To showcase the life-changing service that Leos perform in their communities, the Leo Club Program hosts the International Leo Day Video Contest. Now in its third year, the event provides young people with a unique opportunity to share how and why they serve.
The theme for 2017 was #YOUthSERVE, and Leos were asked to produce videos that demonstrated how they served within the five service areas: Diabetes, Environment, Hunger Relief, Childhood Cancer, and Vision.
Placing third, the Olongapo City Leo Club’s video focused on Vision. The club’s winning video told the story of Kimberly Mae Capuvan, a 21-year-old woman from Olongapo City, Zambales, Philippines, who had lost all hope in life because she was unable to see clearly. And she couldn’t afford to purchase eyeglasses.
“I have had a very difficult time since I was 9 years old,” Capuvan recalls, “especially at school. I always had to sit near the blackboard so I could see, and at night, I got headaches because of my nearsightedness.”
Her outlook improved dramatically when the Olongapo City Peninsula Lions Club was looking for young people who needed glasses. Capuvan’s teacher asked her if she would like to have a pair, and she was thrilled when she was selected for the program. The Lions made her feel that she wasn’t alone, and fitted her with the perfect glasses.
“The first time I put them on, everything came into crystal- clear focus, and I felt new and alive because, for many years, I had trouble reading,” she says. “The glasses have made a world of difference in my studying and in my life.”
Because her local Lions club had helped her so much when she needed it, Capuvan wanted to be a part of the organization. A friend invited her to join the Olongapo City Leo Club and she jumped at the chance. She now serves as the vice president of the club.
For Kimberly Mae Capuvan, vice president of the Olongapo City Leo Club in the Philippines, eyeglasses from the Olongapo City Peninsula Lions made “a world of difference.”
Her favorite service project was when her Leo colleagues traveled to a far away Filipino community to donate books to children. The town is difficult to get to, but she knew how much the books would mean to the kids because they lived so far from an urban area.
Today, Capuvan is working on her second bachelor’s degree in management, having finished her bachelor’s degree in hotel and restaurant management. She has also completed units in education so that she can pursue her dream of becoming a teacher and advocate for children’s vision in the near future. In her free time, she participates in sports. For the past four years Capuvan has played wide receiver for the Olongapo Warriors Flag Football team and she hopes to travel the world one day.
Our eyes are our guide along life’s journey. And I’m living proof that clear vision leads to a brighter future.
Becoming a Leo has made her realize that she can touch other people’s lives in a positive way, she says. “I was helped by a Lions club. Now I want to give back. There’s no end to what we can do to help others, together.”
She is also grateful to the Olongapo City Leo Club members for being her brothers and sisters in the organization. “I wouldn’t have been able to share my story if it weren’t for them,” she adds. “Our eyes are our guide along life’s journey. And I’m living proof that clear vision leads to a brighter future.”
