The story of a bag
Just before going off on the Holy Week break, I received a gift (from CITEM, the exports promotions arm of the Department of Trade and Industry) of a bag that was wrapped in brown paper boldly emblazoned with the words “Buy one GIVE ONE” and below it, “The bag you wear and the difference it can make.” The hang tag says, “Buy one. Give one. For every purchase made, BAG943 gives another bag to a school kid in need.”
BAG943 (BAG stands for “Be A Giver,” while the numbers represent the birth months of the founders, added to make the generic term more distinct) is a social enterprise that seeks to help school children in remote areas of the country.
BAG943 founder Josh Mahinay tells his story on the other side of the brown paper that wraps the bag:
“I walked 10 kilometers to school every day. Walking down the beaten path surrounded by mountains, I saw limitations everywhere. I had dreams – but whenever my books, notebooks and pens roll down the hill or get soiled in the mud because the plastic bag I used as school bag ripped open, I am once more reminded of my reality.
“But one day, my distant relative came to visit and gave me a hand-me-down school bag. Because someone thought about me and believed in me, I started to believe in myself, too. I carried my bag with renewed confidence, more inspired to study well and go for my dreams.
“Having experienced the love and generosity of other people in my life’s journey, I am now continuing the culture of generosity through BAG943, a social enterprise I founded which champions education for the impoverished school kids in the Philippines.
“With your purchase, you have chosen to make a difference. As you walk with your backpack, a child somewhere in the Philippines is walking empowered and inspired, smiling with a renewed sense of worth, carrying with him the other pair of your bag that’s starting to fill up with dreams again.”
BAG943 was one of the exhibitors at last month’s Manila FAME, one of the longest-running trade shows in the Asia-Pacific (the one last month was the trade fair’s 61st edition) that showcases the country’s best in furniture and furnishings, décor and gifts, fashion and accessories. Manila FAME is organized by CITEM, the Center for International Trade Exhibitions and Missions, which has for many, many years nurtured Philippine product design and helped bring it on to the world stage.
Though he was “not a fan of the American dream,” BAG943’s Mahinay migrated to the US in 2007 “in search of greener pastures” in order to provide for his family – the reality of many Filipinos who go abroad. He worked at different jobs as many Filipinos do, saving his money and making frequent trips back home.
Visiting Mindanao on one such trip, he saw a young boy walking through a rice field carrying his school things in a plastic bag – just as he did many years ago. That image stuck in his mind and ate at him: “I was gripped by the reality that the boy I saw in Mindanao was just one among thousands, perhaps millions. I believed my life would not be worth living if I did not do something for these kids. I realized I had to do something bigger than myself.”
He quit his job in Los Angeles and came back to the Philippines and, with two friends, started in July 2012 the Bag of Dreams project to distribute school bags to students in adopted public schools all over the country. As of last November, they have distributed 3,400 bags.
I don’t know where and to whom the “twin” of my bag is going, but my backpack from CITEM is going to the Grade 7 valedictorian of the Osmeña Elementary School in Marabut, Samar. The Cultural Center of the Philippines has an ongoing project with the school (among several others in the Visayas), as part of its arts therapy program for Typhoon Yolanda affected communities. Aside from arts therapy sessions for students and teachers and their families, the CCP staff led by Eva Marie Salvador has been helping with school equipment and supplies, uniforms and shoes for the kids. They will be back in Samar in May, just before school starts. As the valedictorian starts high school in June, he or she (I don’t yet know who the valedictorian is) will do so not just with a new bag, but with one hopefully filled with dreams.
“Buy one, give one” is certainly an even better deal than “buy one, take one.” Let’s all BAG then – Be A Giver. Visit www.bag943.com for details.