The Light Bearer from Laguna

I met a light bearer from Laguna. His graying hair spoke of wisdom while his calloused hands revealed years of hard work. 

Arturo Tabunda (Tito Art) generously shared his knowledge to 15 residents from GK Alaska and GK Freedomville during their skills-training last July 1.

Supported by Accenture’s Skills to Succeed Program, the 3-day training sought to teach additional skills to GK residents to help them start a livelihood. Many of those who attended the workshop were out-of-school youth and fathers willing to learn.

Tito Art, a resident of GK Landco, was asked to teach his fellow beneficiaries how to make products from stone, resin and fiber glass. 

Art, true to his name, is a craftsman who discovered a passion for working with his hands, crafting candles in particular. 

As a young man, he was curious and observant. When he saw things that interested him, he always wondered how he could make them.  He taught himself from scratch and began sculpting wax when he was 18 years old. He took inspiration from a dentist’s mold on how to make his own. Soon after, he began designing candles and sold them and it became his source of livelihood. Light began to shine in his world.

The turning point when he discovered his true mission in life was when he volunteered with Caritas Manila and visited the Bilibid Prison. A man he talked to moves him to this day. 

The man he met in prison was depressed even though was going out of the jail in a week’s time.  “I wondered why he was so sad when he was going to be free,” Tito Art reflects. “I can still remember his eyes. He did not see any hope in life after prison.”  The next thing he knew, the man was found dead inside his cell. He had committed suicide.

Tito Art was so disturbed by the incident. With the help of a Jesuit priest Fr. Vic Labao, they started the Pag-Asa sa Paglaya Foundation. The priest loaned the land beside his church to start a livelihood center - a halfway house - where the men could go once they were released. They were given livelihood as they started a new life outside prison. 

Tito Art taught the men how to make candles and ceramics to help them to start their new lives anew.

When the foundation could already stand on its own, Art went on to share his knowledge of candle-making to GK Freedomville. 

The candles produced by the residents were brought to 23 cities in the United States during the WOW GK Events in 2008 which was aimed at raising awareness and funds to build more GK communities in the Philippines.

The sales of these candles enabled them to buy the land for their multipurpose center in which a pre-school will be built. The community fund also provided for the health and education needs of the families here.

The light bearer from Laguna continued to shine his light when he came to train the residents of GK Alaska on stone craft, fiberglass and resin-making.

The plan is that the GK communities in the province will form a supply chain where they will collaborate in producing quality items for customized orders and retail.

GK Freedomville will continue to produce the candles and products made from wax. GK Alaska will make stone craft and wood products while GK Landco will make items from resin and fiberglass. The GK community in Pangil will then produce packaging for these products from recycled materials.

This emerging social enterprise, a mini-economy that does not leave the poor behind, seeks to provide sustainable livelihood through the support of GKonomics which seeks to instill a culture of productivity in GK communities.

The focus on handicrafts making or products made by hands is to help more people. With a manpower based production, 75% of earnings go directly to labor, and more families are helped as a result.