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Pinay named world’s most outstanding volunteer

By Alexis Romero
The Philippine Star
Updated October 30, 2013


23-year-old Alexandra Eduque of Habitat for Humanity displays her Outstanding Volunteer and IFC Choice awards handed out in Amsterdam recently. JOEY VIDUYA
                                                             
MANILA, Philippines - The sight of a person chasing another with an ice pick may be disturbing to some but when Habitat for Humanity volunteer Alexandra Eduque saw it actually happening, she was thrilled.

“I cannot remember everything because it happened long ago. But if I remember right, they were chasing each other with ice picks because someone stole salt from a store or something as petty as that,” Eduque said in an interview yesterday.

“For me, it was a thrill. Oh my God! What I saw from the movies just happened!” she added.

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But far more important than the violent scene was the Filipino spirit that Eduque saw in the depressed area.

“There was this huge fight there and people were stabbing each other. They (residents) said ‘Alex enter the house’ so they could guard you,” she said.

“The fact that they are willing to go out of their way (to protect you) even if they do not have anything, that should be a wake-up call,” she added.

Eduque also narrated how a family of eight invited her to lunch even if they had to make do with just one tuyo (dried fish).

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“I really did not expect it at all. I was extremely happy flying to Amsterdam because I was short-listed as a finalist. To me, it was a feat in itself. When my name was called as the winner of the Outstanding Volunteer Award, I remember I was in a daze,” Eduque said.

“When my name was called again at the end of the night as the first recipient of the IFC Choice Award, the feeling was indescribable,” she added. 

So shocked was Eduque that she tripped when she was about to receive the Outstanding Volunteer Award.

“I tripped and I told myself ‘Okay this is God telling me get back to reality, focus.’ So there I was focusing because my mom made me wear high heels and stockings, so naturally I was slipping all around place,” she said.


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