Thanking Those Who Shared the Love

The significance of life can be reflected by how much impact we have created to other people.

Before the year ended in 2013, my friends from the Davao Bloggers took the initiative to help raise funds for 100 hygiene packs intended for the victims of the typhoon Yolanda in various places in Visayas. Mid-November, our blogpost rolled out and the response turned out to be overwhelming! Before our target date last December 7, 2013, we reached more than our goal of P100, 000 and even with several donations in kind.

Forgive the selfie but the photo was included in our campaign.
Photo by Ria Jose

Sample hygiene kit that contained  soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, deolotion, shampoo, alcohol, tissue, insect repellant, cotton and sanitary napkin for women. The kit is estimated to supply one week need for each person. 

Kuya Andrew’s place was filled with so many boxes of goods and hygiene products where the volunteers spent an entire evening (until dawn) to repack and write messages of kindness in the hygiene kit. Before the week ended, all 1000 donation packs were distributed to the families in Tacloban and other affected regions.

Boxes turned over to Ateneo de Davao University's Yolanda volunteer group.
Photo grabbed from Chamee Pecson

Volunteers doing the repacking.
Photo from Naprey Almario

More pictures of bloggers and friends doing the repacking. This photo also shows Kezia, (topmost) taking a photo of the skies during dawn as shown in the image below. No sleep, just pure love of volunteerism!

Although it’s more than a hundred days delayed, allow me to dedicate this blogpost to our volunteer team for the Project Hygiene kit (with our project coordinator, Chamee), to our fellow Davao Bloggers who helped spread the word and kept on reposting the campaign to reach many readers and most especially to the many generous donors who shared their kind heart in helping us help the families affected by the devastating typhoon. THANK YOU, DAGHANG SALAMAT, SUKRAN, KAMSAHAMNIDA, ARIGATO GOZAIMASU!

The A Team! Photo grabbed from Madie Sahid's Instagram account.

We believe that all the little things everyone gave made a step closer in helping alleviate the lives of those who are affected. May we also not forget to be grateful for being safe and alive right now and never forget to include in our prayers the lives of all those struggling, those who fight to remain alive, those who protect the weak and those who have passed.

One Year after Typhoon Pablo (Bopha)

Increased support is needed if families are to fully recover from the impact of Typhoon Bopha on their livelihoods, Save the Children says. 

A year after the category 5 typhoon – the highest category for a storm – the children’s aid agency says tens of thousands are still struggling to find work to feed their families. The Typhoon, which struck on 4th of December 2012, affected over six million people and left nearly 2000 dead or missing. 

Rescue efforts during the Typhoon in December 2012
Photo from: LA Times (Ted Aljibe/ AFP/ Getty Images)

The storm caused widespread damage to agriculture, which account for the livelihoods of 80 per cent of the residents in the affected area. The Filipino government’s disaster agency estimates a loss of over US$700 million in agricultural damage, including bananas, coconuts, rice and maize. 

“The job that aid agencies need to fulfil shouldn’t stop at immediate relief,” said Tom Howells, Team Leader for Save the Children’s Bopha Recovery Program. “But many are forced to end their projects as there is little to no funding available for long-term rehabilitation of livelihoods. Our worry is that these families will no longer be able to send their children to school, provide nutritious foods and a protective home environment once aid stops.” 

Save the Children conducted two livelihoods projects in the Bopha-affected areas, unconditional cash grants for vulnerable families and cash-for-work to rehabilitate schools. Roselyn Cabatlao, 34, was one of the program’s beneficiaries in Davao Oriental after her family lost their only source of income – a coconut plantation – in the storm. It will take them at least seven more years to get back on their feet as coconut trees take about eight years to mature.

“I can see there are still many families here that do not have stable income because many of our coconuts have been damaged by the typhoon,” she said. 

