Humid air, gusty winds at night, lack of water, being soaked wet from the rain, hoarse voices, muscle pain, and sunburn—just a few things that youth campers might experience. But these were nothing compared to the friendships made, the strong unity which was built, the sacrifices offered for others, the realizations about life, the opportunities to love, the fun and excitement, and most especially, the revolution of love that went ahead!

From April 12 to 15, 2010, 180 teenagers from different cities and provinces across the Philippines, including Cebu, Dumaguete, Aklan, Palawan, La Union, Baguio, Batangas, Laguna and Metro Manila, gathered together in Tagaytay for a four-day event with the theme “Together As One.”

Day 1: Around noontime of April 12, youths from 13–17 years old and from different parts of the Philippines started gathering together in the Mariapolis Center dining hall in Tagaytay. The program began with beautiful presentations of the life and culture from each regional group. Then followed a talk by Professor Ted Arago, a media practicioner, who expounded on both the advantages and dangers of media. They were reminded of their responsibilities as part of today’s youth, urged to be aware of the limits of television or the Internet, and taught how to react to the abuse of these media tools. During Holy Mass held afterwards, Fr. Am Mijares expanded on the power of media, and likewise, what youths can do to respond to these tools properly. The young people were then divided into ten groups, and ate dinner together. Later they watched the film “Children of Heaven,” an inspiring Oscar nominated film which showcased the importance of the family in Iran, and how care and concern for one another can overcome difficulties in life.

Day 2: Everyone welcomed the new day with a smile and great enthusiasm for the day’s events. Marla Fisico, a focolarina, gave a talk on God‘s Love, introducing Chiara Lubich and how she had experienced this truth during the Second World War in Trent, Italy. The campers then left for Terra Moy, a 2 km-ride away, for a much-awaited event -- the Amazing Race. Each of the ten groups was given clues and tasks to complete at ten different stations spread out in various parts of Mariapolis Peace. Having to run from place to place, completing tasks like obstacle courses, rope-jumping, oily tires, mazes, webs, and “trust” walks, and meeting various challenges along the way, only gave the campers more opportunities to love one another and create a unity that no difficult task could break. In fact, a camper whose group finished first shared: “Inspired by the movie ‘Children of Heaven,’ we were hoping at least to take third place, and yet we finished first, having fun all throughout the race. Truly, I have never seen such profound unity in a group like ours.” After finishing the race and cleaning up, they reassembled in the big hall of the Mariapolis Center for the Penitential service, the most solemn part of the Camp. Four priests heard the campers’ confessions. But this experience was really different as the priests asked everyone to pray for the person in front of them who was confessing. Also, the campers were asked to recall their whole experience during the Youth Camp and cherish this in their hearts. It was a breath-taking moment, as each of 180 young ones sat down quietly and tried to establish a personal relationship with God. Ea, a camper from Dumaguete, was struck by the experience of reconciliation. She said: “After the confession, I felt that a big thorn had been removed from my heart. Indeed, I felt that I am really loved by God.” After dinner, the citizens of Mariapolis Peace gave them a beautiful gift, introducing to the campers the reality of the permanent Mariapolis, and the way of life that the citizens here have decided to adopt. The example of unity of youths from different countries, races, and languages living in Mariapolis Peace made a great impression on the campers so much so that one even said that it is an inspiration for all Filipinos to be united.

Day 3: Everyone was now recharged and ready to love. They set off for an hour’s walk to an isolated stream, carrying water bottles and snacks, backpacks and caps, with hearts and minds ready to put into practice what they had learned the past two days. Though the drizzling rain threatened to stop them at first and a cow adamantly blocked their way along the hike, they went ahead, believing that God would take care of them. A few minutes after they started the hike, the sun was shining brightly again, and truly God’s love was felt! Reaching a community near the stream, the groups were divided to do certain tasks, like cleaning up the stream, fetching water in buckets and delivering it to the different households. In the end, they all helped one another to complete the tasks. One camper shared on his Facebook page, “The relay of pails of water passing by more than 20 people to reach the top of a hill for the different houses showed the unity that we already had!” Another camper, Mariel, shared this impression: “One of the activities we had was the hike where we cleaned up the stream, the waiting shed, and the road leading to it. In this way, I was able to exercise my heart the most because I was able to love and help others, as well as nature, too.”

Though the walk under the sweltering heat of the noonday sun was exhausting for most of the campers, everything was easily forgotten after they realized the love that they had offered to their fellow campers, and the residents of the small community, and the environment. In the afternoon, Ray Asprer, from the Focolare of Manila, explained the Art of Loving, underlining the importance of practicing this Art so as to be able to dig up and extract the love that we have deep in our hearts—like the hidden treasure buried in the field. Then there was also a boost in morale after the talk of Ed Canuto, a focolarino who had came from the Youth Center in Rome, Italy. It made the campers aware that they are not alone in pursuing the goal of universal brotherhood, but that they are linked together with thousands of youth from all over the world who also work towards the same goal.

The last night was a memorable one. Although the bonfire outdoors didn’t push through because of the rain, the campers had the cultural program in the big hall. It was truly a beautiful night with various groups presenting skits, songs, and dances as a gift to the rest of the campers.

Day 4: The last day started with an exciting dance to accompany the song “Gen Revolution” and everyone was on his feet and singing along. Mariella Floridia from the Focolare of Manila, introduced a video of Chiara Lubich answering the question of a youth during the 2002 Supercongress in Rome. The explanation of Mariella and the video made the campers understand better their role as the “new generation,” living in the present world. After this, Fr. Ding Fabiosa, SVD, gave an enlightening talk on God as our Father and our response to his Love. The campers came to believe even more in the immense love of God no matter who and what they are. They also had the chance to ask him a few questions. One of the young people asked how to deal with the mentality that takes God’s love for granted and therefore allowing sin to be committed without fear of being punished. He answered with the story of Zacchaeus, the tax collector: “Zacchaeus who experienced the love of God for him decided to respond to God’s love by giving away half of his property to the poor and returning fourfold what he had stolen from others. A person who continuously sins has not yet truly experienced God’s love or hasn’t been touched by it,” Fr. Ding emphasized.

Michael, a youth from the Sulyap ng Pag-asa housing project, then shared his experience as a victim of Typhoon Ondoy, which took away the lives of most of his family. The campers were all moved as he said: “For months, before I came here, I felt that my heart being engulfed in sadness. But with the love which is circulating among us here, I suddenly felt that I was finally freed and able to experience happiness.” The Youth Camp concluded with Mass, where everyone thanked God for all the blessings and graces received during the past few days.

The Youth Camp, though it lasted only four days, truly made an impact on the campers. Valerie, from Manila, expressed her determination to achieve unity, as she shared: “The presence of God truly shouldn’t be based on feelings alone. It should be based on the decision to love. It wasn’t easy to establish unity within my group, but I kept trying. Now I know they’ll have something to keep them going and so will I. Mission accomplished!” Shean also showed her appreciation: “Thank you for letting me discover the beauty within me. You gave me the inspiration to be united with the others.”

It was difficult to say goodbye, after getting used to the water shortage, the long walks, and group chores, also after seeing old friends and gaining new ones, and most especially, after breaking down the barriers of different dialects and backgrounds, and learning how to truly be “Together as One.” Sure enough, the campers left Mariapolis Peace in Tagaytay with big smiles on their faces and lightened hearts, ready to bring back to their own environments a revolution, the revolution of love.

Karelle Bulan