December 2007 Newsletter

Update from the Founder

I can't believe that the Christmas season is here again.  It is a most special time of the year in the Philippines with Christmas music coming from stores, churches, homes with radios, and from the nightly round of carolers.  I never seem to tire of Christmas music and it is a welcome change to the kind of music that our young people listen to - yes, even in the Philippines!  My wife, Pat, and I arrived in the Philippines on October 13, and we have been "on the go" ever since our arrival.  Pat divides her time between foundation and family, and I spend all of my time focusing on our Foundation's mission; to help poor children and their families.  Pat represents HELP in all of the projects in and around Talakag (home base); goats, orphanage, school sponsorship in Talakag, and our malnourished children's feeding program.  My responsibilities include everything else: swine project, preschool, and children's sponsorship program in the Payatas dumpsite in Metro-Manila; livelihood, health, and water projects on Caubian Island; children's feeding program, preschool, and all livelihood projects in the Muslim villages in southern Bukidnon.  This may sound like a broken record, but, as of this writing, I am pleased with the progress in all areas.  The obstacles that we have to overcome seem to get smaller and smaller each year.  Perhaps I am getting smarter (which my wife says is impossible). But maybe it is because the people are starting to believe in us and in what we offer to the poor. On most fronts, the cooperation between HELP, non-governmental organizations (NGO's) the local government units (LGU's) and the citizens have been excellent.  From time to time, I get some resistance from LGU's because they expect "kick backs" or as they call them "commissions".  I have held my ground on this because I am using your money, but progress is being impeded.  Changing an established practice is a slow process! I have come to realize that the world is not a perfect place. You can see from the following pages that great things are happening in our projects. In this newsletter, I have added additional pictures because the pictures explain our work much better than my words!

 Bethany Christian Home for Children

Support of Bethany has been a priority for HELP Foundation in 2007.  Your donations to Bethany have been able to provide the day-to-day necessities for the children; food, clothing, diapers, medicine, etc. It takes about $1,500/month to accomplish the basics.

You know, every month, I am on pins and needles when it comes to Bethany donations.  We have about 5 faithful donors, Dorothy Dowlen, Brian and Melissa Trammel, Edwin and Debra Jacques, Alice and Jim Ferguson, Winston and Leticia Umali, but their donations fall short of the minimum requirement. However, each month, somebody answers our prayers and provides an additional amount to take care of the orphans. Thank you Ron and Martha Graham, Karol and Ben Finch, Roger and Diana Brown, Loretta Beckman, Wilbur and Barbara Stites, Stan and Helen Hooper, Ruth Cuykendall, Dr. David & Claudia Hermans, Gary and Kelly Gillespie,  Goldie Barbie, Gary and Karen Rogers, Bethany Jahn, Copeland KS church community and  others for your generosity!  Although the immediate needs of the children are provided for, many long term repairs are needed.  We have leaking roofs, faulty plumbing, unserviceable washers and driers, termite infested walls, etc.

  I am praying that, not only will we receive donations to fix these problems; we will also get some volunteer groups to come to the orphanage and participate in the repairs of these items.

Rose Longcob, social worker at Bethany tells me that there are now 24 children at the orphanage. If we were able to get another social worker, we would be able to double the number of children. Lack of funding and only one social worker has limited the number of children that Bethany can care for.  The good news is that Bethany placed 8 children during 2007. Three went to the USA, two to Australia, and three went to adoptive homes in the Philippines. Two children are waiting for medical clearances so that their parents (one from the USA and one from Italy) can come to Bethany and meet their new family member!

Goat Project

 Somebody once named a project "the gift that keeps on giving".  I am not for sure what the original intent was, but I am sure that I have found the ideal "gift that keeps on giving!" Goats.  Yes, Goats!  I have totally modified our goat operation where we will maintain 100 crossbred female (nanny) goats and have several pure bred male goats to service the herd.  The breeding stock will remain with the foundation and the female offspring, once grown and bred, will be given to poor families. 