Through income generated from Save the Children’s cash-for-work program, Roselyn is now able to buy food, vitamins and condiments for her children. The mother of three was also given the tools and seeds to plant vegetables in their backyard for consumption and income. The vegetables and direct nutrition interventions helped Roselyn’s son, Jericho, to recover from severe acute malnutrition. 

“Families like Roselyn will be left to their own devices once aid agencies leave. We have given them the basic tools to sustain themselves, but it will be years before Roselyn harvests coconuts again and builds a sturdy house for her family,” said Tom Howells. 

Save the Children responded to the needs of affected families in Typhoon Bopha, delivering an integrated package of child protection, education, health and nutrition, water sanitation and hygiene, disaster preparedness in schools, food security and livelihoods in Agusan del Sur, Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental. Overall, the children’s aid agency has reached about 138,000 people

Project Hygiene Kit for Yolanda Victims

“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another” -Charles Dickens

The devastation caused by the typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) has affected not only a few cities and houses in the Philippines but the majority of the Visayas region where the death counts has now reached thousands and number of families affected now millions.

A conscious effort is now being undertaken by the Davao Bloggers Society to join the relief operations by raising a total of P100,000.00 to finance and produce 1,000 hygiene packs for the victims. Each kit costing to PHP100 or USD2.50 will contain toiletries and other essentials good for one week's use by one person. Hygiene kits were chosen to be donated as this is something that is not yet prioritized by many donors.

If you wish to help or join the campaign, you may donate in cash (please seal in envelope) or in kind (preferably hygiene products found in the photo) to:

Mam Bebs Bakery

CVA Building, CM Recto Street, Davao City

(fronting City Triangle, adjacent to Ateneo Claveria Gate)

Mondays- Fridays, 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM

You may also send via PayPal to merchant@alleba.com

You may share a note of encouragement or positivism in your donation. We will be be more than happy to include that inside the kit.

Pledges for donation may as well be coursed through any member of the Davao Bloggers Society until December 7, 2013. Feel free to contact bloggersforreliefPH@gmail.com or Chamee at (+63) 9324364187 for all your inquiries and questions.

Please also help us disseminate this information to those who are willing to help and contribute. You may share or link this post to your social media accounts with hashtags #bloggersforReliefPH #YolandaPH

Bangon, Pilipinas!

Hopes Post- Yolanda and for My Country Philippines

Note: If you wanted to get in touch with groups or organizations to help, send supplies or donate cash or in kind, please check this link compiled by my blogger friends. If it is not so much, please share this link to your social media handles so that others will also be informed.

YOLANDA PH Donation and Relief Operations Information link here

On the 8^th of November this year, the strongest typhoon recorded in the history of manind (so far) hit the islands in the Visayas region of Philippines. At around six in the morning the same day, I received a notification in my mobile phone from our co-employee based in Tacloban informing us of the heavy downpour of rains in their area but electricity and network coverage was still okay. By the time I get to read her email, all the electrical power lines were cut-off in Tacloban while flying debris from houses and buildings were also being shown in the news clip in the television. I never heard anything from my friend not until yesterday through a short call from a phone that she probably borrowed.

A streak of hope and positivism for my fellow Filipinos. Light shines brightest at the dark.

The internet was also flooded with updates and news about the extent of damage and the many efforts to help reach out to the victims. The sad part is that this flood of information also included stories that make the situation worse.

• People blatantly saying that they were GLAD THAT IT HAPPENED claiming that the VICTIMS DESERVED THE PAIN. It did not end with postings of people who apparently lack the sense of symbiosis but also, to my opinion, “kulang sa pansin” (attention-seeking). They continue to justify that they are entitled to their opinion and they should not be condemned.
• While help is pouring even from our international counterparts, QUESTIONS ON FAIR DISTRIBUTION became a trending topic in the internet.  As the country now also fights one of the biggest expose in corruption of the Pork Barrel, people asks whether the billions of donations from other countries reach the victims or will the culture of corruption reign even at this devastating incident.
• POLITICIANS as well as other NARCISSISTS bragging about their contributions, counting what they donated and using this incident to campaign for elections if not, simply brag.
• HEADLINES OF PEOPLE LOOTING from stores and even from relief operation vehicles clearly describes that the human system is now operating in a survival instinct to feed and protect oneself and their families.
• SECTORS REFUSING TO HELP people not coming from their sect also raised many eyebrows in the social media walls. If this is true or not, the fact the people START TO DIVIDE INSTEAD OF WORKING IN SOLIDARITY is as obvious as the lack of unity killing more people each day.

