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MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE 2) For his innovative “Kariton Klasrum” (pushcart classroom) Filipino educator Efren Peñaflorida has been awarded by CNN as “2009 Hero of the Year.”
Peñaflorida was awarded during the CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. He received his award from American actress Eva Mendes. He bested nine other nominees from different countries for the Hero of the Year award. The nominees were initially selected by a panel of 14 “Blue Panel” luminaries but the Hero of the Year award was given to the one with the most number of online votes in the CNN Heroes’ website.
Peñaflorida will have been the first Filipino to become a nominee of the annual CNN Heroes’ awards and the first Filipino to win the top prize.
The project, already on its third year, is a tribute by the international news organization to selfless humanitarian acts of individuals from different countries.
In his acceptance speech, quoted by CNN, Peñaflorida said: “Our planet is filled with heroes, young and old, rich and poor, man, woman of different colors, shapes and sizes. We are one great tapestry. Each person has a hidden hero within, you just have to look inside you and search it in your heart, and be the hero to the next one in need.”
"So to each and every person inside in this theater and for those who are watching at home, the hero in you is waiting to be unleashed. Serve, serve well, serve others above yourself and be happy to serve. As I always tell to my co-volunteers ... you are the change that you dream as I am the change that I dream and collectively we are the change that this world needs to be."
Peñaflorida will receive $100,000, which will be used to fund his work in the Dynamic Teen Company (DTC), a volunteer organization that he put up to conduct his “Kariton Klasrum” program.
Peñaflorida’s program conducts weekly visits to poor and underserved areas in Cavite, north of Luzon, to teach young people basic lessons in Mathematics, English, and Science using only a specially designed pushcart.
In a previous interview, Peñaflorida said he would continue holding weekly lessons and hoped that it would encourage other people to lend time to help others in need.
When they learned that Peñaflorida was chosen as CNN's “Hero of the Year” on Sunday, his members were busy training new volunteers for the "pushcart classrooms," the same work that gave him worldwide recognition.
Peñaflorida's 20-year-old sister Glenis Mae was at the group's office in Cavite City, attending the training and learned about the good news after checking CNN's website Sunday afternoon.
Glenis Mae said: "We are very thankful that God gave us this blessing. I am very proud of my brother."
Last Thursday, Peñaflorida, 28, flew to the US to attend the awarding ceremony, being one of its 10 heroes for 2009.
The DTC earned worldwide recognition for recruiting teenagers as volunteer teachers to streetchildren in Cavite City. To reach the poor children, the DTC goes around the city carrying pushcarts loaded with books, blackboards and other school supplies.
DTC's current chief executive officer Emanuel Bagual said DTC's newfound international fame had brought many positive changes in the group.
Before, DTC members had to sell old bottles and newspapers to earn money and sustain their operations. But after DTC was featured in the media, the group started receiving private donations to support their operations. These have enabled the group to increase the number of its pushcart classrooms from two to four.
The sweetest recognition, however, comes in the form of replication: Other youth groups in Davao, Metro Manila, and Zamboanga have approached the DTC, asking permission to implement the project in their own areas, Bagual said.
One group also put up a pushcart classroom in Kenya.
The DTC willingly gave the groups its modules, Bagual said.
Glenis Mae said his elder brother, the middle child in a family of three children, provided her with "an inspiring example."
She said: "I was encouraged to join the DTC because I saw the good things that my brother was doing."
In an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of the INQUIRER.net), Peñaflorida said his parents were initially not excited about his project, telling him he was just wasting his time.
But seeing the fruits of his passion, his parents became very supportive and Glenis Mae even became a member of the DTC when she was 13.
When she learned on Sunday that her brother had won, Glenis Mae immediately sent a text message to his elder brother Edgardo, 30, who relayed the good news not only to their parents, but also to their neighbors.
Born to a father who worked as a tricycle driver and to a mother who supported the family as a laundrywoman, Peñaflorida almost had to drop out of grade school.
But he got financial support from the Club 8586, a volunteer group based in Cavite City, and from World Vision, a group which matches sponsors to needy children.
He said he decided to put up the DTC to help street children as an expression of gratitude to the people who had helped him when he was young.
The DTC first used a bike with a sidecar for its street classes, but once in a while, the tires would run flat and the chains fall off, so the group decided to use a pushcart instead.
Peñaflorida was chosen as CNN's “Hero of the Week” in March. CNN gets nominees around the world to be featured as a hero – an ordinary individual with an extraordinary impact – each week.
In October, CNN chose its 10 heroes from over 9,000 submissions. The 10 heroes, which included Peñaflorida, were selected by an elite Blue Ribbon Panel including former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, actress Whoopi Goldberg, media tycoon Ted Turner, singer Shakira, and Sir Elton John, the CNN had reported.
The CNN later opened online voting for seven weeks to choose the winner.
Bagual said the DTC campaigned for Peñaflorida in Cavite City.
The DTC got "vote pledges" not only from its over 2,000 members, but also from residents in Cavite City.
Bagual said: "We gave out flyers and we visited computer shops. We asked computer shop owners to put the CNN voting site as their homepages."
