#ChangeForALife: Changing Whose Life?

#ChangeForALife: Changing Whose Life?

Last 30th Dec 2015, I had a chance to volunteer for TGFI’s Change for a Life Program.

It was a very unusual morning which started with a few funny moments.  The morning started with me having a rude awakening at 8am because I didn’t hear my alarm ring.  I had to rush getting ready as I was supposed to meet up with my friend and fellow volunteer Jay at 8am at Tiendesitas.  My parents, who are very supportive of all my outreach programs, gave me a ride to the meet up point as they unable to join the event due to a previous commitment of attending my cousin’s wedding in the afternoon and knowing Manila traffic it was just not feasible for them to join the outreach program. Good thing that there was no traffic jam as it was already a public holiday.  We had a quick breakfast at Jollibee and then proceeded to the meeting place, in front of the entrance of SM Aura.

After we parked the car, we were trying to get out of the building only to find out that we can only go as far as the Supermarket and the access to the main mall will only be opened at 10am which will make us very late for the meeting time.  It was funny because we didn’t know any mobile number of any TGFI Manila and what was more funny was getting stuck in either the Supermarket or the carpark..  In the end, we managed to get out of the mall when we saw Marrie and Ivan of TGFI SG in the Supermarket and we were all dropped off by their sister outside the mall.

Walking from SM Aura to the Barangay was actually an eye-opener as it was worlds apart wherein SM Aura is the high end branch of SM with nearby high rise condominiums and just on the other side you will see this humble community.

I thought I was there to help change a life but how I got it all wrong.  In reality the stories they shared helped to change my own life.  I saw how one mother was passionate in expanding her business to provide a better life for her family and in order to send her children to school.  It also helped me to realize the importance of family who are our biggest emotional why in wanting to be rich and the importance of sharing with others not just money but more importantly our time and knowledge in personal finance.

We had a chance to interact with the mothers and know their stories about saving, their challenges in life and in saving, their goal for saving and their dreams and ambitions.  Mags gave a short training on business planning, basically looking for problems and establishing a business to solve the problem.  We also played some very creative parlor games with the mothers and the children.  The morning ended with sharing some gifts and a simple lunch together.

Thank you Floi, Mike and TGFI Manila for helping organize the outreach program.

Thank you for the volunteers for spending their vacation time for a worthy cause especially for my fellow OFWs whose vacation time is limited and every minute is precious.

Thank you April and Ronald (team Apron) for the give-aways.

Thank you to the donors of our previous outreach program “Bulig Tacloban 2014”.  The excess money from that last event was used in providing for the simple Christmas lunch to the mothers, children and volunteers on that day.

To learn more about the “Change For A Life Program”, watch this video:https://www.facebook.com/serbisyoallaccess/videos/882657371809091/

Sharing with you some of our pictures of a morning well spent with virtual friends, fellow OFWs from Singapore, TGFI Manila Leaders and members, and the children and mothers from Minipark Zone 7, Barangay Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.

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