Help Bring a Philippine Community Out of Poverty

The past 12 months have seen a tremendous amount of activity at our beneficiary community, GK Ark of Noah in Bocaue, Bulacan, in the Philippines. Thanks to your efforts, we have raised a total of $4,515 this past year through this project on GlobalGiving. This is the equivalent of 1.29 homes benefiting families in real need. Over the past 27 months since this project was launched, donors like you have helped build 4.23 homes at GK Ark of Noah. Thank you!

Your donations have not just built four homes, they have also inspired donors in the United States and beyond to help fund a total of 25 homes in 2017! We have now funded or built a total of 65 homes out of the 78 needed!

Members of GK Boston were able to visit GK Ark of Noah in February of 2018 to observe the turnover of the latest 10 homes that have been completed. It was an emotional experience, particularly for the 10 families to receive the keys to their new, permanent homes!

However, home-building is just one component of Gawad Kalinga's approach to fighting poverty. Allow us to give you an update for the various initiatives at play to help the families at GK Ark of Noah emerge and stay out of poverty:

• Home-building: Since we pledged to fund homes for all 78 families living at GK Ark of Noah in 2015, our donors, including the TripAdvisor Charitable Foundation, donors from the United States and the Philippines have helped us fund 65 homes

• Community health initiatives for 2017:

1. Medical student internships: we were able to send three medical students from the University of Massachusetts Medical School who spent 6 weeks at GK Ark of Noah in the summer of 2017 developing a wellness initiative to combat hypertension and diabetes, both of which are prevalent at the community. 
2. Electronic medical records: GK USA partnered with a not-for-profit electronic medical records provider in the Philippines to implement digital health records, with an initial pilot implemented by our social development intern at two GK communities in August 2017.
3. Nutrition initiative: The urban garden internship project implemented by a UMass community health intern in 2016 was launched as an official nutrition initiative, after first-year results saw childhood malnutrition eliminated at GK Ark of Noah. 

• Social development initiatives for 2017:

1. Student internships: we sent our first two social development interns through the course of 2017. The program’s capstone project was the pilot implementation of electronic medical records (EMR) at two GK communities in Bulacan province. 
2. Flood mitigation: We launched a fundraising initiative with a target of $40,000 to raise funds for implementing flood mitigation measures at GK Ark of Noah and the surrounding area, as the location is prone to flooding due to its proximity to the Bocaue River. $5,000 has been raised to date.
3. Livelihood programs: through partnerships with GK France and the local government, an on-site bakery was built for use by the community as the first step towards a cooperative enterprise. The local government has pledged the construction of a livelihood center at GK Ark of Noah to serve the local community.

Thank you for continued support of our project! We look forward to serving our beneficiaries in 2018!

The Gawad Kalinga Boston team and the families of GK Ark of Noah