My First Visit to GKs Enchanted Farm

Gawad Kalinga was founded by Tony Meloto and its Vision is to end poverty by the year 2024 thru 7-7-7. Its first 7 years was devoted to Social Justice, where they believed that each Filipino should live with dignity and have a home, so GK built hundreds of communities for the homeless thru self-help and volunteerism with moral and values formation. GK has now entered the next 7 years, which is Social Innovation and artistry. It aims to provide social and economic sustainability to its communities thru Social Entrepreneurship. The GK Enchanted Farm is a prototype which is aimed to be replicated in 12 sites all over the Philippines. And it was with great excitement to be able to finally visit the first GK Enchanted Farm located in Angat, Bulacan, for the 6th Social Innovation Camp.

The meeting place to convoy to the farm was at the Enchanted Farm Cafe along Commonwealth Avenue.  I arrived there at around 5am and was served soothing coffee and hot pandesal with white cheese, which all came from the farm.  We left at around 530 am and arrived  before 7am.  We gathered around the covered hall, welcomed and had our first breakfast at the Enchanted Farm.  

We then had a tour around the farm.  It was refreshing to see all the greens, trees, plants , the community and really good weather.  It is very inspiring, especially for a land use planner, to see how the farm has tremendously added value to an agri land that is supposedly isolated and inaccessible.  The farm is not just breeding plants and trees,but also communities and more so Social Entrepreneurs, as we got to see during our breakout sessions.  The Enchanted Farm can truly be a model in how we can develop and add value to our thousands of agri land that is undervalued and converted into 'ghost subdivisions' and barren developments.  

After the tour, it was inspiring to hear the founder and father of Gawad Kalinga, Mr Tony Meloto as he shared his Vision, purpose and dream.  It is truly a great time to be a Filipino.

The first Social Enterprise that we visited during the first breakout session was Enchantea.  It is a refreshing and healthy drink made up of 5 key natural ingredients: Lemon grass, pandan, duhat, avocado and kalamansi.  It aims to provide Filipinss an alternative drink from the unhealthy colas and  other beverages in the market while at the sametime providing communities business and income as they are the ones who propagates the ingredients while learning about Social Entrepreneurship.

The next Social Enterprise that we visited was Human Nature, whose products include shampoo, cosmetic lines, bugspray and many more.  The ingredients that are used are all natural and grown by GK communities as the company aims to be Pro Environment, Pro Poor and above all, Pro Filipino.    

Golden Egg Chain Inc. is a Social Enterprise that aims to provide a healthier alternative to the Itlog na Pula, the Golden Egg.  The salted egg is coated with a healthy ingredient usually used in Indian cuisine, called Turmeric.  It is a yellow powder substance that is said to be a natural antibiotic, low in cholesterol and improves digestion.  The enterprise also assists farmers in providing them sustainable source of income and trainings.  

Theo and Philo Chocolates and Kape Maria were also inspiring start-up Social Enterprises that brings a lot of promise in promoting the best of Philippine local coffee and chocolates.

Aside from the inspiring sharing of the different Social Entrepreneurs, another highlight of the camp was the 'Farmazing Race'- aka from the famous Amazing Race. It was a fun and engaging activity where we got to experience the farm thru puzzles, clues and a whole lot of running. Did I mention a lot of running? But it was a cool opportunity to bond with other participants of the camp, and to really memorize the ingredients of the different social entrep products.

Of course, we were also able to enjoy some yoga and relaxing time at the farm ;]

All in all, it was really a great learning and fun experience at the GK Enchanted Farm.