Nathan

Events, Featured, Internet, Philippines

Indeed, a hero is within each and everyone of us. It only takes one to change another, to change the world. It is as I believe, that everyone has the capacity to move mountains, that given that moment and the opportunity to do so, we all exhibit the hero within us.

Efren Peñaflorida was named CNN Hero of the Year for 2009. He is a Filipino educator who strives to educate the youth in his own way, through pushcart classrooms, as an alternative to them joining local gangs. (Read more on Efren)

Below is a video of the awarding and his heartwarming speech (via CNN).

Here are the words he delivered upon receiving the award:

“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 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.”

Let not community service efforts and humanitarian acts start and end when there are natural disasters like Typhoon Ondoy/Ketsana, Hurricane Katrina or the deadly quakes and tsunamis in Thailand, Indonesia and China. Let us all be inspired by him and the other equally deserving candidates. Let’s be heroes to one another.

Read more on the awarding on CNN.

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