Dear Friends,
What happens when an AAI volunteer teacher in the islands of Mindanao leaves for a few years to further her education and start a family?
She returns to school ready to make a difference with a revitalized commitment that goes beyond her own classroom of students! Sharifa is assigned to teach in a school district in an area of deep poverty. In her village, half the population is under the age of 19 and malnutrition is rampant. With AAI's help, she has expanded the free feeding program to go beyond her classroom and include the entire elementary school. At the start of 2023, thanks to our AAI donors support, we are in the beginning stages of developing a plan to provide daily lunches which are vitally needed. The elementary school has an enrollment of 300 students. The majority are female. Our goal is to provide a lunchtime meal 3 days a week.
"What makes AAI's programs different," says Sharifa, "is that they not only extend a helping hand, but include everyone in the process of improving their community. We feel that the program belongs to all of us. So parents, students and teachers all work together to create a success."
Students are returning to the classroom after three years of COVID quarantines in rural areas in the Philippines. AAI has been supporting numerous schools throughout the pandemic through parental outreach and improving hygiene by building handwashing stations in front of classrooms.
We are encouraging school-based gardens and are providing seeds and tools that volunteer parents, teachers and students can use. Sharifa's school has already received the seeds and other equipment to start a beautiful garden. The garden will provide fresh food for school lunches - cooked by volunteer mothers and grandmothers and served by teachers.
Sharifa says, "Access to school lunches especially enables girls to experience improved overall well-being."
Poverty, hunger, rampant waterborne diseases, and limited public health plague the Philippines. Sulu Province remains near the bottom of the UN's worldwide Human Development Index. A school-aged population of some 350,000 children -- more than half of girls -- are suffering from hunger. AAI is committed to continue to assist numerous schools, and at least a total of 500 girls and an equal number of boys each day to have access to clean water systems, improved hygiene, and adequate daily nutrition. To our GlobalGiving community of donors, we say "Magsukol tuud." ["Thank you very much," in Tausug tribal language.] We appreciate your kind assistance. We could not do this without you!
If you would like to add to your support or begin a monthly donation, please click through this report and GlobalGiving will prepare that for you to assist in this worthwhile endeavor.
Clean Water, WASH & Nutrition for 500 Muslim Girls
Thank you,
Albert Santoli,
Director, Asia America Initiative
Links:
Dear Friends,
Students are returning to the classroom after two years of COVID quarantines in rural areas in the Philippines. AAI has been supporting numerous schools throughout the pandemic with parental outreach and improving hygiene by building handwashing stations in front of classrooms.
AAI is improving the strength and vitality of children from areaas of high poverty through school feeeding programs. We are encouraging school-based gardens and are providing seeds and tools that volunteer parents, teachers and students can use. The gardens provide fresh food for school lunches - cooked by volunteer mothers and grandmothers.
By building clean water systems and by providing soaps, toothpaste, and other hygiene products - girls' health does improve. Girls attend more days in school and their classroom performance is enhanced. At Salih Yusah Elementary in Jolo town, Principal Merhama observes, "The water WASH stations donated by AAI and the hoses and pails to water our school garden has enabled us to reopen learning facilities and at the same time teach our pupils families how to improve health conditions at home."
In addition, the improved water delivery at each school and access to school lunches enables girls to experience improved overall well-being. "Our school children feel special and loved because their mothers and grandmothers love to help our faculty care for the little ones," says Principal Sarah at Timbangan Elementary in Indanan. "AAI has provided us with the water pumping and hoses for gardening and seeds for organic fruits and veggies, which keep our children healthy and coming to school every day."
Poverty, hunger, rampant waterborne diseases, and limited public health plague the Philippines. Sulu Province remains near the bottom of the UN's worldwide Human Development Index. A school-aged population of some 350,000 children -- more than half of girls -- are suffering from hunger. AAI is committed to continue to assist numerous schools, and at least a total of 500 girls each day. This will stabilize clean water systems, improved hygiene, and adequate daily nutrition. To our GlobalGiving community of donors: We appreciate your kind assistance. We could not do this without you!
If you would like to add to your support or begin a monthly donation, please click through this report and GlobalGiving will prepare that for you to assist in this worthwhile endeavor.
Clean Water, WASH & Nutrition for 500 Muslim Girls
Thank you,
Albert Santoli,
Director, Asia America Initiative
Links:
Dear Friends,
During the past two years of the pandemic restrictions on community activities, Asia America Initiative has been busy building wash stations and providing hygiene supplies for Muslim girls in Mindanao.
By building clean water systems and by providing soaps, toothpaste, and other hygiene products, girls' health can dramatically improve. AAI-sponsored schools are engaging students to continue their studies and we are providing PPE protection as Covid19 continues to spread (in a less virulent way, but good hygiene is important to keep outbreaks down). It is especially imperative for girl students to not give up on possibilities. What happens now with their studies will have an impact on the rest of their lives.
