Aeta Boarding House - Sitio Sagpat, San Felipe, Zambales

This all started after visiting a nearby waterfall and hearing that kids sleep on the sand. These students are from Sitio Banawen, a neighborhood in the mountains that entails trekking and river crossing and is not a feasible daily trip. There is an elementary school up in the community, but to get to high school, students will have to move to the field; Lucky for those who has relatives there, but with some who has none, they stay on a vacant shanty on a roadside where kids sleep straight on the sand. I did not ask further how the case is when it rains.

This shanty is built next to the roadside, atop a community drainage. The kids sleep on the sand (right side on the picture) and it is disturbing to realize their heads will lay just a foot away from the edge of the road and atop the drainage.

Now, it will be my 40th birthday next year, and thought it will be a good reminder of the time I have existed on the earth if I can do something worth that time. 

With the help of a fellow Kakampink Architect (based in Shanghai, China) who I worked with during the campaign, he immediately sent me a design with the specs I have mentioned to him. There was also that friend Kristine in Canada, who has for years, been randomly chatting me to check if there are some community projects that needed funding.  

For this project, we are building a 6-10 pax boarding house for Banawen Residents. I have checked with teachers from Banawen, and class sizes are about 10 per grade level. We will look for a land which we can purchase at a reasonable price, so in the future, we will always have the boarding house for the kids and the aeta community up there. 

(Update from Dec 04: Most of the land are rocky and slopes, there is one land with an unfinished house we saw but the asking price was P180,000. However, the house is right next to the high school and it is 300 square meters. We might choose this for its convenience for the kids, and also the land size as the parents of these kids usually sleep sunday night with their kids, as they have to be early in the market during mondays and thursday San Felipe Market days where they sell their goods. In this case, we are setting an additional budget of up to 50K for renovation and completion of the house). 

The materials cost for the project is around P110,000, and expected labor to be at P55,000, and we're setting a budget of P30,000 for a 50sqm land. Total is P185,000.00.

Here is a google sheet link for the cost. Here is also the google drive folder for the rest of the pics/plan

For the interior and furnishing, we have another kakampink friend Sofia who volunteered to do the total furnishing, including the fundraising. It will be heaven's grace if we have someone who can also work on getting them a sattelite based internet service, which will help not just these kids, but the whole community in general.

If you are interested in helping out, please do let us know via www.facebook.com/limbonis/ or shot us a comment/email here.

As of August 08, 2024 We have the house running with currently 4 students. See the fb page Balemahi:

This all started after visiting a nearby waterfall and hearing that kids sleep on the sand. These students are from Sitio Banawen, a neighborhood in the mountains that entails trekking and river crossing and is not a feasible daily trip. There is an elementary school up in the community, but to get to high school, students will have to move to the field; Lucky for those who has relatives there, but with some who has none, they stay on a vacant shanty on a roadside where kids sleep straight on the sand. I did not ask further how the case is when it rains.

This shanty is built next to the roadside, atop a community drainage. The kids sleep on the sand (right side on the picture) and it is disturbing to realize their heads will lay just a foot away from the edge of the road and atop the drainage.

Now, it will be my 40th birthday next year, and thought it will be a good reminder of the time I have existed on the earth if I can do something worth that time. 

With the help of a fellow Kakampink Architect (based in Shanghai, China) who I worked with during the campaign, he immediately sent me a design with the specs I have mentioned to him. There was also that friend Kristine in Canada, who has for years, been randomly chatting me to check if there are some community projects that needed funding.  

For this project, we are building a 6-10 pax boarding house for Banawen Residents. I have checked with teachers from Banawen, and class sizes are about 10 per grade level. We will look for a land which we can purchase at a reasonable price, so in the future, we will always have the boarding house for the kids and the aeta community up there. 

