CARMELLA GANA ARAULLO WE THANK YOU! WE SALUTE YOU!
By Ana de Villa Singson
Carmella was the AAA President for the past 2 years. I was the Vice President. And I had a ringside view of her particular brand of leadership that was “up close and personal.”
Carmella was not one to delegate without doing her own heavy lifting. This was highlighted during the past 2 AAA Annual Golf Tournaments in which Carmela was the key organizer. She pulled in sponsors from her large network, liaised with golfers, scheduled flights , deployed merchandising materials, shopped for trophies, filled loot bags, marshaled the small army of volunteers, corralling the thousand one activities that go into organizing a golf tournament into one seamless and successful event. Recently, she jokingly said that she could offer her services as a golf tournament consultant. I wholeheartedly agree and would recommend her in a flash to anyone looking for one.
Her hard-working style was also evident during MagnificART 2, a reprise of the successful online art auction in 2020. Last year, I was requested to restage MagnificART to raise funds for rebuilding the homes of our much-loved RA nuns. Our in-house tech guru, Chin Joson, refused to spend money on an app developer and declared that she would build the auction website herself. This entailed thousands of pages which had to be created for each auction item, with many steps to create link and after link for each one. We requested for volunteers and I would often see Carmella’s name in the auction app working on pages very early in the morning and late at night. She became so adept at it that she even instructed other volunteers on the rather involved process of creating pages. My also solicited paintings, buyers and name sponsors for MagnificART2! Thank you, My, for your role in the successful staging for MagnificART 2!
Carmella, or My as we fondly call her, has an infectious joie de vivre. Her big voice precedes her and her even bigger laugh is never far behind. Any activity she joins is always a fun one. One of my vivid recollections of her was at an AAA Club-bing cooking session which I organized. Chef Marc Licaros served bottles of rosé to accompany his yummy Caribbean dishes. By the end of the session, Carmella was pinker and bubblier than the rosé which she was enjoying very much! And half the board were as pink and bubbly as she was! That’s vintage Carmella…happy, convivial, a people gatherer. She would recognize a friend wherever we would go. That trustees would call her “wingman”, “best friend”, “sister” , “mother” testifies to how well she connected with people.
My has an easy breezy leadership style. She would be open to our views regardless of how divergent they were from hers, inviting open and noisy conversation during board meetings. We all spoke up knowing that she would listen with respect and attention. At times, I would call her to share a different point of view and she would say “I’m easy” and strike good common ground that would marry both our opinions. She had faith in us and would let us work freely and independently on our projects, trusting that we would know what to do and how to do it well. But don’t mistake her easy breezy style for complacency. She has a vein of steel that pushes forward activities to completion and is all businesslike and no nonsense when the occasion calls for it. I once listened to her “guiding” a co-trustee. She was frank without censure, direct without being offensive, framing her advise with concern for the trustee more than anything else. It was a master class on “guiding” others. Bravo My! Clap, clap, clap!
My advocated strongly for Alpabasa, a Filipino enrichment program that equipped educators to teach our native language. In collaboration with Assumption Alumnae Association British Colombia and Alfonso Yuchengco Foundation, she organized a conference in Assumption for educators to disseminate Alpabasa and lobbied for its inclusion and nomination to an award-giving body. This support for the Filipino language is an admirable one, most especially needed in this borderless world of social media when English and other languages are front, line and center. Bravo again My! Clap, clap, clap!
Thank you, Madame President! Thank you also to your long-suffering husband (he would complain about the inordinate time she spent in the AAA Office in Assumption) and to your fur babies, Taz and Dos, who generously shared you with us.
How will we remember My? Her big voice, her contagious laugh, her facile roll up your sleeves and effective leadership style, her passion for getting things done to the littlest detail, her respect for everyone’s opinions. As for me, I will remember her not just as a collaborator espousing all things Assumption, but even more…as a friend. Don’t be a stranger My! Please make our paths cross over and over again.
All the best always! Big hugs! Xoxo!
