Only with the heart that one can see rightly

"Goodbye," said the fox to the Little Prince.

"And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the naked eye."

"What is essential is invisible to the naked eye," the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember.

"It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important."

"It is the time I have wasted for my rose--" said the little prince, so that he would be sure to remember.

"Men have forgotten this truth," said the fox. "But you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose . . ."

"I am responsible for my rose," the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember.
- The Little Prince-

The internship started with 12 different students not knowing each other. Little did we know of the things that lie ahead. Soon enough, they started to unravel.

After the orientation came the team building, immersion planning, to marketing and looking for sponsors, to creating our major project from a baskteball game between the Ateneo and De Lasalle to Pangarap Ko Kulayan Mo (bisque figurine painting in different venues), to Strings and Symphonies (cocktail featuring ambassadors of different countries) until Take A Walk on the Child’s Side (walkathon which aims to raise a million pesos) we slowly began to know each other.

Together, we “wasted” time for the internship and for each other. But it is in this “wasting” that we got to tame each other, we got to tame the internship. It is with this “wasting” that we can call VIP 2005 ours. It is with this wasting that we can call everything that we did ours. It is this “wasting” that makes this internship different from all the other internships that are being offered. It is this “wasting” that we got to understand one another and at the same time, understand what it means to be a UNICEF VIP.

It is only through this that we can call these things ours. It is only through this that the VIP, as beautiful as it is, came to have a meaning. It is our VIP. Moreover, we not only “wasted” time on each other and on the internship, we “wasted” time for a higher purpose. We “wasted” time for the children in the Philippines. We “wasted” time to help them fulfill their dreams.

Through this we got to tame our country. Or simply put, we established ties with the children, we established ties with the country. We have made our country important. More importantly, we made oursevles responsible for the country. We have started to move away from the common notion that our generation is apathetic. We have started to prove them wrong. We have walked the path not just read or talked about it. We have seen the essential through our hearts.

It is through this internship that we experienced what the fox has meant by “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the naked eye”.

If you are interested to learn more about UNICEF's VIP,
send an e-mail to kcarbon@unicef.org.
Or call (0632) 901-0154.