xavieralpasa’s posterous

as someone pursuing social enterprises i know how challenging and even occasionally exasperating it is to deal (surprisingly) with people you are directly helping, how proven management principles fail against complex factors that have not been captured by drucker, how passions bang against each other causing frictions when all are had the best intentions, how substantial resources are invested including sweat and precious time (which would have been spent more relaxing by the beach) result still to negative returns - financially and even emotionally...

times like these, i remember (aside from mentos), romero's quote which synchs with today's gospel reflections.  here's to all of us, prophets of future not our own...

PROPHETS OF A FUTURE NOT OUR OWN

It helps now and then to step back and take a long view.
The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of
saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith. No confession
brings perfection, no pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives include everything.

This is what we are about. We plant the seeds that one
day will grow. We water the seeds already planted
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects
far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of
liberation in realizing this.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning,
a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord's
grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the
difference between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders, ministers, not
messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own.

WE RISE THROUGH SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

Ondoy typhoon wreaked havoc on Philippines' capital Manila.  People were rescued on roofs as flood submerged villages even of the rich.  Millions of properties lost to mud.  Hundreds died. 

But Filipinos rise.  Celebrities kayaked to rescue.  Corporations donated cases and cases of bottled water.  Warm food delivered to evacuation centers by strangers to strangers.  Funds poured in from different parts of the world.

Indeed, as our modern-day hero Ninoy Aquino said, "The Filipino is worth dying for" and it is this that we are also able to say "The Filipino is worth living for."

And we continue to rise.  Tonight, multi-awarded social enterprise Rags2riches launches holiday-fall collection through a fashion show in a posh mall.  The rich and the poor come together uniting giving hope to each other amidst great trials and tribulations.

We rise through social enterprise.

CREATION
Bask in nature's grandeur being displayed on a daily basis at Isla Culion, Palawan, Philippines.
Watch the sun set as clouds dance on a magnificent display.
Swim in pristine water where you see the seabed even from several feet above.
Find nemo and other clown fish together with other colorful tropical fish schooling everywhere you go.
Walk on fine white sand sometimes mistaken to be sugar.
Hike the virgin forests and encounter rare animals beautifully crafted by the Creator's hands.

COMMUNION
As one commune with nature, one can also commune with the community of indigenous peoples.
Eucharistic communion is also possible should one decide to join the Jesuit missionary who island hops for such.
Commune with everything around you in peace and realize the common union of everyone.

CONTEMPLATION
Be still.
Behold.
Be loved.

CELEBRATION
Do any or all of these travel packages for ISLA CULION,
the newest and most magnificent eco-tourism of 7,107 islands of the Philippines,
labelled as THE last frontier of a province that boasts of a tourist spot being considered as one of the seven wonders of the world.

For a poetic display, visit:

http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/photos.php?id=649526870

This is the latest social enterprise I am currently engaged in. 
And I invite the TED Community to have a taste of it.

Creation.  Communion.  Contemplation.  Celebration
ISLA CULION

TED GIFTS
 
My phone got busted upon arrival at Keble College. Did not have a
camera to capture memorable moments. Carried with me problems of
poverty in the island I am currently missioned to.
 
Then the TED Gifts came for the TED Global Fellows 2009! A new Nokia
phone thanks to Nokia who is one of the main sponsors! IBM gave us a
Flip camera which I can now use in promoting the beautiful island of
Culion, Palawan. And yes, the best gifts - TED Ideas worth spreading
and meeting fascinating Fellows and TEDsters who are changing the
world!
 
The best thing about these gifts is that they are not meant simply for
personal use. They are to be used for the greater purpose. The phone
will keep me in touch with the world. The camera will immortalize
beauty. The TED ideas will give birth to a million more. The Fellows
and TEDsters will collaborate and fire up the world!
 
Who said Santa's the only guy giving out gifts to nice people? TED
gave lots more even to the naughty ones like me who said at TED U that
am willing to audition for chippendales if I have to just to help the
poor!
 
FATHER Xavier Alpasa, SJ
ver@jesuits.net

SCARRED, SCARED, SACRED

Few days to go for TED Global 2009.  Mixed emotions surface.  I guess it is because I have been through mixed experiences in the first place.  And it is this variety that brings magic and wonder!

As I travel to Oxford, I bring with me memories of Sumilao Farmers who walked more than 1,700 kilometers just to bring their case to the Office of the President.  They waited 10 years for a land originally owned by their forefathers.  Thanks to Active Non-Violence efforts that grabbed local and international media attention, they are now tilling the land they truly own.

Challenges still face them.  Farmer Leader Rene Penas was slain 40 days ago.  Balance of 94 hectares has yet to be awarded.  Oppression continues.  Thus, the story continues and it beams with greater hope fired up with more intense fight for justice.

I also bring the lives of more than 300 families some of whom used to live in the dumpsite capital of our country.  The marginalized women used to earn just one peso for a piece of rug.  They were abused by middlemen who earned the bigger chunk of the income.  They were looked down upon by society. 

Now they appear on tv as commercial models.  They run the catwalk of high end fashion in upscale malls.  Socialites look for their personal signatures on bags exquisitely made by the same women who used to just weave rugs.  They are the rags2riches story, literally, metaphorically, passionately!

Finally, I carry in my heart the stories of lepers isolated by the world for more than 100 years.  I struggle with them as we showcase to the world the beauty of the remote island of Culion, Palawan.  Declared leprosy-free years ago, we connect to the world inviting people to come and bask with the beauty of nature.  Virginal, the dive sites have been rated A++ by dive masters.  Untouched, the sugar-fine sand look like the whitest of sugars.  The pristine sea looks like a lake on a calm day.  The mountain range paints a thousand words.

Oh yes.  Been scarred.  Got scared.  Now living the sacred.