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Fuji Xerox Gawad Kalinga Village is located in an economically depressed area on the outskirts of Manila. This report spotlights the activities that Fuji Xerox Philippines is pursuing to foster social and economic independence of slum residents.
In Fuji Xerox Gawad Kalinga Village
Skyscrapers, shopping centers, and luxury hotels line the streets of the Makati district of downtown Manila, the Philippines' capital city.
In stark contrast, just thirty minutes by car from Fuji Xerox Philippines' headquarters in Makati, is Taguig City. When passing the city's upscale residential zones, a bleak scene of tinroofed shanties and narrow alleys suddenly appears.
Fuji Xerox Gawad Kalinga (GK) Village, completed in December 2007, is located in a Taguig slum area. It comprises 30 homes and a two-story multipurpose hall.
The homes house 34 families, comprising 120 residents in total.
Groups of four homes share a communal kitchen and bathing facilities.
Here, the alleys serve as playgrounds for frolicking children supervised by smiling mothers and the elderly. As reflected in their tranquil expressions, life is now much better for the local residents. Previously, they were always under pressure of being evicted since they built their shanties on the city's property without permission. They were virtually isolated from surrounding neighborhoods and had to tolerate an environment rampant with violent crime and drunken street fights. Now, however, the scene is quite different with the establishment of the Fuji Xerox GK Village, which showcase newly built homes and a multipurpose hall that serve as community facilities.
The first floor of the Fuji Xerox Gawad Kalinga Village multipurpose hall serves as a daycare center, while the second floor is utilized as a computer training facility. One parent, Medy Austria, notes that she can now leave her children at the daycare center in the morning and work on her needlecraft. Above all, Medy is happy that her children can now attend school. Before, many families could not afford the cost of textbooks; therefore, their children were deprived of an all-important education.
The multipurpose hall is also open to local residents and other nearby GK Villages. Local volunteers regularly visit the facility to teach children how to use the computers. Companies that support other GK Villages in the same area donated the computers. Many children learning at the hall exclaim enthusiastically that they want to work using computers in the future. The multipurpose hall has truly become a hub where children can pursue their dreams and aspirations.
When People Regain Honor and Dignity They Become Independent
“Gawad Kalinga” from which the village gets its name, means, “to give care” in Pilipino.
The Gawad Kalinga Project is a self-sufficiency promotion project for slum communities, launched by a Cathol ic organizat ion, Couples for Christ. This project espouses for municipalities to provide residential rights in village construction zones, for local residents to participate in construction work, and for businesses to cover construction material costs and provide volunteers for construction work.
It is the organization's policy to respectfully decline one-off donations. In 2006, the Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation and its then-representative founder, Antonio Meloto, received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership, which is widely regarded as the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize.
“For me, the most important thing is for people on the fringes of society to regain their honor and dignity as human beings,” explains Meloto in describing the goals of the foundation's activities. “When people are hungry, have no place to live, and feel they have been cast aside by society, they become desperate and violent. However, when they meet someone who cares about them, and who works with them to build their own houses, they begin to strive on their own to lead better lives. For example, men who once never worked more than two days a week have now started working five days or more per week. It's crucially important that people living in slum areas feel that someone really cares about them.”
Fuji Xerox Philippines Meets Gawad Kalinga: Activities that Foster a Sense of Unity Within Fuji Xerox Pphilippines
In 2006, former Fuji Xerox Philippines president, Romerico Serrano, found himself troubled by the downturn in the company's business performance and declining employee morale. During a search for community programs that would foster a stronger sense of unity within the company through employee participation, he came across the Gawad Kalinga Project and immediately decided to get involved.
In August 2006, the Fuji Xerox Philippines Foundation made a 2.6 million yen (1,325,000 Philippine pesos) contribution to Gawad Kalinga. The groundbreaking ceremony for the GK Village Project took place in October, with Taguig Mayor Sigfrido Tinga in attendance.
“Build Days” were held more than 30 times on Saturdays with Serrano and nearly 20 percent of Fuji Xerox Philippines' employees participating as volunteers. The project was completed in December 2007 and handed over to local residents.
The company set up a Project Committee in September 2006. The Committee's duties ranged from internal communications to recruiting volunteers, guiding employees to the worksite, arranging lunches and beverages and allocating work duties for more than 30 volunteers on each Build Day.
“At times, we had so many volunteers that we had to send some off to work at other village construction projects,” chuckles Waldo Rodriguez, a Fuji Xerox GK Village voluntary caretaker, who supports local residents on a daily basis.
“ Fuji Xerox Philippines went beyond conventional support.” Meloto said in appreciation. “It stands out in terms of the sheer number of volunteers, and the fact that it placed importance on education and built the multipurpose hall.”
Changed Awareness Created a Sense of Unity
Each Monday after the Build Day, the Fuji Xerox Philippines Project Committee put up posters throughout Fuji Xerox Philippines' workplace to keep employees up-to-date on the progress of the project construction work.
