Outstanding Loving

Viewing the presentation of the CNN Heroes for 2013 gave me such great joy. It was so full of authentic Christmas Spirit.

Let us start with the men. Dale Beatty fully realized the desperate need of soldiers disabled and out of the service lacking the security of a home of their own. He himself was disabled by the war but this did not stop him from working on Purple Hearts Homes, a project to insure that soldiers would have decent housing. Georges Bwelle actually takes the road less travelled by providing medical care to those who had none in the interior of Cameroon. “To make people laugh, to reduce the pain, that’s why I’m doing this”. On the other hand Richard Nares observed the difficulties experienced by parents bringing children with cancer to the hospital for chemotherapy, he arranged for this service to be available.

Selected by consultation with people (they cast votes) Chad Pregracke was selected CNN Hero of 2013. I guess many voted for him because his work is very relevant to the challenges of our times. He was honored because of working for fifteen years (since 1998) cleaning-up first the Mississippi River and proceeded with other “American waterways with 70,000 volunteers” gathering “7 million pounds of garbage from 22 rivers”. It was very inspiring, seeing him on TV, working in collaboration with several young people. He said: “Picking up garbage, it’s tough, miserable and hot; we try to make it fun.”

I paid special attention to the women awardees. Robin Emmons was disturbed by the fact that many people in Charlotte, North Carolina were becoming malnourished, hungry for the fresh vegetables and fruits not accessible to them. So she transformed her property into a farm of fruits and vegetables. She did not only provide livelihood for those who worked with her in the farm, she also provided these fresh fruits and vegetable at affordable prices. I remembered our local winner who set up a vegetable garden within her very limited space.

Foster children’s dreams moved Danielle Gletow to post their wishes on line (“6500 wishes in 42 states). She became instrumental in the realization of their wishes. This reminded me of the heroic efforts of staff in our TV networks in assisting people with their wishes big and small. How admirable the efforts of the Bantay Bata Program are in providing sustained assistance to children.

Many midwives had been working with hardly any illumination. Imagine doing sutures with the light only of a cell phone. Laurel Stachel, an obstetrician immediately wanted to act on such a situation. She worked with her husband and a team to provide “a special solar suitcase to help health care workers in more than 20 developing countries”. She declared: “I really want a world where women can deliver babies safely and with dignity.” This reminded me of Luz Ilagan who has been tirelessly working on legislation because of her conviction that “no woman should die, giving life”.

I am especially awed by those dedicated to education. First there is Estella Pyfrom who “used her life savings to create Estella’s Brilliant Bus—a mobile computer lab that provides tutoring for thousands of low income students in Palm Beach, California. We have heroes here too among those fighting the negative effects of the computer in child prostitution via cybersex.

Tawanda Jones used dance to instill among her students “discipline, respect, and community service”. Her students attested that her patience and faith in them changed them from underachievers to successful academic performers; prevented their dropping out from school. I remembered how Prof. Socorro Villalobos (Metrobank awardee) with patience and sympathy motivated “wayward” students or underachievers to succeed in math.

Kakenya Ntaiya of Kenya even as a young girl had a mind of her own. She made an effort to delay the African practice of female genital mutilation. But when she could no longer refuse, she bargained with her father. She would continue schooling after the horrible process. After high school in Africa, her community supported her trip to the US to study to become a teacher. And “she returned to open the village’s first primary school for girls”. She was full of gladness as she said that: “Our work is empowering girls. They are dreaming of becoming lawyers, teachers, doctors”. Dr. Madrilena de la Cerna honored through her dissertation the leading women who have significantly contributed to women empowerment in our country.

It has been very exciting to have been provided with these role models to share with our young people exploring ways of living more fully and meaningfully. We can easily bring their attention to the openness of the heroes’ hearts to the realities and concerns facing their communities. And these heroes have offered not only empathy but also decisive action. They were not held back by thoughts that such trailblazing efforts were undoable. Their positive moves inspired collaboration—for most, among the youth. As we encounter kinship with those with similar endeavours, our faith, hope, and love are enriched.

(Memory limitations were aided by edition. cnn.com/2013/10/10/world/cnnheroes-top-10)