Saturday November 30, 8:00 pm
@ The Reggae Bar, 2016 Austin Hwy, San Antonio, Texas 78218
featuring The Presidents and Performers to be announced
$8.00 suggested donation at the door
https://www.facebook.com/events/170702276470564/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming
Why am I in love with this game? My first contact with soccer was as a teenager living in Beijing, China in the mid- to late-1970s. My father was assigned to the Philippine embassy as Charge d'Affaires. My family arrived in China just after the passing of Chou En Lai, and a political upheaval was about to begin. We were there during the massive earthquake of 1976, and Mao Tse Tung's death, the purge of the Gang of Four, and subsequent rise to power of Deng Xiao Ping. The reforms which opened China's economy to the world which Deng initiated was only about to begin. China remained very much of an insular society, the authorities still wary of foreigners. The only foreign residents in Beijing were diplomatic staff and their families, a few university students, and some businessmen who had begun to trickle in, living in a couple of posh hotels. Our presence was monitored and highly restricted. Foreigners were allowed to live only on several designated diplomatic residential compounds enclosed by high walls and gates with armed guardposts, and almost all the embassies were located in one area of the city. Us kids were certainly not permitted to hang out with any local peers. Thus, the group of teenagers I hung out with were all from different countries far and wide, from very diverse cultural backgrounds. We all attended either international schools run by various embassies, except for the few accepted at one Chinese public school. Many of us could not speak the same language - but we could play the same game. So I learned the beautiful game as a mode of human communication which transcended any and all barriers. This game made me see the world not as a field of conflicting societies, but as people living together. This is the game at its highest form, at its most powerful.
More than three decades later, I continue to espouse the ideal that soccer players have had the same type of experience at one degree or other, which accounts for the depth of passion with which we embrace our game. I believe, from my own experience, that we can see the world from a perspective far above the barriers that try to separate us, and we communicate with people on a flat even field, where governments and political movements dare not tread and impose their respective prejudices. And so when we see human suffering on the other side of the planet, we don't see them as members of a particular sect, or political persuasion, or religious affiliation, or socio-economic group, or as whatever else institutions try to define us, but we see them as people just like ourselves, on a flat even field, stepping up, moving into space, coming back to defend, marking our woman or man, going down the line, calling for the ball, cooperating together to create something beautiful.
I am now asking you to apply this innate instinct to step up, move into space, come back to defend, mark our woman and man, go down the line. I'm calling for the ball...
You are invited to help save lives in the worst natural disaster to befall the Filipino people. There are no words that can express the urgency of this plea. You have heard the news, you have seen the images, you have watched the videos, you have read the ongoing stories of survival.
The Reggae Bar, 2016 Austin Highway in San Antonio, Texas will be hosting this benefit on Saturday November 30 to raise urgently-needed funds to provide food, water, fuel for transportation, and other supplies. Suggested donation is $8.00, but every little bit helps and will be accepted for entry. Funds raised will be remitted directly to Oxfam America who were among the first to have workers on the ground in the disaster area and have set up an EMERGENCY: Philippines webpage for direct remittance to be used only for this Philippine relief effort. https://
In return for your generosity, we humbly offer the gift of music for the soul. We are in the process now of confirming the complete lineup of musical talent devoting time, energy and creativity to the relief effort. I will continue to update this event listing as we get confirmations, but I can promise you that my band The Presidents will deliver a searing set to uplift us all - something we all need during these times. Our drummer Ray Jaceldo, keyboardist Ted Jaceldo and percussionist Caesar Jaceldo are from the province of Leyte, the hardest-hit island in this unprecedented calamity, and they have family who are in the midst of the suffering.
For more information, please email me at presidentscrucial@gmail.co
This certainly is not the only opportunity to lend assistance. Whether you make it to this event or not, please continue to find the many other ways you can help.
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