The 2013 Super Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines is considered the most devasting storm in recorded history. Some 9 million people were rendered homeless and hundreds of schools and clean water systems were destroyed. As we approach the third annivertsary, many communities and schools are still in recovery. Many international organizations intervened with million of dollars worth of emergency aid, but today only a few outsiders remain on-site and continue to assist the rebuilding of broken lives. Asia America Initiative learned valuable lessons about supporting a transition from charity to self-reliance at the community level as the key to sustainable development. This has been made possible by the generoisty provided by our many private Global Giving donors and a small number of non-governmental foundations.
The emphasis of Asia America Initiative has been to support clean water systems and vegetable gardens, utilizing public schools as non-partisan community centers. Our goal, with the input from community leaders is to make a transition from emergency relief to self-reliance based on local enterprise and volunteerism within a 4 year period [Christmas Season 2014]. "Our community never expected such generosity and has truly appreciated the loyalty and substantial improvements in the eduction and health conditions of our children," says Principal Luz Roxas Mayo of Angub Elementary School in the rural hillside farning community of Cuartero, Capiz that was heavily damaged by the super typhoon.
The new 2016-17 school year began in mid-June. Already at least 10 schools with more than 2,000 student kindergarden to elementary students have benefitted from AAI's partnership with Moms and Dads in Parent-Teachers Associations who are assisted by teachers and pupils to grow and cook nutritious lunches each day of the week on school grounds. Malnutrition has dropped from close to 35 percent of all students down to around 5 percent. Each school now has a water tank and wash basins to provide for adequate sanitation. The quality of drinking water has dramatically improved, reducing water-borne and mosquito related illnesses. AAI and our donor-partners are viewed as reliable friends while communities re-establish farming and fishing as means of livelihood and basic sustenance. "The parents really cooperate," says Principal Rowena Ortizo at Catig-Lacadon Elementary school, "Because they know their kids like to go to school to enjoy their delicious lunch.... From the bottom of our hearts, the kids wish you and your partners' families many blessings."
Links:
One of the most heartwarming activities of Asia America Initiative in the Philippines has been the rebuilding and special care to the water, hygiene and nutritional conditions of children in rural areas who were largely invisible to the outside world. Parents, teachers and school children have been willing to conduct the “sweat equity” needed for the physical rebuilding. AAI’s local staff members have demonstrated unceasing care and commitment to their neighbors. The roles of GlobalGiving’s administrators and hundreds of ordinary people who have sent donations, have made our sustainability possible.
We have made a choice to remain at least one more year to ensure people’s self-confidence that they can carry-on. During the first quarter of 2016, AAI expanded our programs related to clean water, hygiene, school-based gardens and daily feeding program cooked by the Moms. Principal Luz Mayo Roxas says, “The community of Angub Elementary School is very happy for the gifts they continue to receive. Although many outside groups have departed the rebuilding effort, AAI’s programs have become stronger. This summer, there will be a group of parents to help our school to make it clean and to prepare a 3.6 hectare vegetable garden. They have started planting. They are cooperative and happy to serve. Thank you very much GlobalGiving for the great help you've extended. Your donor supporters should know that their kindness is a great motivator.”
On behalf of those who have benefitted and from the many incredible lessons we have learned about “doing more with less,” AAI staff who hail from Thailand, China, Japan, Connecticut and Virginia have found the way through shared commitment to assisting others, even 10,000 miles away. In the words of one of our staff volunteers, “We all have our dreams of how the world should be. Life can be unfair at times, but when people extend that one more step that can lead to success for the common good, the distance to achieving our ideals doesn’t seem that long.”
Links:
In 2015 Asia America Initiative continued to save or improve the lives of thousands of survivors of the massive Typhoon Haiyan. Many communities we serve, with the support of our Global Giving donors, had been abandoned by their own government or had most of their international support move on to other crises in the world.
The following letters describe our achievements and what remains to be accomplished in 2016 through our division of labor to empower local communities to help themselves.
We surpassed our goals for this year, starting with providing tools and seeds to create gardens at 12 schools with a population of close to 8,000 students.
We provided 20,000 new library story books, text books and teachers manuals and student work books to more than twenty elementary, high schools, colleges and vocational schools.
We provided scholarships to more than 14 students whose families would not have been able to pay for their education.
We provided new medical equipment, weighing scales and first aid supplies to 10 school clinics.
We provide daily home-cooked lunches with vegetables harvested from school gardens by PTA mothers at 30 elementary schools where malnutrition and tropical illnesses are rampant. This amounts to 8,000 students for 4 meals per week x 6 months = 192,000 meals.
We have assisted more than 10 elementary, high schools and colleges with clean water and hygiene systems.
Department of Education
Region VI – Western Visayas
District of Cuartero
December 10, 2015
Professor ALBERT SANTOLI
President -Asia America Initiative Inc.
A warm Christmas Greeting!
Two years had passed that Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) hit Cuartero in November 8, 2013 and almost everything were severely damaged. Especially the schools which are considered the second home of the school children were devastated by the typhoon. Most school children in this region had no food, clothing and their homes destroyed – the most basic needs of my school’s 250 children were lost.
As Maindang Elementary School Principal I desired that somebody could assist our needs since we had no more books to read, no sports materials to play with, no sandals to wear, no school stage to hold our activities, and most of all very little food to eat. This was serious because we already had a lot of malnourished and severely wasted children.
Prayer changes things. Out of no where the Asia America Initiative was heaven sent through Albert Santoli, a kindhearted man who was recovering from a serious illness and a supporter of children he never met.
In connection to the above experiences, we Maindang Elementary School children, parents, teaching staff, Our Community would like to express our gratitude for the aid extended by Asia America Initiative and your donors . We will pray always that our association will continue to grow in sharing not only material things but a real spirit of friendship and kindness. Thank you very much.
