Last updated on :
January 30, 2012

Some of the projects and activities of Bayanihan are supported by:

Commissie PIN

Philippine Women’s Center in the Netherlands

The first in Bayanihan’s anniversary series – a musical success!

C.D.N.

Built in the Middle Ages and a popular venue for concerts due to its acoustic, the sober and serene Geertekerk in Utrecht was a fitting scene for the evening’s celebration. Contrary to the (unfounded, as it turned out) fears of some of us that the rather cold, windy and very wet day would be a discouragement, more than 250 people actually came to be part of the AILM Chorale Asian Ensemble’s delightful performance of meditative, festive and even playful music and dances from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Myanmar and the Philippines. The audience counted members of both Filipino and Dutch communities, supporters, friends, family relations and colleagues from the non-profit sector, Ambassador Romeo Arguelles (who said a few words of support and endorsement about Bayanihan’s work) and Consul Leila Santos, and the general concert-going public from Utrecht and from as far as Eindhoven and Enschede. The whole evening was even covered by Utopics, a local television program (RegioTV Utrecht).

With the aid of hours of persuasive phone calls and personal conversations, Bayanihan received sponsorships and pledges of support from more than 80 individuals and groups. The funds from the gifts and ticket sales will certainly help in enabling Bayanihan to continue rendering free social service assistance to the Filipino community in general and Filipinas in particular in the Netherlands. Based on our experience in fundraising via project proposal writing, this amount is actually equivalent to (if not more than) some endowment from regular funding agencies in the Netherlands. However, we are in no doubt whatsoever that the benefit concert was not only a much more fun way of raising funds but it also gave the whole process a more personal touch and put us in direct contact with our supporters and benefactors.

Behind every project are the individuals who created and nurtured it from its inception to its culmination. Our fundraising concert would not have been possible or a success in the absence of the concerted efforts, energies, brawn and brains of several individuals and groups. Florence (Yeng) Somsen-Nacion, a former member of the Board and constant supporter of Bayanihan, is the first in a chain of important and necessary causes. Had she not told us last March 11 (at the end of a fulfilling International Women’s Day celebration, after all the vacuuming and dishwashing) that we could avail of the AILM Chorale for a sponsored concert evening sometime in May, A Night of Asian Music and Dances would not have taken place. Serendipity! Yeng was also the person we pelted with e-mails for materials on the AILM Chorale and their program.

The Kerk in Aktie of the Protestant Churches in the Netherlands brought the AILM Chorale to our corner of the world, and its representatives – Marieke Schouten and Ad Mook – made it possible for us to “borrow” the Chorale for the evening. We are thankful as well to the AILM staff for their cooperation, especially its adjunct director Beth Nacion-Puyot. The 23 chorale members and conductor Jojo Velasco have our gratitude and our admiration for being good-natured and appreciative of the meager conditions we could offer, and for giving everyone an unforgettable, awesome and soul-uplifting performance

Since this was a fundraising concert, we made sure our expenses were well and truly limited to the necessary and unavoidable and kept to the minimum; hence the completely “home-made” invitations, tickets and souvenir programs, and the full-reliance on voluntary human power. Several individuals helped us in this department. The generosity of Tess’ Catering made it possible for us and the chorale members to enjoy quite lekker and affordable food. There were the “men of Bayanihan”, like Pierre de Man (for lending the printer for all the concert-related materials, and for being driver - among other things) and Jan Brouwers (for being driver and photographer, among other things). The Giordano Bruno Huis and the Klooster Cenakel Pink Sisters helped us avoid expensive professional printing services. Eight Filipino exchange students from Cebu donated the flowers for the evening, while the Remonstranste Gemeente Utrecht not only gave us a generous rental discount but also generous concessions on the use of the venue itself and a free notice in their newspaper to boot. The ever-reliable Munting Nayon sponsored our concert announcement which made the event known to many in the Filipino community.

There are, of course, the “usual suspects” – the women of Bayanihan: Delle, Ruby, Cecilia, Malu, Virgie, Diana, Tess, Margie, Cora, and Lein. Each carried out their individual tasks with gusto and dedication, whether it was looking for a venue or persuading possible sponsors, or putting the souvenir program together or licking stamps or selling tickets or cleaning up. Together they made this inspiring night a reality, with the able support of women like Jessie Ligan (one of the photographers), Lydia Kroon (usher), and Zeni Sajot

Finally, as important in the chains of causes are the audience who were with us on this night, and our benefactors who believed in our work (some of whom were regrettably unable to enjoy the evening with us but will definitely receive a copy of our souvenir program). We are indeed proud to say that the success of A Night of Asian Music and Dances is the result of individuals working together driven by the bayanihan spirit. THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH! See you all in our next anniversary activity.

[Part 3 of the story of Bayanihan will appear in the next issue.]

Bayanihan Foundation
 Netherlands
Mob. Tel. +31 (0)6 - 22 94 77 59
E-mail: info@bayanihan.nl

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