yes juan de la cruz, a Filipino won the “2009 cnn hero of the year” and no, it’s not manny pacquiao! (as if naman. with all due respect to the fans of pacquiao and boxing, please dont bite my head off but, my personal take on this sport is that it does not belong to the 21st century, it belongs to the middle ages!)
im referring to an educator from cavite by the name of efren penaflorida. in an interview after the awarding ceremonies in Washington, efren said that 90% of the $125,000 that he won will go to the organization(DYNAMIC TEEN COMPANY) and 10% to the church. with the victory of efren, im inspired to write about heroes for a change as im usually provoked into writing about the latest shenanigans of politicians, who are heroes only in their dirty, corrupt and polluted minds. writing about real heroes is a refreshing and welcome change for me.
i will not write about who efren is and the work that he does, all that is now public knowledge, rather, i would like to give tribute to THE KIND OF HEROES THAT I ADMIRE.
there are so many out there who do wonderful deeds that help multitudes of people, but to my mind, there are only a handful of them that i know by name. for now, they remain nameless and faceless, but one thing im certain of, they have big hearts.
why the anonimity, you may ask, the answer is…. HUMILITY…SELFLESSNESS, these admirable character traits common to these special breed of people may answer that question. i admire people who do their good deeds QUIETLY...was'nt there a wise man by the name of jesus, the only begotten son of God, the acknowledged lord and saviour by all christians, who once said "do not let the right hand know what the left hand is doing"...they are the people who do not seek the limelight , who do not bring photogs to document their work to feed their own egos, who do not need to be patted on the back for a job well done, who do not need to be in public office to help the poor, who do what they do without any monetary considerations...
they are the doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals who leave their comfortable oftentimes luxurious lifestyle to go to the poorest communities of the world, to help the sick who do not have access to any form of healthcare...they are the lawyers who accept pro bono cases to defend the rights of the oppressed against the injustices of this world...they are the nuns, priests, pastors, missionaries…men and women of faith that spread the word of our lord, to urge the people to choose peace and to love and respect one another, to the most dangerous parts of this planet...they are the teachers who for a measly amount of money they call salary, travels several kilometers, more often than not spending their own money for teaching paraphernalias, just to reach the students who are hungry for knowledge, waiting for their tutelage and guidance...they are those millionaires or billionares who chose to leave their money not to their next-of-kin but to reputable organizations that takes care of the poor, the underpriveledge, the marginalized…the forgotten people of the society...they are out there, doing what they have to do out of the goodness of their hearts, not asking for anything in return except maybe for the people that they have helped and whose lives they have touched to live well and someday help someone else so that the cycle of kindness continue…
you see, in my book, its not easy to be a hero. it is almost always hardwork whose only reward is the fullness of the heart and soul…on hindsight, its not a bad deal at all…to think that all the riches of the world cannot buy any of us that…
as I look at the picture of that event in Washington last night, seeing the ten finalist(out of 9000 nominees) onstage, in a sea of people wearing evening gowns and black ties, i cannot help but shed tears of joy and pride for the DYNAMIC TEEN COMPANY and their leader, who stood out on that stage wearing our native white barong tagalog with a very simple Philippine map embroidered on his chest. when asked by a journalist who his personal heroes are, efren replied…the volunteers of the Dynamic Teen Company all over the Philippines and the people who have supported their organization. he did not give their names… i guess he knows …among their kind it is understood…names are not important…fame and personal recognition is not their goal.
cheers efren, well done...