More power and God Bless.
Signed: Principal LUZ ROXAS MAYO
School Principal
We intend to continue rebuilding schools such as Maiundang Elementary in 2016. We also plan to add schools which have not yet been adequately assisted and where children continue to suffer, including walking a mile or two on rugged mountain roads to attend school each day either barefoot or with rubber sandals breaking apart. Here is a report from one such school, Angub Elementary, by AAI head nurse Faith dela Torre:
FAITH DELA TORRE, RN
ASIA AMERICA INITIATIVE
Dear Sir:
Last Friday I visited Angub ES, in rural Visayas. There are 240 students and 25 of them are IP's [Indigenous tribes] 39 of them belong to severely malnourished students including the IP's. The school is situated near the town but in the upland part of Cuartero Capiz. the road is cemented already so they are not hard to reach like in Carataya. from the town proper it takes 10 minutesdriving [2 miles] to reach the school. Most of the children belong to the indigent families. Most of their parents are working as household helpers and only a few are working on the farm. As I observe children are very small as to their grade level or age.
The school is also a recipient of DepEd school feeding, but only those few children who are classified as severely wasted. There is a problem with this because all of the IP's are included in the feeding because when they are weighed they arre classified as normal. but I do not believe the children are normal because when I saw them they are thin and skinny. I told principal that their weighing scale that they used is not accurate. because they used only an old bathroom type of weighing scale.
The school has no Library and no clinic.They have a few books and no medical supplies. They are also victims of typhoon Haiyan but they we're lucky compared to Carataya because their school building roof and walls were fixed immediately because may be they are near in the town. While Carataya is in remote area. The school utilizes one the classroom for their books that AAI donated. Their kindergarten classroom lacks toys and books.
The teachers are looking forward for whatever help that we can extend to their school sir. We plan to give some AAI stuffed toys and books for their school this week.
God bless you.
FAITH OMEL DELA TORRE, AAI, RN
Dear Friends, Our work continues. Please remember that all donations sent to AAI through Global Giving for this project will be doubled. We appreciate your support. Happy Holidays to all.
Links:
Links:
In the storm ravaged areas of central Philippines, close to 500,000 people, predominantly infants, children and youth, remain displaced by the destruction of their homes, schools and community livelihood systems during the November 13, 2013 super-typhoon Haiyan [named Yolanda in the Philippines.] The impact on children includes rampant waterborne diseases and widespread malnutrition. Most international charities that made up for slack government recovery operations have now transferred to areas of the world with new cataclysmic refugee and internally displaced persons [IDPs] crises. Asia America Initiative (AAI)has continued our work on a very modest budget thanks to the hard work and partnership of local community members and public school teachers. On the island of Panay, which includes Iloilo and Capiz provinces, AAI continues to feed close to provide water and food assistance to ten schools with close to 3,000 pupils at 20 cents [US] per student per day.
In many situations around the world, no matter how many people remain in dire need sustainable aid is precarious. Usually following a flood, an earthquake or an armed conflict, funding support from politically expedient governments and the kind-hearted donor bases usually dries up in 6 to 12 months after the most dramatic images vanish from the media spotlight. Two key factors we have learned to sustaining aid in international humanitarian crisis have been strongly supported by Global Giving’s corporate and private donors. First, is the need for consistent oversite and reporting by local implementing personnel and groups. Second, is to tightly budget all grants and donations and encourage local self-sustaining fund raising by credible institutions such as churches and schools and civic organizations.
We emphasize communitydignity, especially among hard-hit families. We request of school leaders and PTA parents that they at least perform necessary labor for rebuilding homes and schools, as well as improving nutrition for malnourished children through lunches cooked by parents, and families can grow nutritious vegetables and fruits in home or school-based gardens where AAI assists with gardening tools, additional seeds and irrigation. With those “wheels in motion” it is more possible to assistance growing programs for a necessary 12 to 36 month period of reconstruction and health infrastructure, as well as emotional trauma recovery.
In August 2015, Project Leader Albert Santoli made an oversite and assessment visit to AAI programs in the Visayas region. He witnessed first-hand the impact of the ongoing hygiene and nutrition programs. Hundreds of children at many schools presented Director Santoli with hand drawn cards thanking AAI and our international donors for their support. The cards were heart-felt and amazingly cute with colorful crayon-drawn care-bears, happy dinosaurs, flowers of all colors, hearts with smiley faces. Here are some of the children’s comments [their grammar unedited]:
“Thank you for giving so many books and many school supplies and many children are very happy. Because in afternoons students come library and read books.” Arlyn P, Grade 6
“Thank you for the school bags, rubber slippers, books, seeds, toothbrushes, lunches and many more. Thank you for your kindness. May the Good Lord bless you with with good health. GOD BLESS YOU!!” - Cheerie Tina B, Grade 5
"Thank you very much for giving support to us students at Auroira Areaneta Memorial Elementary especially the books that we learn to read things every day to finish our studies…” –Jona P, Grade 4
“Thank you very much for the school supplies, food and clean water, and books we read every day. Many children need your help. Many teachers, classmates and my best friend is very happy. You are an inspiration for me. I will always remember you. God love you.” – Trixie B., Grade 3
“Thank you for giving the food to my classmates and other children in our school Catig-Lacadon. Thank you for the many beautiful things you give the children. I love you and will always remember you.” – Juna Lyn, Grade 5.
“Thank for the school supplies,, school bags, feeding program, tooth paste, tooth brush, pencils, notebooks and other things. Thank you so much. We Love You.” -- Rhyleen ., Grade 4
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can recieve an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
Make a monthly donation & get 