Before receiving the goat, the family will have to undergo a 20-hour training session and build a shelter for the goat. The receiving family will give the first born back to the foundation and the nanny goat will then belong to them. We offer free stud service to those families who have received goats from us. When we are in full operation, we will be able to provide 100-150 nanny goats to needy families each year.  So this project is truly a "gift that will keep on giving".  Thank you, Burdette Hermans, John Overmiller, Sam Mc Dowell and others,  for your help in this wonderful project.

Caubian Island

Thanks to Lloyd and Carol Brown, we have been able to do so much on Caubian Island to help the poor.  As you may remember, Caubian Island, with a land area of 2.7 hectares, has 3,000 residents.  There is no electricity; no water and 60% of the people are illiterate. Lloyd and Carol took on this difficult project two years ago. Lloyd passed away last September but Carol continues to provide the funds to transform the island from a poor subsistence island to an island with hope for change.  What a wonderful legacy they have left to the people of this tiny island in the Bohol Sea! We have built a development center on the island which is the center of all activities. We have also provided the people with 240,000 liters of community rain water storage capacity, which will be used during the dry season for those without water. 

We are also providing individual tanks for rainwater harvesting, which donors in addition to the Browns, have funded.  We have 50 families with 440 liter tanks and by February, we will have 50 more families with individual tanks.  We now have a Botica sa Barangay which dispenses medicines to the needy and we also have a number of income generating projects to encourage the people to not engage in illegal fishing practices.  (dynamite andchemicals) The "fish cage" group sold fish last December 15 and netted 3,200 pesos ($78). I owe a tribute to the Pagtambayayong Foundation who has assisted the HELP Foundation in achieving these goals. The residents of Caubian have formed their own organization - The Caubian Island Association for Progress and Development to assist in managing the current projects and in determining the beneficiaries for future micro-loans. The residents are taking PRIDE in their community.

Preschools

The two preschools that we operate have been quite successful.  We just finished making improvements to the school in the Payatas - additional windows, ceiling fans, double walling of the classrooms and lots of paint.  There are 89 children enrolled in the Doug and Sharlene Preschool and they are a site to behold. Because of a Rotary grant, the children are getting a first class start on their education.  They each received new school uniforms, shoes, book bags, and school books!  

 They also receive a free lunch meal. Additionally, the preschool in Purok Dos, Kalilangan, Bukidnon, has become the catalyst for the transformation of this small Muslim community.  We have 59 children  enrolled. The preschool has also become the center of activity for meetings, social gatherings, etc. They too are taking PRIDE in their little community. The Gardner's also funded the construction of 4 community restrooms. The 24 families involved have come up with their own schedule for usage and cleaning.  What a change from 2 years ago, when human waste was scattered throughout the village!

 

School Sponsorship Program

 

We just finished with the annual Christmas parties for the 147 children in our sponsorship program. On December 20, with the help of a number of volunteers, I hosted the party for 100 children and their families in the Payatas region of Metro-Manila.  On December 22, my wife and volunteers from Talakag hosted the party for 47 children there. Remarkably, all of the children attended. The sponsors had given almost $4,000 extra money for the children's Christmas, so we pooled the extra donations and all 150 children received the peso equivalent of $17 each and we also had a delicious meal of spaghetti, fried chicken, cake, ice cream, juice, and candies!  In addition, we also distributed gifts that some of the sponsors sent with me from the States.

Thank you sponsors, for making the Christmas parties special for the children!  I am putting together a booklet of the sponsored children for the Payatas area and for Talakag.   It has turned out to be quite an undertaking but I hope to have this mailed to the sponsors by the end of January. I will also be sending another "installment" of letters that the children gave me at the Christmas party.  One of the biggest problems that I am experiencing with the sponsorship program is the declining value of the dollar in world markets.  In just one year, the dollar has lost almost 20% of its value, so the buying power of the $100 dollars had decreased by $20.  Unless the dollar rebounds, I will have to increase the annual cost of the sponsorship program by $20/year.  It is either that or cut out the shoes and school uniform and I know that the sponsors don't want that option!

We still have a number of children who need sponsors for the 2008/09 school year. Cost of sponsorship is $120.00