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The life of
everybody's Tita Helen, my own dearest Ninang, is an epitome of a life lived
well by a woman who has chosen to be guided by tried and true values and
virtues. That she was born into an illustrious family of statesmen and
educators is a happy accident. That she has consciously and constantly used
her gifts and resources in pursuing the mission set for her speaks of her
personal values and priorities. As the legatee to the educational mission of
the seven founding mothers of the Philippine Women's University, she faces the
challenge of passing on to all of us trustees the courage and commitment to
carry on the mission.
Tita Helen is a
multi-faceted educator. As a generalist, she is able to apply the principles
of education to family, community, national and international spheres--through
national legislation for environment, habitat and sustainable development, as
well as international advocacy toward equal rights and opportunities for women
and men, and civil society action on these priority issues. Useful womanhood
for citizenship and leadership in service to God, country, and home has been
PWU's educational philosophy. This is truly personified in Helena's Herstory
as God continues to bless her to carry on the educational legacy bequeathed by
our grandparents.
From where she
sits--now as chairperson of the PWU System for the past decade and a half,
president emeritus, founder of the Bayanihan folk arts association and
pioneering dance company, first Filipina chair of the UN Commission on the
Status of Women, so far the only woman president of the Governing Council of
the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), outstanding Filipino woman in Education,
outstanding Senator, first and only woman Sikatuna awardee with rank of datu
as an international contributor to the nation's development, Earth Trustee and
Woman of Wisdom--Tita Helen cannot but have a distinct view of things, a
broader perspective due to her age and experience--she is older and wiser than
the rest of us, and she is blessedly single. Therefore, she has the privilege
of sharing Views and Vignettes from Mira-Nila.
This book is a
documentation by Rexi Francia Cruz mainly of Monday conversations with Tita
Helen at Mira-Nila. (Rexi was project coordinator of the Librarians' Task
Force for the publications of the National Centennial Commission--Women Sector
chaired by Commissioner Helena Z Benitez, with myself as Director General.)
Through these conversations, Tita Helen takes a reflective look at the events
in her life and her experiences, a footnotes-to-history type of book. The
Monday conversations were held regularly over two or three months at a stretch
since 1998 and have continued in the following years, also with Tita Maring
Empig and Jose Cabazor to complete the book committee. Members of the book
committee are agreed that Tita Helen has an unusual way of articulating her
views, through conversations that are almost like a stream of consciousness.
This book on her
unfolding Herstory is one way by which Tita Helen wishes to pass on her legacy
of values--in simple conversations of a Tita with her nieces and nephews, you
and I, young people of all ages who must carry on the torch of education and
development in a spirit of bayanihan, constancy amid change, true
nationalism, and deep spirituality.
Happy reading, young
people of all ages.
Dr. Amelou Benitez Reyes
President
The Philippine Women's University
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