By: Jezhel Macatigbac
“Try your best and grab the opportunity”.
“Winning does not always mean being first; it can also mean outperforming yourself”. As Mrs. Vasquez said, “try your best and grab the opportunity”. In every competition, in every contest, we should remember that life doesn’t require that we be the best, only that we try our best. Sometimes in our lives, we enter a competition because we believe we can do it. Just like Mrs. Vasquez, she joined the contest because she likes to paint. She took the opportunity to join the contest to further enhance her talent. By participating in the painting contest with the theme “Women’s Empowerment”, as she is a mother with four children, her inspiration to paint is that women can do all things, that as a mother there is no limit to them, as women, they can accomplish. She got Third place in the contest and she received a cash prize. Winning does not always mean being first; it means doing better than we did before.
“She donated 500 pesos to their dorm to buy some equipment, and the rest of the money is her budget for two weeks.”
Keep in mind that the happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more. In the cash prize won by Mrs. Vasquez, she said that “she donated 500 pesos to their dorm to buy some equipment, and the rest of the money is her budget for two weeks.” Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness. Even though Mrs. Vasquez is in jail, she still shows kindness to their dorm. No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. What Mrs. Vasquez did, shows that it’s not how much she gives, but how much love she puts into giving.
In the interview, Mrs. Vasquez is not only good at painting but also singing. She said that she” focuses more on singing”, and she joined many auditions for a singing contests like The Voice of the Philippines, Tawag ng Tanghalan. And she stated that “she also has a singing guesting and she’s been also a guest on Euro Channel TV and Filipino OPM”. Great things happen to those who don’t stop believing, trying, learning, and being grateful. Even though she didn’t pass the audition, she knows she gave her very best in singing. In many auditions, she is not scared of failure she learns from it and tries again in other singing auditions. Her dream doesn’t have an expiration date, she just doesn’t give up trying to do what she wants to do, what she loves. She uses her talent, if there is something she wants to do, she just does it.
“I appreciate the HLAF contest, it was a big help not just for me because I’m on the third place, but also for the other PDL who got the 2nd and 1st place” Through the contest, it was a great privilege for the PDL who have a talent, who have the opportunity to boost their talents. Through the HLAF Contest, PDL gains more confidence and self-reliance, especially those who have habitual talent while they are out of prison. With the help of the HLAF contest, the lives of PDLs are getting more clarity because they know that even if they are inside jail, they can still do what they love just like Mrs. Vasquez.
With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance, all things are attainable. Through the Humanitarian Legal Assistance Foundation (HLAF), they help the PDLs to hone their talents, and through the contest of the HLAF, she was able to use again her talent in painting even if she is in jail.
