Meeting a real live HERO

Last night was the gala of Ateneo Alumni's convention aimed at helping those Arrneeow
grads to deal with life in the US and of course many more tidbits of net working.

But the guest speaker , Antonio Meloto, was the draw for me. Tall, silver haired, and mild mannered but with the power to change the world. Three years ago, Gawad Kalinga was brought to Chicago through an informational meet. My ignorance labeled it like Habitat for Humanity. But boy, was I wrong. It goes way beyond building a house for those in need, it goes way beyond wild expectations. And it is working.

So I gushed and told Tony Meloto that he was my hero, that I believe inhis life's work and project even if I am one short of the three T's needed. (treasure, cheez, I probably would be one of those building and then hoping to live in one of those houses built).

Following Tony Meloto's work, listening to the critics jealous of his success, wondering why, if they claim to be Catholic, they persecute him the way Jesus was persecuted, hey, I am not likening him to Jesus, but he is following the foot path of Jesus in serving the people. His method of reachin out to people is not threatening but rather, makes one wistful in wanting to be a part of this building futures and giving hope for many destitute Filipinos. Give them an out from the depths of their poverty, house them and then give them the tools to educate themselves, find a livelihood they can master and have them police themsleves to lower the crime rate, keep them from going back to the drudgery of petty thievery, drunkenness and hopelessness. And for this Tony is being branded as not being a good Catholic.

Now, there are groups from all over the world studying Gawad Kalinga and working to bring it to their countries. It would be disappointing to find out later on that they ran with the ball and would surpass the Philippines in this just because the stumbling blocks that Catholic Filipinos and clergy are wont to create.

But for whatever it is, Tony Meloto is my hero. He believes we are all heroes in our own way when we help GK. May the Lord always be with him and guide him, and protect him from the crabs in the basket.