Sent by Heaven to the Philippines

 I remember that as a child, I used to draw several similar-looking houses. Any deviation in the design was either for a bungalow or a two-storey, or whether the house had a chimney or not. But the roof, the main entrance, and the type of windows (all with open curtains secured on each side) were practically the same. The pictures also showed a long pathway from the street to the main door, a huge garden around, a tall tree beside (often on the right side of the house), two mountains in the distance with the sun rising in between the slopes and birds in formation in the clear blue sky. I guess I drew quite a number of houses because eventually I was sketching a road plan of a village including a trail leading to a stream where children could picnic underneath a huge tree that provided shade, almost a copy of what my friends and I used to have in a playground inside the village where our families once lived. It had a tree house overlooking a narrow stream built especially for us by the father of one of our neighbors.

The drawings were a favourite thing to do during that phase in my childhood. It was sometime in 2004 that my former fascination for these drawings would be awakened while reading a write-up on Dylan Wilk which deeply inspired me. It was through his moving story that I first learned about Gawad Kalinga. With his permission and that of the author, I would like to share an excerpt from a narrative that was published in a book written by Antonio Meloto and launched last year titled Builder of Dreams. Dylan shares his story on pages 176-181, “More Precious than a BMW”, part of which I quote below.

“My journey towards Gawad Kalinga began with my grandmother who was an orphan and refugee from Poland and worked as a housegirl from the age of five… She fled to the UK at the end of World War II. She was also a devout Catholic. Following her example, as a teenager I had a strong faith in God and considered becoming a priest, but eventually started a business in computer games instead. I never lost that faith in God but in building up the business, I spent several years ignoring him. Like many, I stopped practicing my faith and became consumed with the things of the world.”

“After about four years, I started to question the direction life was heading – why were all the rich people I knew still dissatisfied and sometimes even depressed? Even though I was already one of the richest people in the UK of my age, I could not understand why my thirst for money seemed unquenchable. Lying awake one night in the Beverly Hills Hotel, with a Ferrari, a Porsche and several BMWs behind me and with millions of dollars in the bank, I realized I was trapped in a life of pleasure. Whatever I bought would never be enough. My life of pleasure was becoming a life of boredom and emptiness. Pleasure is different from happiness. Pleasure is a fire that needs constant fuelling with new clothes, new cars and vacations. Happiness comes from somewhere else – it comes from relationships and from knowing that you are fulfilling God’s purpose in your life.”

“After this realization, I started thinking about God again and started to pray and ask, “Lord, why am I rich? Why did you bless me like this?” I left the business and traveled the world looking for charities to help. After seeing many, I became disappointed that nobody was able to show me a solution to poverty.”

“In 2002, a Filipina friend came to the UK. She told me she felt guilty about coming because the price of her plane ticket could have built two houses for the poor through GK in the Philippines. I was skeptical. “What kind of house is this that costs the same as a handbag?!” So I went to the Philippines to see GK. … When I arrived, Manila looked like hell to me. How could the only Christian nation in Asia look like this – shanties, street children, beggars everywhere, while others roared past in sleek cars without even noticing?... I spent ten days feeling horrified and trying to get hold of Tony Meloto on the phone. Finally, on the last day of my trip, he showed me around two GK sites. Tears streamed down my face as I looked at these little pieces of heaven in the midst of a city that seemed like hell. I could not understand how this man was so peaceful and positive in a sea of suffering until he started talking to me about his faith and his beautiful vision of what this could become. I finished the tour, went straight to the airport and caught the next plane back to England, having just been through the most life-changing experience of my 28 years.”

“I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t eat without feeling guilty. I felt sick looking at my brand new BMW that was the equivalent of 80 homes for 400 Filipinos. After two days I sent an email to Tony Meloto telling him I wanted to send $100,000 and asked where to send it. I got another life-changing answer – “Please don’t send your money. If you’re really interested in helping us, please come back and show us how you would like us to use that money.””

“I suddenly remembered an experience I had as a teenager where I had prayed fervently for a family member who was in the grip of alcohol and drugs, “Lord please don’t send her to hell! Put me there instead!” Since that time, God had healed her and it was as if through this memory, he was asking me “See? I took her out of hell as you wanted. Will you now trust me and follow me there instead, as you promised?”

“After selling the BMW, I returned to the Philippines in April 2003, planning to stay for just 6 weeks. The last thing I expected was to fall in love with the Philippines.”

“The more I saw, the more I fell in love with GK, with the Philippines and with Anna Meloto, eldest daughter of Tony and Lyn. We were married in July 2004 and today we have two beautiful daughters, Ariel and Chloe – the special fruit of following where God leads.” (N.B. Dylan and Anna now have a new addition to their growing family – a baby boy named Wolfgang Anthony.)

“My first year in GK was a very heady one. 2003 was the year we launched GK777 – a vision to build 700,000 homes in 7,000 communities in 7 years and an articulation of the deepest dreams of all Filipinos that the country can change, rapidly and on a massive scale. It was incredibly audacious, especially because a highly respected group had dared to stake its entire reputation on something so huge that everyone thought was impossible. But it turned out that the simple articulation of the dream was what was needed to inspire people to go beyond what they had ever considered doing before.”

“My role became international partnerships – traveling to the USA, Canada, Australia, Europe, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore and beyond to share the good news that the Philippines was starting to change and that something was working on a huge scale.”

“In the beginning, we were excited when people would give one house. But with the launch of GK777, people started giving entire villages or even several villages.”

“I felt God’s call to stay and raise my children in the Philippines very strongly. The GK villages now look like the promised land. GK is a vision of what this country can become: beautiful, peaceful, the wickedness and vices driven out, a light to the country and to the world. I am offering everything I have – my country, my family, my prosperity, my children – and clinging to God’s promise that He WILL make this country a light to the world and He will bless my children in the land He brought me to. He will show us how to raise our children to be a nation of heroes that will bring prosperity to our people and guide many other nations out of poverty too. I offer this all for the glory of God, our loving Father, who sent me to the Philippines to become a servant to His beloved Filipino people.”

Dylan Wilk is a global GK advocate and a pioneer in social enterprises for poverty reduction and environment protection.

“Builder of Dreams” is a book authored by Tony Meloto, Founder and Chairman of Gawad Kalinga, that tells how the GK movement began and stories about people of faith and action in dreams of transforming the poor into citizens with self-dignity by working together and inspiring others.