The genius of the poor: ‘Ditch the shirt and tie!’

Thomas Graham

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The genius of the poor: ‘Ditch the shirt and tie!’
'Simply by being here among the people and showing a genuine interest in their lives, seems to have sent a powerful message to this community that they matter'

MANILA, Philippines – “Welcome Thomas Graham, our special guest from England,” a banner boldly proclaims at the entrance to the community.

A special delegation of elderly mabuhay ladies has come to the entrance to greet me, together with a cluster of excitable young children. These ladies may have lost the beauty of yesteryear, they may even lack a few teeth, and yet they more than make up for it with the broadest of smiles. Immediately, they usher me to a table and tell me that food is on the way.

I have come to Silver Heights, a small community within Barangay (village) Malaria in Caloocan City. Admittedly, this neighborhood is unlikely to rank highly among the Lonely Planet’s “Places to Visit,” but then again, I am not here on a whim.

I am here upon the recommendation of Tony Meloto: the founder of Gawad Kalinga and, without doubt, one of the most remarkable men I have ever interviewed.

A serendipitous encounter  

“Ditch the shirt and tie! Go out and discover the genius of our poor!” he told me a few weeks earlier. Having interviewed hundreds of businessmen and politicians worldwide, no words will end up having such a profound impact upon me as these.

Prior to our interview, I had little idea who Mr. Meloto was, or how to pronounce the words Gawad Kalinga. Indeed, when I showed up to meet him for the first time, dressed in a smart suit and with a clipboard listing the standard questions about investment opportunities and economic growth, I fully expected to be in and out of this standard interview in no more than half an hour.  

Three hours later, I looked back at my clipboard to realize that at least half of my questions never actually got answered. Not because Mr. Meloto refused to answer them, but because I myself had realized how irrelevant they were. As he talked passionately about his unconditional love for the poorest of the poor, my follow-up questions – on the latest government anti-poverty scheme or the UN development goals – didn’t somehow seem to fit.

SHIRT AND TIE. The author with GK Founder Tony Meloto, shortly after he is urged to ‘ditch’ the shirt and tie, and discover the Genius of the Poor. Photo courtesy of Thomas Graham

‘Doubting Thomas’

One of Mr. Meloto’s more astonishing claims – his belief in the “genius of the poor” – stayed with me. Poverty, as I perceived it, was synonymous with dirt and deprivation, but “genius”? If there is indeed genius in the poor, then why are they poor in the first place? My Makati drinking buddies have taught me an alternative perspective – the “tambays.”

Sensing my skepticism, Mr. Meloto simply threw down the gauntlet: “Come alongside the poor, befriend them, partner with them, and you will discover their potential. But don’t take my word for it – experience it for yourself.”

Mr. Meloto is a rather persuasive man (as over one million GK volunteers will attest to), and just weeks later, I tell my bemused parents back home in London that the well-paid job and the thirty-fourth floor condo are things of the past. Instead, I am living out of the mosquito-infested lowly basement of my newfound Filipino uncle, “Tito” Tony.

From here, I will travel up and down the country and try to figure out whether Tito Tony’s love and admiration for the poor is a perspective that I can embrace as well.

The Silver Heights community is the first stop in my journey. Situated within the hard-to-find and lowly district of Malaria, the living space of the 78 families here had acquired the nickname Kubeta (toilet) since their housing units were no larger than a toilet. For over 10 years, this community lived out of small, makeshift plywood shacks, had no water supply and just a couple of communal toilets to share between them. In time, this community gained such an unsavory reputation for anti-social behavior and crime (even by Malaria’s lowly standards) that even the local priests visited with apprehension.

An ideal starting place, I thought, to put Tito Tony’s contention to test.

The Power of Presence

“Do you speak Filipino?” one of the ladies asks me. “Konti lang! (Just a little)” I hastily responded, eager not to disappoint. These words are intended as a simple gesture of respect for their language, but they are taken to imply that I do indeed speak “a little” Filipino and a barrage of questions are thrown enthusiastically at me.

Lacking my suit, a set of well-rehearsed questions, an air-conditioned office – and suitable language skills – I soon begin to feel like just another clueless foreigner in Manila.     

The five-star welcome leaves me rather perplexed, since I come bearing no tidings and have nothing specific to offer my hosts. I begin to wonder: have I, in fact, been mistaken for someone else?

“We are just happy that you are here. For most of our lives we were used to being an eyesore,” Bart Haagdam, the community leader, explains in excellent English as he sits down next to me. “If anyone visited us in the past, it was normally to evict us.”

Simply by being here among the people of Silver Heights, and showing a genuine interest in their lives, seems to have sent a powerful message to this community that they matter.

Helping the poor, as I saw it, had always consisted of donating funds and charity, and yet I now begin to wonder whether it is in fact our presence, and not our presents, that really counts.  

It makes me feel rather good, too. – Rappler.com 

The Genius of the Poor is available at Fully Booked and Human Nature stores nationwide. To place an order visit: http://humanheartnature.com/buy/index.php/the-genius-of-the-poor.html

Look out for regular extracts from the book over the coming weeks. 

 

 

 

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