this was so far the biggest deployment, (Akiko can correct me), of UN Volunteers here in the Philippines for just one program.

As volunteers we worked on the aforementioned themes in places now known as PDCs or Peace and Development Communities.  These PDCs are scattered around the Special Zone for Peace and Area (SZOPAD): from Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, North and South Cotabato; the two Lanaos and Davao del Sur, to the island provinces of Basilan Sulu and Tawi-tawi; Zamboanga Peninsula and Palawan.

My task as UN Volunteer for Communications was the promotion of the Culture of Peace.  It used several approaches through several levels: print media, broadcast (radio and tv), internet, community/face-to-face dialogues.  While many parts of Mindanao were known to be in an armed conflict situation, we learned that conflict is actually divided into six (6) themes.  These are:

a) Militarization or dismantling the Culture of War;
b) Living with Compassion and Justice
c) Promoting Human Rights and Responsibility
d) Living in Harmony with the Earth
e) Building Cultural Respect, reconciliation and solidarity
f) Nurturing inner peace

Promoting the Culture of Peace using all means possible seemed a difficult task.  But I was happy because once again I affirmed to myself in the course of my work that indeed, peace is built-in, innate in every person we met and every community we visited.

It was also through this work that I also got the opportunity to work with what I now call the 3Ms - - Media, Military, Moro Fronts (particularly the MNLF).  We thought that if these stakeholders figured largely in the conflict, it is possible too, that they figure largely in the resolution of the conflict.  It was in this stage of the peacebuilding work that we saw how these 3Ms can be brought together in one table and ask one another the question: are you really the face of my enemy?  And ended up having more reasons to be united than divided.

As volunteer I was also able to participate in a whole discussion among Mindanao media practitioners asking, “Ito ba talaga ang nangyayari sa lupang ipinangako?" Is this really what’s happening in the Land of Promise? This consciousness led to the formation of the Mindanao Media Forum, and the signing of the Mindanao Media Covenant, which vowed “to play a crucial role in charting the future of Mindanao with realistic, balanced and truthful reporting of a land that has its own initiatives, relationships, issues, pains, dreams and triumphs” -- distinct from what is portrayed by relatively conventional media especially at that time.

Fast forward to 2011:  Many things have happened since then.  I’m now working with the United Nations World Food Programme.  I still see the same volunteer spirit that moved peacebuilding work in Mindanao, this time in another dimension.  Volunteerism may have different forms; but it still carries that same positive force that presents itself to get a job done ASAP.  (As we joke among ourselves, if you’re with WFP and you’re told to deliver ASAP, you should deliver 30 minutes ago).

We still work in the same conflict affected areas of NCOT, MAG, SK, LDS/N through Emergency School Feeding; Supplementary Feeding for mothers and babies; Food-for-Work/Food-for-Training/Food-for-Assets in order to create livelihood opportunities around agriculture and environmental concerns, the latter being especially true now that the threats to Food Security and warnings of natural disasters 10-20 years ago are already on our doorsteps with increasing frequency and magnitude.

I climbed Mt Apo in 2003 to join the Evaluation Climb together with the UNV Programme Officer Beatriz Fernandez at that time; and fellow UN Volunteers Rudy Tuya and Iharyf Sucol who’s with us now (he’s right there).

We tried to see then whether this revered place of Apo Sandawa was ready to be opened again to the public after some years of closure.  As we all know, it became to be the highest garbage dump in the country after years of abuse and careless waste disposal by climbers.  That year we also celebrated the International Year of the Mountains.  We planted a tree each for Beatriz, for UN Secretary General Kofi Anan and for UNV Executive Director Sharon Capeling Alakija who just passed away due to a lingering illness.

I came back in November 2009 together with my husband Jun and daughter Angeline, to grant her birthday wish to climb Mt Apo.  Not only did she get her wish, she was also able to plant tinikaran trees as her gift to Mt Apo.

I’m back for the third time this year to join the kick-off activities of the IYV+10.  I bring the best wishes of the Mindanao Humanitarian Team which is composed of UN, IMT and other Humanitarian Agencies.  Many of them expressed they would have wanted to join.  I also bring the messages and spirit of peace of both our Country Director Mr Stephen Anderson and Deputy Country Director Mr Asaka Nyangara, plus 94 more colleagues nationwide.

Thank you, Akiko for inviting us.  Thank you, John for the monumental task of organizing and coordinating.  IYV+10 would indeed be filled with meaningful activities ahead, for Mt Apo, for Mother Earth, and for all of us.

Wassalam!

*****

Disclaimer: The speaker is a Senior Programme Assistant at the UN World Food Programme in Mindanao.  The foregoing is a personal account and sole responsibility of the author and can in no way be taken to reflect the view of the UN WFP.