Sadly despite the number of volunteers, the Pasig site was ill prepared. Imagine the ones who were supposed to teach the kids puppet designs cannot even take control of the pre-pubescent boys as fights would ensue and there were nonstop throwing of things.
The ones assigned in the nursery also did not fare well. The ates and kuyas looked hapless as the gaggle of kids ignored their attempt in making them listen. It took the house parent’s intervention to create a semblance of order but it was enough to show that this event was a colossal flop.
It felt more about getting the volunteer man hours than actually making a difference in these kids’ lives. We could have been better off doing an outreach program like the KnoxOut One Wall One World thing or Gawad Kalinga, Habitat or Brigada Eskwela than pretend that we care for these kids.
During the planning stage with our then boss, I suggested that we plan something that we can sustain without sacrificing the budget for operations each time. Since I had been part of an organization that solely capitalizes on volunteering I gave my two cents worth that embarking on an ambitious project might prove to be too much. Sustainable CSR projects eat a lot of resources and I do not think we can do that at the moment as we have zilch. We need major planning and a really big budget to help us start. I was chastised for being negative, that my objections were misplaced. I did not say anything afterwards, nothing I say will matter anyway.
So right after that big hubub about the 10th of March, nothing can be heard of the CSR project. No one knew if we even managed to get near the 15,000 volunteer man hours. Save for those who uploaded their photos on FB, no one came out with any news release. Sadly, like I predicted the CSR project just died a natural death…
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