Photos of the president and executive officers all smudged with wet cement and paint particularly pleased employees. In the process of working toward a common goal through teamwork, the company's employees regained their sense of pride and solidarity.
Employees who initially had no interest in the project also became involved.
They became increasingly aware of how fortunate they are to have a stable job and life. Some employees were inspired by the slum residents becoming more independent as the construction work proceeded, and felt a need to become more independent in their own lives. Furthermore, many employees took their children to the Build Days as an educational opportunity to see the wider society they live in.
In terms of Fuji Xerox Philippines business, multinational companies and giant Philippinesbased firms accounts for nearly 25 percent of Fuji Xerox Philippines' total sales revenue. The remaining 75 percent is generated through businesses with small- and medium-size local companies. Fuji Xerox Philippines executives who have participated in the Build Days, frequently mentioned that if more people in the slum areas participate in economic activities, they will eventually set up their own businesses and pay taxes. Then the economy will thrive at the national and local levels and companies like Fuji Xerox Philippines will enjoy stronger growth.
Through Fuji Xerox Philippines' participation in this project, it will develop a long-term perspective on it's contributions to society.
Closer Community Ties
Gawad Kalinga ac tively encourages naming villages af ter companies that provide funding and volunteers for the village construction, which helps to foster corporate brand recognition.
“I recommend that companies contemplate participating in Gawad Kainga visit the Fuji Xerox Village as an outstanding model,” says Meloto. “When residents see visitors, they will understand that their Village is a model, and their appreciation toward Fuji Xerox Philippines will increase. This will help deepen Fuji Xerox Philippines' ties to the village community and enhance mutual trust. Both slum residents and participating companies must merit from the GK project. Otherwise, it will not be sus tainable.”
“After working together with Fuji Xerox Philippines at the GK Project, our mutual trustst rengthened considerably, and Fuji Xerox Philippines has become our indispensable partner,” explains Joel G.
Santos, vice-president of a local firm, who voluntarily supervises 16 Gawad Kalinga Villages in three cities including Taguig.
“When we share the same values through the Gawad Kalinga Project, we can help improve Philippine society.
Unless the Philippine society improves, our own businesses will not expand.
We see Fuji Xerox Philippines as a solid, trustworthy partner that can pursue its business operations and social action programs together.”
Taking Social Contributions to the Next Level
Now that the construction work is finished and the multipurpose hall is fully operational, Fuji Xerox Philippines is exploring the next stage of involvement.
“We are doing business in the Philippines, a country that faces a tremendous challenge of eradicating poverty,” says Iwao Abe, Fuji Xerox Philippines president since 2008, in stressing his own determination. “For Fuji Xerox Philippines' sustainable growth, it is essential that we nurture employees who are sensitive to local needs and able to translate those needs into action.”
Although FX GK Village residents' quality of life may have improved, many of their current jobs are day jobs on construction sites and other forms of labor.
“To help citizens in these districts find stable employment, Fuji Xerox Philippines is open to the possibility of using the multipurpose hall to start a training program for adult education and the development of other occupational skills,” explains Abe, demonstrating his own mettle in an enthusiastic tone. “We want to think about community development together and be members of a strong team that transcends all barriers. If we can continue to be part of a proud team, I believe Fuji Xerox Philippines will become a company solidly grounded in the Philippine society. As its president, I am determined to assume a leadership role in these activities.”
A time capsule has been buried in the common plaza area of the Fuji Xerox Village. It contains Fuji Xerox Philippines' Mission Statement as well as a copy of the letter of understanding exchanged with Gawad Kalinga. Fuji Xerox Philippines and GK expect that collaboration of this kind among companies, communities, and local government will spread to other communities and lead to the realization of society-wide sustainable development.
Third-Party Opinion
Sigfrido Tinga, Taguig Mayor
Taguig has become a model city for Gawad Kalinga, since Taguig now has more villages than any other city in the Philippines. Last year, the World Bank listed Taguig as the Philippines' most businessfriendly city. However, as a citizen born in this city, I could not tolerate the gap between the rich and poor. My strong displeasure drove me to put behind my career as a businessman and run for mayor. I consider it my mission to not only help Taguig maintain its status as a businessfriendly community, but also provide better homes for citizens living in our slum districts.
When Taguig first decided to form an alliance with Gawad Kalinga, Fuji Xerox Philippines was the first to tender a request to participate. Fuji Xerox Philippines never once asked what benefits it would gain in return for participation. It took a look at our community, held discussions with us, and made a decision to participate on its own.
Fuji Xerox Village is an excellent model. Whenever we hear about other companies exploring the idea of becoming involved in Gawad Kalinga Projects, we simply tell them to visit the Fuji Xerox Village. I hope that Fuji Xerox widely publicizes its Gawad Kalinga activities both in the Philippines and in Japan, to inspire more companies to participate in the project.