(Update from Dec 04: Most of the land are rocky and slopes, there is one land with an unfinished house we saw but the asking price was P180,000. However, the house is right next to the high school and it is 300 square meters. We might choose this for its convenience for the kids, and also the land size as the parents of these kids usually sleep sunday night with their kids, as they have to be early in the market during mondays and thursday San Felipe Market days where they sell their goods. In this case, we are setting an additional budget of up to 50K for renovation and completion of the house). 

The materials cost for the project is around P110,000, and expected labor to be at P55,000, and we're setting a budget of P30,000 for a 50sqm land. Total is P185,000.00.

Here is a google sheet link for the cost. Here is also the google drive folder for the rest of the pics/plan

For the interior and furnishing, we have another kakampink friend Sofia who volunteered to do the total furnishing, including the fundraising. It will be heaven's grace if we have someone who can also work on getting them a sattelite based internet service, which will help not just these kids, but the whole community in general.

If you are interested in helping out, please do let us know via www.facebook.com/limbonis/ or shot us a comment/email here.

As of August 08, 2024 We have the house running with currently 4 students. See the fb page Balemahi:

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Fundraising for Yaman Pawikan - PAWICARE San Narciso, Zambales

PAWIKAN LAYING EGG season is about to start and we need to build the hatchery very soon (target  date is Sunday 17 Sep 2023). This would have been the 5th year that I try to get involved to the capacity that I can with Pawicare rangers in their effort to sustain the turtle population in our seas. I've always aspired to getting them an uninterrupted funding for their needs annually, though that is yet in the works.

For the several years that they have been operating, there had been releasing joiners who had been looking for memorabilia and I've, for a time, been thinking of how to have a sellable (for their additional funding) craft that is not made by machine, or a blank template that is rather just labelled (such as these corporate promo items).

This past week, I had been crafting sellable-wearable souvenier for YAMAN PAWIKAN  guests and interested donors. As of yesterday, I was able to do a resin mix of ZAMBALES BLACK SAND and crushed leftover TURTLE EGG SHELLS -  (pls see pics and vids). 

Now, we're going to pre-sell the necklaces to come up with the needed funds for the hatchery.

There are 2 variants of the necklace. The flat one pre-sells at P160 and the more realistic 3D is P290. 

To order, please fill in this Pawicare Necklace Order including reference number for your payment. Pls dont forget to add P50 sa shipping to Luzon, P90 for Visayas and Mindanao 

As of 24 September, we started building the hatchery and moved to doing inventory of the equipment and paraphernalia needed to resume the 2023 season. 

Here are the list of items next to source:

10 December 2023

As of this date, we have already hatched and released 5 nests, and right now, I am working on generating funds for their Christmas party on December 28. We are continously selling the necklace, and we have also setup a booth in an event in Liwliwa, Zambales (looking forward to taking the 2 junior rangers to events like this so we can do face to face information dissemination and awareness.

Pawicare is a volunteer organization of fishermen who has realized that as much as we want fish, we need to take part in ensuring that tomorrow, our seas will still have fish. 

Formed in 2010 in Barangay La Paz, San Narciso, Zambales , it is formed by 14 Rangers (12 seniors, and 2 Young Adults). These men are divided into groups and schedules and walks nightly from around 8pm until about 4am along the 9km shoreline of San Narciso. The task is to spot nesting mother turtles and with careful handling, pick and move the eggs to the hatchery where they will be far from being poached, eaten by animals, infected by shore trash, etc.

This nesting season happens during the cold -ber months, and lasts until around February-March. Incubation takes about 50-60 days and so releasings may reach all the way to May. 

See this google sheet of the people who purchased and where allocation went. Some Receipts here.

Follow Pawicare on Facebook

Follow Ian on Facebook and Instagram

 

PAWIKAN LAYING EGG season is about to start and we need to build the hatchery very soon (target  date is Sunday 17 Sep 2023). This would have been the 5th year that I try to get involved to the capacity that I can with Pawicare rangers in their effort to sustain the turtle population in our seas. I've always aspired to getting them an uninterrupted funding for their needs annually, though that is yet in the works.