I would agree that the Filipino spirit is waterproof, storm-proof and that even a super typhoon cannot break it but it many instances, while many are trying their best to help, some cannot really resists to be self-centered, tactless and destructive. I would like to tell myself that perhaps, these people lack self-esteem that they needed to put somebody down just to feel good or catch any attention, even the negative attention, just to feel they exist. I do not like to believe that they lack souls but I also do not choose to be of very sympathetic to these selfish people right now.

I’d like to hope that the donations will be coursed through organizations that are focused to aiding the victims and assure the relief will reach those who needed it most. While I am still trying to convince myself that the current government is trying their best to remove corruption in the system, I’d prefer that other countries would course though their help to reliable organizations that will have no personal gain when helping the victims. While we lack time to debate or argue, others are already moving so let us go with the actions flowing.

Let us also avoid re-affirming these people with publicity (even negative) because it is exactly what they want and rewarding them with attention cookies will only promote them to repetitively do what they do. Collective effort creates an impact. Surely, reposting what they did, even for the purpose of putting them to shame, will not really put them in shame. They will only get that 30-second fame that they wanted. Don’t reward them and see their negative actions disappear in the middle of the generosity and kind-heartedness of other people.

While the news of looting and refusing to help other to protect their own maybe expected, it is still a sad reality to hear and raises an alarm to immediately send in help so that people will not be pushed back to the wall with this choice nor will it marginalize those in the hard-to-reach area. When survival is at stake, we cannot really expect a high rate of selflessness. No parent in their right mind would sacrifice the life of their children just to do the morally-correct act when stealing or refusing to share is the only way to survive.

I may not be in the best position to fully explain the psychology of what happened with my fellow countrymen but my humanness is calling me to be more human than ever. Today, may we choose to help and help without expecting anything in return. May we choose to lift other people up, and shun away from the negative stories that will not help make the lives of the victims better. May we choose to salute those who put their hearts and minds to contribute in helping in with fund and donations drive. May we choose to learn from this tragedy, to be more prepared, to avoid the mistakes that sacrificed many lives and may we choose to remember that we do not forget.

Submit Now! Philips Innovations Campaign

Its nearing the end of the year and maybe you can do some extra god deeds so that Santa Claus will never forget to put your name in the "NICE" list. Why not contribute ideas? Ideas about 'Innovations that Matters to You' or inspirations that help make more Livable Cities, Healthy Families and get a better Access to healthcare.

If you have one that you wish to share and discuss with other people, Philips will help you make this into reality. Remember, great things start from an idea so grab this opportunity to become part of a bigger project this year. And if you want to learn more, here is more detailed article for you.

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Check Philips' Innovation website at http://www.meaningfulinnovation.asia/philippines/

Philips kicks off innovations campaign to improve lives of Filipinos

Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) has officially kicked off its “Innovations that Matter to You” campaign, which encourages people from all walks of life to submit ideas on how to address three of the most crucial problems of the country today – the need for livable cities; proper nutrition for families; and easier access to quality healthcare solutions.

The Philips Innovations campaign initially kicked off in Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, and Korea, but has been launched in the Philippines to adhere to the company’s goal of providing people with meaningful solutions that can ultimately improve the quality of their lives. Additionally, the Philips Innovations campaign in the Philippines seeks to leverage on technology as an important tool in making life better for everyone.

