All the while, when I think of Gawad Kalinga it's about building houses in a community. They do build houses but I never thought they are more than just that. And that's what I discovered when I visited GK Enchanted Farm.
The GK Enchanted Farm is Gawad Kalinga’s platform to raise social entrepreneurs, help the local farmers and create wealth in the countryside. The man behind the continuous success of Gawad Kalinga, Tony Meloto mentioned that the road out of poverty is to provide decent homes; then teach them how to become enterpreneurs. And that's the main purpose why GK Enchanted Farm was built.
The place is not just a farm but a community. Farm because of the freshly picked greens and fruits; community because of the families and staff that work together to built better opportunities.
Going there was quite a challenge. The time I got the invite, I immediately checked how to get there since Norzagaray is a few kilometers away from where I lived. But with the several rides and turns, I doubted that I could commute. So instead of commuting, I took advantage of the shuttle service. I could, at least familiarize myself on how to get there..
It was an early call time. We left Enchanted Farm Cafe in Quezon City around 7am and arrived at GK Enchanted Farm few minutes before 9am. The place is huge. One thing I noticed at once was the foreigners of different nationalities in the area. They're actually volunteers that came all the way from different parts of world to help out in the farm's advocacy. There we got to meet Clementine, Leslie and Fabien, to name a few among the social entrepreneur mentors in the farm.
Leslie is no stranger in our country, she's a Filipina who has a good life in New York but chose to go back and do what she has been doing now.
Now back to the farm..
The buffet (from breakfast, to lunch and then dinner) are guaranteed fresh. All ingredients came from the farm. Talk about health and nutrition.
During our stay in the farm, we got to know and learn more about the different social entrepreneur opportunities that anyone could willingly have.
PLUSH AND PLAY
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| Plush and Play's current designs.. |
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| One of the staff in action.. |
GOLDEN DUCK
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| In the process of making those golden eggs.. |
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| The finish product.. |
BET ON HAMLET
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| Dimsum making.. |
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| Finish product.. These taste good! |
GOURMET KESO
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| Yummy! |
GK Enchanted Farm is just about learning but there's also exploring.. We were toured around the farm.
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| The Bamboo Palace |
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| Lifebank Center for Bayanihan Economics |
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| Oasis - Yes! They'll have a spa and wellness center.. |
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| Hyundai Center |
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| Some of the houses in the community.. |
Not to forget a bit of relaxation.. Enchanted Farm has a swimming pool and it's an infinity pool..
On our last day in the farm, we learned a few farming 101.
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| Learning to transplant a seedling.. |
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| Removing weeds and grass from the crops.. |
The whole experience was like a mini immersion in the community. We stayed and got to interact with the families living in the area. I encourage you to visit GK Enchanted Farm whether it's for relaxing, learning, road trip etc. Drop by and get inspired by their vision to help people help themselves.