For the several years that they have been operating, there had been releasing joiners who had been looking for memorabilia and I've, for a time, been thinking of how to have a sellable (for their additional funding) craft that is not made by machine, or a blank template that is rather just labelled (such as these corporate promo items).

This past week, I had been crafting sellable-wearable souvenier for YAMAN PAWIKAN  guests and interested donors. As of yesterday, I was able to do a resin mix of ZAMBALES BLACK SAND and crushed leftover TURTLE EGG SHELLS -  (pls see pics and vids). 

Now, we're going to pre-sell the necklaces to come up with the needed funds for the hatchery.

There are 2 variants of the necklace. The flat one pre-sells at P160 and the more realistic 3D is P290. 

To order, please fill in this Pawicare Necklace Order including reference number for your payment. Pls dont forget to add P50 sa shipping to Luzon, P90 for Visayas and Mindanao 

As of 24 September, we started building the hatchery and moved to doing inventory of the equipment and paraphernalia needed to resume the 2023 season. 

Here are the list of items next to source:

10 December 2023

As of this date, we have already hatched and released 5 nests, and right now, I am working on generating funds for their Christmas party on December 28. We are continously selling the necklace, and we have also setup a booth in an event in Liwliwa, Zambales (looking forward to taking the 2 junior rangers to events like this so we can do face to face information dissemination and awareness.

Pawicare is a volunteer organization of fishermen who has realized that as much as we want fish, we need to take part in ensuring that tomorrow, our seas will still have fish. 

Formed in 2010 in Barangay La Paz, San Narciso, Zambales , it is formed by 14 Rangers (12 seniors, and 2 Young Adults). These men are divided into groups and schedules and walks nightly from around 8pm until about 4am along the 9km shoreline of San Narciso. The task is to spot nesting mother turtles and with careful handling, pick and move the eggs to the hatchery where they will be far from being poached, eaten by animals, infected by shore trash, etc.

This nesting season happens during the cold -ber months, and lasts until around February-March. Incubation takes about 50-60 days and so releasings may reach all the way to May. 

See this google sheet of the people who purchased and where allocation went. Some Receipts here.

Follow Pawicare on Facebook

Follow Ian on Facebook and Instagram

 

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Covid-19 Quick Relief for Brgy Sto Nino, San Felipe Zambales

For a community whose economy rely hugely on tourism, the surprise implementation of community lockdowns amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, left everyone sitting over how to sustain living moving forward?

The government said that it will be providing subsidy, supposedly from the barangay level, from the municipality, and then from the national government. However, not all barangays may have enough necessary budget to sustain food provisions for its consituents; maybe not even one time distribution.

Almost 2 weeks have passed since the community lockdown, and I've heard that people in our barangay have not received any rations. Hence, I have called on friends who'd like to help out.

In about 12 hours, I have received P62,500 worth of cash donations thru BPI, Gcash and Paymaya.

We have called local vendors in town (San Felipe) immediately the following day but none of them have enough stock. They have complained that deliveries have been delayed. I have secured a travel pass from Pampanga, but was also equally advised that Olongapo city has been very strict (not counting that I will need to secure another travel pass in Bataan and another in Zambales).

I have called the San Felipe Zambales vendors again but there is still no stock, neither an idea of when they will have stocks. With the worry that the time is running, I decided to hand it over as cash instead. After all, beyond rice, sardines, and noodles, the people surely have other needs too, and giving them cash will be better off.

A total of 246 people received P250 each, total of P61,500.

A remaining balance of P1,000 is available for the next distribution in Sitio Mabato in Paeta, San Narciso once all funds needed are completed.

This google drive folder COVID-19 Sto Nino Felipe Zambales has the excel file of all donations and distributions done, along with the receipts from the purok leaders and recipients (though others are still pending received from the purok leaders. folder will be updated upon updates from the leaders.)

Thanks to everyone who has contstantly been sharing in the efforts.