"More or less, we have 200 pupils today, more than half are females," says School Head Masdida of Timbangan Elementary School in Sulu. "We just began allowing children in kinder to grade 3 to go back to school for mentoring. I believe that these grade levels are the most crucial stage, which is the foundation for learning. Children need help in basic skills like holding pencils or ballpoint pens, reading, and introducing the sounds of letters.
Girls attend more days in school and their learning is enhanced when good hygiene practices are taught and they have adequate supplies provided. Your contributions have made a difference.
We are encouraging and providing seeds and supplies for the expansion of school-based gardens that provide fresh food for school lunches - cooked by volunteer mothers and grandmothers. With improved water delivery at each school and access to school lunches, girls can experience improved overall well-being.
To our GlobalGiving community of donors: We appreciate all you do could not do this without you!
If you would like to add to your support or begin a monthly donation, please click through this report and GlobalGiving will prepare that for you to assist in this worthwhile endeavor.
Clean Water, WASH & Nutrition for 500 Muslim Girls
Thank you,
Albert Santoli,
Director, Asia America Initiative
Links:
Dear Friends of AAI,
The Covid pandemic has caused children to miss close to two years of authentic classroom experience. This has been especially devastating at the elementary school level, where a love for learning is developed by relationships with teachers and classmates. The alternative learning approach by electronic or cell phone classes has been counter-productive as children get bored quickly and eyes are strained by looking at small screens. Worse, many locations have continuous blackouts or lack adequate internet connectivity.The printed module learning method is hindered by the cost of ink catridge, copy paper, and basic school supplies. Parents, many of whom are functionally illiterate, fear that their children will never escape the cycles of hunger and poverty.
In the Philippines, we are conducting an innovative community-based approach to enable teachers to mentor children outdoors or on a house-to-house basis. Our main center for these new programs is in Sulu Province, in the Muslim Autonomous zone of the Mindanao Region. Even before the pandemic, Sulu's island communities ranked near the bottom of the UN's worldwide Human Development Index. A school-aged population of some 350,000 children -- more than half of whom are girls -- suffer from hunger. Worldwide, female students are the most impacted in similar circumstances.
Especially during this pandemic, we have used funds from our GlobalGiving donors, matched by parents and some community leaders, to build clean water systems, WASH facilities, and hygenic classroom environments needed for safety during face-to-face mentoring. We are providing soaps, toothpaste, and other hygiene products. Principal Bhing at Timbagan Elementary School says, "By providing meals and snacks to our impoverished children, parents will accompany their little ones and help with cooking and gardening. As a result, children attend more days at school and their classroom performance is enhanced... We encourage the expansion of school-based gardens that provide fresh food for school lunches - cooked by volunteer mothers and grandmothers. With improved rain-catchment tanks and water delivery at each school, boys and girls can equally experience improved overall well-being."
To our GlobalGiving community of donors: You have done more than you can imagine. We could not do this without you!
Thank you,
Albert Santoli,
Director, Asia America Initiative
Links:
Dear Friends,
As the new school year approaches, schools are preparing for students to eventually return, and continue to do onsite mentoring and distributing fressh foods to needy families that are grown in school gardens. In an expansion of our Asia America Initiative project, we are improving student access to clean water by building new water stations and providing water tanks to new schools.
We recently purchased a new water pump for Salih Yusah Elmentary School who has a population of more than 500 girls between kindergarten and sixth grade among more than 850 pupils. The school's award winning gardens have been made possible by deep wells and water tanks funded by Asia America Intiative. "AAI has been our loyal partner and a God send for us," says Salih Yusah Elementary Principal Dr. Merhama. "Their untiring efforts during the pandemic have been a model of excellence for school communities in our province. We send heartfelt thanks to all of AAI's kind and thoughtful donors."
Poverty, hunger, communal violence, and limited public health plague Muslim Mindanao, Philippines. A school-aged population of some 350,000 children is mostly impoverished and suffering from hunger. Female students are often the most affected. During 2021, we have now more than doubled our goal of three schools with a total of 500 girls. Our focus is to build clean water systems, WASH facilities, and to promote adequate nutrition. All are essential for improved health and education.
By building clean water systems, WASH facilities, and by providing soaps, toothpaste, and donatiing other hygiene products - especially protective masks and anti-bacterial soap for washing hands -- our girls' health has improved. With the lifting of the quarantine caused by COID, girls will attend more days in school and classroom performance will be enhanced. We encourage the expansion of school-based gardens that provide fresh food for school lunches - cooked by volunteer mothers and grandmothers. With improved water access at each school and access to school lunches, girls can experience improved overall well-being.
If you would like to continue to support this project, please click the link below.
Clean Water, WASH & Nutrition for 500 Muslim Girls
Thank you for assisting in our goal to improve the lives of girls living in difficult circumstances.
Albert Santoli
Director, Asia America Initiative
Links:
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