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A Reflection Paper about UST-CWTS Gift-Giving Activity
By Lanie Yu of L3A Society
Sentimental gift-giving is fast becoming extinct in today’ society, as was the apparent status quo, we do not anymore value gifts as much as we had previously. Nowadays, gifts are being like proxies, as they are not attaining their essence, but only their purpose. It is a sad fact that we continuously propagate it through what we call “Wishlist”. By the mere definition of a “Wishlist”, it means as simple as a wish per se. Yet, as we all know, it would ignite displeasure from the receiver, having been disappointed/frustrated from not obtaining what he/she had wrote earlier as a “wish” in the “Wishlist”. Obviously, the receiver will not express his/her displeasure. The aforementioned statements apply often if not always to the upper and middle class of the society. In the case of the underprivileged niche of the society, it is a different case.
As opportunity calls for me to have a visit in an underprivileged community of Barangay Lambakin in Marilao, Bulacan for our CWTS (Civic Welfare Training Service) gift-giving activity, I agreed and I eventually gained a lot from the said trip. Aside from the free bus ride and new acquaintances, I was able to view gift-giving in different angles, especially of the disadvantaged. People often utilized the “closing minute poverty and opening minute hope”; as it unconsciously induces a poor vision for our underprivileged fellowmen, in exchange for publicity, activity and the like. Just as politicians do, we fail to give the villagers something for the long run, something that is not “as always”. We only achieve our purpose, not theirs. But because it’s Christmas, it is obviously justified that we had only done such. We could not blame whosoever, because it’s nobody’s fault, it’s a norm. So going back, the gift-giving was conducted using raffle draws for the sake of equal distribution among the families of the community. With these in mind, I would affirm what Baltasar Gracian had said in the consequent paragraph.
In the process of the gift-giving activity, we were told to act as a barricade between the onlookers and the beneficiaries of the said raffle draw. All of the lucky beneficiaries have the same singular feeling of happiness, difference lies on the extent of the said feeling. I heard one of them exclaimed “Sa wakas, nakatikim na ako ng kotse!” (“At last, I was able to taste the feeling of having a car!”); when in fact they knew that they would just be given one Noche Buena Package worth Php 350. It’s no big deal for us, but for them, they craved for it. The fact that they craved for it, can surely let them appreciate them highly. Also, it is easy to see that they appreciated it as they had with them their frank-smiling faces upon knowing that they are one of the beneficiaries of the raffle draw. Further, as it happens, I was assigned in someplace with a distance from the announcer of the raffle draw. The onlookers near me wasn’t able to hear the numbers being called, they got angry and were saying that, “Maawa naman kayo sa aming mahihirap, hihingi na lang ng kaunting grasya, pahihirapan pa!”(“Pity on us, the poor, we are only begging for your petty gifts, and you snag at us!) Although the facilitators were trying the best that they could in order that the announcements would reach that far, it proved futile, because of the noise from the chatter of the onlookers themselves. Most importantly, these statements prove that Baltasar Gracian is right in quoting about the art of giving. That the more a gift is bought at a cheaper price and yet highly yearned, it becomes more appreciated. Same is true in our case, most if not all, would rather have a letter wrote by a special person than a pearl given by a millionaire friend. Because a letter may be something that is exerted effort upon, it has no price though. While a pearl may be something that the millionaire has deliberately bought, it may mean nothing to the said millionaire. This Christmas vacation, we can observe within ourselves that Gracian’s quote is subjectively and objectively precise. Happy Holidays!
This intel first appeared on: http://lanieyu.blogspot.com/2008/12/great-art-of-giving-consists-in...
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This intel was contributed by Lanie Yu
Lanie Yu
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May, 2012
2008
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