For a community whose economy rely hugely on tourism, the surprise implementation of community lockdowns amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, left everyone sitting over how to sustain living moving forward?

The government said that it will be providing subsidy, supposedly from the barangay level, from the municipality, and then from the national government. However, not all barangays may have enough necessary budget to sustain food provisions for its consituents; maybe not even one time distribution.

Almost 2 weeks have passed since the community lockdown, and I've heard that people in our barangay have not received any rations. Hence, I have called on friends who'd like to help out.

In about 12 hours, I have received P62,500 worth of cash donations thru BPI, Gcash and Paymaya.

We have called local vendors in town (San Felipe) immediately the following day but none of them have enough stock. They have complained that deliveries have been delayed. I have secured a travel pass from Pampanga, but was also equally advised that Olongapo city has been very strict (not counting that I will need to secure another travel pass in Bataan and another in Zambales).

I have called the San Felipe Zambales vendors again but there is still no stock, neither an idea of when they will have stocks. With the worry that the time is running, I decided to hand it over as cash instead. After all, beyond rice, sardines, and noodles, the people surely have other needs too, and giving them cash will be better off.

A total of 246 people received P250 each, total of P61,500.

A remaining balance of P1,000 is available for the next distribution in Sitio Mabato in Paeta, San Narciso once all funds needed are completed.

This google drive folder COVID-19 Sto Nino Felipe Zambales has the excel file of all donations and distributions done, along with the receipts from the purok leaders and recipients (though others are still pending received from the purok leaders. folder will be updated upon updates from the leaders.)

Thanks to everyone who has contstantly been sharing in the efforts.

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#SULOngSULU: Seats for Malassa Elementary School in Bongao, Tawi Tawi

Earlier this opening of the school year, we have excess school supplies from donations for the schools in Sulu; Some of the excess were sent to Tawi Tawi and received by Malassa Elementary School.

It was brought to our attention that the students don't have seats, and attend classes sitting on their slippers or sacks of rice (although really this is not uncommon in the Sulu Archipelago). I also remember visiting this school a few years ago, and yes, other than they were provided a brand new building, there was nothing else. There were no seats indeed.  (And looking at the previous school, i don't get why they had to build a new one, when repairing the old one would have been cheaper, and that the savings could have been used for seats. And, how this project be approved when they knew for a fact it will be, at a standard, non operational anyway since there are no seats. Either way, it is not the time to find faults and blame. There are kids on the compromise.)


 

We have some cash available allocated supposedly for building an alternative learning structure for the badjao kids in Tandu Dagmay, Patikul, Sulu, but because of the recent military operations, we have to postpone the setup until security and logistics is feasible. Meanwhile, we thought, rather than the cash sitting in the bank, we might as well have the kids seat with them for now.

We have asked the principal, through 51st PNP SAF in Tawi Tawi, to request a quote, and were told a bench would cost P2,000 each and can accomodate 5 students. There are 165 enrolled students at the moment and with 5 per bench, this would mean, 33 benches, and P66,000 at least. Looking at the remaining cash though, cheap cost of timber, and if we could use volunteer labor, it would be easier and quicker to furnish the chairs.

Our friend Ken from Tawi Tawi found us a solution through 51st PNP-SAF who agreed to do the chairs bringing down the cost to P1,000 a bench. And with standard 30 students a class, we would like to build 36 benches, in case enrollment rise up later, up to 180 students in 6 classrooms.

 As of 06 October, we have sent our cash on hand to Tawi Tawi to start the construction, and looking forward to having our first batch of seats as soon as possible.

Special thanks to 51st PNP SAF who have always and always been supportive in bringing what we can to this side of the country.

