I mentioned in my previous post that I had finished 2nd place in a speech contest. That contest was the English Speaking Union's (ESU) Selection for a Philippine Representative to the international competition in UK. Unfortunately, I would not be able to represent the country, but nonetheless it was still a fortune for my speech to be heard by others. 

I hope you find the time to read it too. 
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I am a hybrid.

My mother is a Muslim. My father is a Roman Catholic. I was baptized twice, of both faiths. Family reunions have me greeting “Assalamo Alaikum!” and “God bless!” alternately. Whenever I say, “Thank God!” my mother would add, “And Allah!”

The most skilled and aggressive debaters I know are my parents—like most couples. Yet in terms of what they believe in, I know they have achieved peaceful ground.

The same cannot be said for the rest of Filipino Christians and Muslims. Hundreds of years of religious prejudice have precipitated to so much tension between the two groups. Now, there are more Christians than Muslims in the Philippines. But I have two questions: will there be cooperation if tension exists? Will there be progress if tension exists? 

Because of my family’s unique situation, my parents had decided to establish a foundation back in 2001 that would ease tension between the two groups through youth education, through libraries. They called it the “Kristiyano-Islam Peace Library”, or KRIS. Think about it: kids who grow up reading, learning, playing and laughing together would find it difficult to be heirs to the tension their parents had felt. 

However, we had come to discover through our libraries that we did not have to teach children anything about peace. We simply had to provide the venue. Without qualms during activities, they would make friends without exceptions. Boys of either faith huddle together to read favourite stories. Girls in “hijab” veils and long-sleeves would be playing tag with their counterparts in skirts and shorts. “Tension” did not exist in their vocabulary.

This is not ignorance of the norm. This is innocence and purity despite the norm.

It is this same innocence and purity that has catapulted heroes out of the youth. They come into this world new, not sure about how to act, what to say, what to think. The prejudices of the world have not yet been cemented in them. It comes as no surprise then that out of the youth come ideas that have revolutionized the world.

At 25, Albert Einstein challenged 300 years of Newtonian physics with the theory of relativity. At 26, Jose Rizal, our national hero published the first out of two books that would help topple 333 years of Spanish oppression.

Note, however, that youth is not exclusively an age.

 This is the wisdom of the youth—the ability to reject norms, norms like tension, corruption and worst: the belief that nothing will change.

But I believe that things can change. I do more than believe. I am trying to make things change. Last year, I took on the role of Administrator to KRIS Library. It has not been easy to balance it with my studies, but it has been fulfilling.

People have asked me: what are you doing? Are you stupid? At your age, do you think you can you really help?

I tell them, in maintaining this venue for peace, I am doing my best one child at a time.

Thankfully, I’m in the perfect position to do so because I’m a world between worlds. I am a hybrid. Through my existence, I have already destroyed one norm. Why not move on to the next?

I found life rather than death in the gap between Muslims and Christians. I found a dream in that little space between the Mosque and the Church. I found my own wisdom between the cross and the crescent moon.

Because of these, I thank God. And Allah.

Two days ago, my family and I arrived here in Zamboanga City. After the long ride from the airport to the remote barangay of Manicahan, the first thing I sought to do was to behold the completed spectacle of the KRIS Library here.

Adorned with a glinting yellow parol in front, the door to the library was already open as about a dozen children were inside hovering over books and an intense game of chess. Several flew from shelf to shelf as their eyes zoomed from Science to History to Art in our simplified categories of selections. With around 10,000 books in our arsenal of learning, the smaller kids would usually pull up chairs to retrieve reading treasures shelved in nooks taller than them. And they would nestle themselves in the tables in the first floor. Going up the staircase, I smelled new varnish layered on the surface, and saw some more boxes of new books stacked in the corner. To my left was a wide space with a conference table and to my right was a busy computer room with three veiled Muslim girls chatting over their newly-made e-mail accounts. I then took a peak into a wide, clean guest room fit to be occupied by our visiting volunteers in the future. Finally, a little boy ran past me to go down to the comfort room. After he left, I checked out the two new comfort rooms for both genders whose glinting blue tiles and fixtures were kept clean for the kids. 

Today, KRIS Library - Manicahan is not just a hub of reading and learning; it is now also an internet oasis in a quiet town where our beneficiaries have at their fingertips so much instant information and so many opportunities. Today, the library is not just a library: it is a complete home -- of literacy, of joint learning, of peace.

This is the spirit of expansion displayed not only by the library there, but also by the KRIS Library organization as a whole. Including Manicahan, we now have five libraries. KRIS Library - Quezon City has been remodeled with a roof and new shelves of books to accommodate the multitude of children coming from Barangay Holy Spirit's vast slum areas. Meanwhile, the foundations for the libraries in Brgy. Tungawan and Brgy. Timbabauan (that both stand near MILF camps in Zamboanga Sibugay) have been forged. Construction will hopefully be underway in 2012. Furthermore, KRIS Library - Rizal, built in the relocation area for poor victims of Ondoy and fire incidents in Metro Manila, is up and running thanks to our partnership with several Claretian missionaries. And beyond the libraries, thousands of smiles have been sparked and a hundred minds ignited with our numerous books and school supplies distribution, and our prolific scholarship fund that has already given 101 scholarship grants from elementary to college.

Definitely, much has been done. We have taken our advocacy to new frontiers. We have reached further. And we owe it all to you.

KRIS Library, without its sponsors, media partners, volunteers, and many supporters, is nothing. Your every book, your every peso, your reaching hands have gone a long way to uplift education for thousands of children in the Philippines. You, dear KRIS warrior, have made an impact in the life of a child who could be the next Jose Rizal, Albert Einstein, or Mahatma Gandhi; you had helped us give the opportunity of a lifetime. Peace, they say, is a long, complicated process. But we believe this is a good start.

More than three years ago, my family and I arrived here in Zamboanga City. After the long ride from the airport to the town of Manicahan, the first thing I sought to do was to arrange logistics for the upcoming soft opening of KRIS Library - Manicahan. Back then, we were unsure if we could keep the advocacy running. Back then, we couldn't believe we could reach this far. But then we found out the many amazing things people go all the way for to be able to help out.

Now, I am typing from an internet-connected computer in KRIS Library-Manicahan. The place buzzes with life even as Noche Buena is a few hours away. Two of our KRIS scholars huddle between a group of younger lads and teach them the alphabet. Upstairs, veiled Muslim girls who knew nothing about computers three years ago are now expertly discovering their way online.

I have no doubt: this joyful season, KRIS Library owes itself to you, because the wishes of many children this Christmas have already come true.

God bless!