Emergency Relief for Inter-Faith Filipino Children

Dear Friends,

During this entire decade, the Philippines has been identified by the United Nations as the area of the world most affected by natural disasters. In addition to ongoing volcanoes and earthquakes, increasingly powerful and nonstop typhoons and cyclones have wreaked havoc on communities repeatedly damaged by storms, flooding, and property and critical infrastructure destruction. Asia America Initiative, our local partners, and courageous volunteers have consistently risen to the occasion. Fresh food and clean water are essential. Bacteria, viruses, and diseases have been rampant in the wake of storms, especially among schoolchildren.

In response, AAI's adopted communities with sponsored schools have been repairing structural damage and doing a general cleanup of debris, mud, and contaminated water. Not only have parent volunteers been participating, but students as young as first and second grade are also helping their parents and teachers in this health improvement process!

Principal Merhama of Salih Yusah Elementary School in Sulu, which has more than 900 pupils, said, "AAI has never failed to provide the funding for constructing concrete floors and plywood and carpentry supplies to build classroom tables and chairs for students. They provide sacks of rice and seeds for gardens. Each year, they provide gallons of disinfectant and protective gloves and masks so we are able to clean up after the storms pass. This creates improved sanitation and reduces the occurrence of infections from water-borne illness and disease."

Once damage is assessed, local schools provide a plan for rebuilding. We do our part to purchase supplies but encourage local businesses to give discounts or assistance in repairing the schools. Parents and other volunteers who have carpentry skills provide the labor. We also provide communal meals during the repair process to create a bonding environment that builds friendship and cooperation among neighbors with diverse cultures and who speak a variety of dialects.

Thank you, donors! Because of your support and reliable contributions, we are able to purchase and transport urgent needs. With your help, we have provided tightly budgeted resources and building supplies to make repairs immediately. Within days of Nature's wrath, students are back in their classrooms, ready to learn.

Our advocacy is rather than move hundreds of thousands of victims into makeshift villages with unstable government funding, we encourage families to stay in their hometowns and rebuild. Schools are the center of the community, and love for the children helps to form a bond between parents and neighbors. In crisis conditions, local governments turn their schools into temporary shelters. Our role as a first-response NGO is to help keep the shelter facilities in good sanitary condition.

If you would like to add to your support or begin a monthly donation, please click the link below.

Emergency Relief for Inter-Faith Filipino Children

Thank you,

Albert Santoli

Director Asia America Initiative

Links:

• Asia America Initiative website

Dear Friends,

In an active 2024 storm season in East Asia, Super Typhoon Gaemi (Carina) battered the Philippines. The aftermath included flooding and landslides across the country and an environmental disaster near Manila when the storm sank an oil tanker in Manila Bay.

Asia America Initiative and partners are delivering food, hygiene supplies, toys, and books to families in need. Where mountain roads are washed out, AAI is delivering urgent aid to communities in need. 

Our year-round partnerships help to supply those in need when food shortages strike hard. AAI and One World Institute are pioneering two programs, Food for Peace and organic Gardening for Food that now include some 240,000 families in all major regions of the Philippines.

Ms. Retchen, an AAI/OWI representative and a mother of four children, is entrusted to organize and facilitate many of our relief events into the areas affected. "It is a privilege to be part of this effort, along with volunteers who have returned from working overseas, and members of the communities.  This type of hands-on partnership and resiliency is called Bayanihan in Filipino language," says Retchen.  “It is our attitude of faith and charity with each other and an important part of who we are as a culture. Everyone is included. All ages participate."

Asia America Initiative works with communities in remote villages who are difficult to reach. Despite adverse conditions, we continue to assist thousands of families -- Christians, Muslims and Indigenous tribal peoples -- who suffer in desperate conditions. We have been active in more than six provinces located in the three major regions of the 7,000 island Philippine archipelago where hundreds of different cultures thrive and myriads of various languages and dialects are spoken -- Luzon, Mindanao and Visayas.

According to the United Nations and other global agencies, the Philippines is the country in our world most affected by natural disasters. The impacts of climate change are intensifying the storms as sea temperatures are warming. AAI and our network of local partner organizations, staffed mostly by volunteers, provide medicines, shelter materials, clean water and food support to needy families and individual disaster survivors.

Thank you for your ongoing contributions. If you can further assist or are interested in becoming a long-term sponsor with a monthly donation, please click the link below. Your support will help families recover from this devastating typhoon.

Emergency Relief for Inter-Faith Filipino Children

Wishing you peace,

Albert Santoli

Director - Asia America Initiative

Links:

• AAI Website