“The Philips Innovations campaign is a call for people to innovate, to combine their ingenuity with technological resources, to develop health and well-being solutions that can benefit the public, especially those belonging to marginalized sectors,” said Fabia Tetteroo-Bueno, Country Manager of Philips in the Philippines. “As a technological innovator, we at Philips look forward to collaborating with them on making our communities safer places to live in, our families healthier, and giving our communities access to proper medical diagnosis and assessment, particularly in the area of non-communicable diseases.”

Submission of ideas can be done on the Innovations campaign website www.meaningfulinnovation.asia/philippines, which is scheduled to go live on September 23. Ideas should be realistic, impactful, and should fall under one of the three idea categories given. A select panel of subject matter experts shall then shortlist six ideas that meets Philips’ objective of creative positive change. The individuals/organizations behind these six suggestions   will then undergo a mentorship workshop with some of the Philippines’ respected visionaries, to further fine-tune their ideas, and make them more actionable. Philips will then select one winning idea, and implement the chosen innovation in 2014.

As a company, Philips is focused on offering innovative products and services that help improve people’s health and well-being.  This objective is actively supported by its three sectors – Lighting, Consumer Lifestyle, and Healthcare.

For more information on the “Innovation that Matters to You” Campaign, please visit the Philips Facebook page at www.facebook.com/PhilipsPH and the official campaign website at www.meaningfulinnovation.asia/philippines.

Create a Light: Ending a Year with the JCI

There is nothing better than to celebrate the year's success by giving back to the community and contributing to help address our problems with energy.

This opportunity came to me when the Junior Chamber International Philippines Duwaling Chapter invited me to join their community affair in Brgy.21-C. (It was already a few years since my last "community visit" so I got excited to the familiar breeze coming in that day.)We got in to our location and the people from Brgy.21-C was more than accommodating and they were all curious and interested about the project. They asked questions and anxiously waited for the actual installation in the volunteer house. Everyone including I was amazed after seeing how bright the final result is!

Even though I was already learning about the project during the orientation with Brgy.21-C residents, the Liter of Light project was given an in-depth view during our presscon with the media and bloggers that proceeded after the community installation.

The Liter of Light is a partnership project of JCIP and My Shelter Foundation that aims to provide an alternate daytime light source. Further, it helps reduce electric consumption through a grassroots-level solution which requires only recyclable materials (how green can this project get?). Lastly, it also helps avoid household accidents caused by candles and kerosene.

So enough stories and let me share what my lens took in the inspiring and productive day I had with JCIP Duwaling and Brgy.22-C residents.

National Treasure JCI Sen Christine Garcia, National Chair JCI Mem Anna Lim, JCI Duwaling President JCI Mem Lani Abapo, and Homeowner Marcelo Ely

JCI Officers installing and demonstrating how to make solar bulbs

(c) Sarah Dayrit Canon AE1 Kodak ASA200

 

 

 Brgy. 21-C constituents during the orientation prior to installation of solar bulbs

(c) Sarah Dayrit Canon AE1 Kodak ASA200

Presscon with Davao Media and Bloggers
(c) Sarah Dayrit Canon AE1 Kodak ASA200

 

About JCI & JCI Duwaling

The Junior Chamber International (JCI) is the leading global organization of young active citizens. JCI is membership-based non-profit organization of 200,000 young people ages 18 to 40 in 5,000 communities and more than 100 countries around the world. The JCI Mission is "to provide development opportunities that empower young people to create positive change."

In the Philippines, there are more than 140 chapters with 9 chapter based in Davao Region. JCI Duwaling is a Davao-based all female chapter of the JCI. Duwaling is an amalgamation of Durian and Waling Waling, two of the most popular symbols of Davao. To know more, visit their page at http://www.facebook.com/JCIDuwaling.


**Photos were taken and posted with permission from the JCI Duwaling Chapter.