Available Cash from SULOngSULU donations:	Php20,799.00
Additional Donations:
Pamela Manabat	Php1,000.00	received
Genalyn Apol Viluan	Php5,000.00	received
Lyd Jamae Nadonza	Php1,000.00	received
Team Reachout c/o Jaylyn Sarmiento	Php3,401.00	received
April Sampang	Php1,500.00	received
Le Helene Limguangco	Php2,000.00	received
Total Donations	Php34,700.00

For Donations:

Via Bank of thePhilippine Islands

Bank Code: 021000021

Account Number: 5686 3371 99

Name on Account: Joseph Ian Macalino

Via Paypal 

 

Email Address: jibmaxatnewroad@gmail.com

Suggested in PHP currency to minimize devaluations. In third world, every cent counts J. Otherwise, USD will be fine. 

as of October 18, 2016:

PNP SAF has started construction of the chairs and the following pictures were received.

Earlier this opening of the school year, we have excess school supplies from donations for the schools in Sulu; Some of the excess were sent to Tawi Tawi and received by Malassa Elementary School.

It was brought to our attention that the students don't have seats, and attend classes sitting on their slippers or sacks of rice (although really this is not uncommon in the Sulu Archipelago). I also remember visiting this school a few years ago, and yes, other than they were provided a brand new building, there was nothing else. There were no seats indeed.  (And looking at the previous school, i don't get why they had to build a new one, when repairing the old one would have been cheaper, and that the savings could have been used for seats. And, how this project be approved when they knew for a fact it will be, at a standard, non operational anyway since there are no seats. Either way, it is not the time to find faults and blame. There are kids on the compromise.)


 

We have some cash available allocated supposedly for building an alternative learning structure for the badjao kids in Tandu Dagmay, Patikul, Sulu, but because of the recent military operations, we have to postpone the setup until security and logistics is feasible. Meanwhile, we thought, rather than the cash sitting in the bank, we might as well have the kids seat with them for now.

We have asked the principal, through 51st PNP SAF in Tawi Tawi, to request a quote, and were told a bench would cost P2,000 each and can accomodate 5 students. There are 165 enrolled students at the moment and with 5 per bench, this would mean, 33 benches, and P66,000 at least. Looking at the remaining cash though, cheap cost of timber, and if we could use volunteer labor, it would be easier and quicker to furnish the chairs.

Our friend Ken from Tawi Tawi found us a solution through 51st PNP-SAF who agreed to do the chairs bringing down the cost to P1,000 a bench. And with standard 30 students a class, we would like to build 36 benches, in case enrollment rise up later, up to 180 students in 6 classrooms.

 As of 06 October, we have sent our cash on hand to Tawi Tawi to start the construction, and looking forward to having our first batch of seats as soon as possible.

Special thanks to 51st PNP SAF who have always and always been supportive in bringing what we can to this side of the country.

Available Cash from SULOngSULU donations:	Php20,799.00
Additional Donations:
Pamela Manabat	Php1,000.00	received
Genalyn Apol Viluan	Php5,000.00	received
Lyd Jamae Nadonza	Php1,000.00	received
Team Reachout c/o Jaylyn Sarmiento	Php3,401.00	received
April Sampang	Php1,500.00	received
Le Helene Limguangco	Php2,000.00	received
Total Donations	Php34,700.00

For Donations:

Via Bank of thePhilippine Islands

Bank Code: 021000021

Account Number: 5686 3371 99

Name on Account: Joseph Ian Macalino

Via Paypal 

 

Email Address: jibmaxatnewroad@gmail.com

Suggested in PHP currency to minimize devaluations. In third world, every cent counts J. Otherwise, USD will be fine. 

as of October 18, 2016:

PNP SAF has started construction of the chairs and the following pictures were received.

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School Supply distribution in Island Brgy Sila, San Vicente, Northern Samar

kids in brgy sila, san vicente, northern samar

We have 500 bags ready for distribution to schools in Patikul, Sulu and I've come home from my study in Indonesia just for this distribution. We don't have clear chance of being able to deliver on time, and the bags are also awaiting delivery. Our provision is in fact for more than 500 students, but we don't want to purchase anymore, just yet, while we are still unclear of the logistics part.

Meantime, i remembered about my last visit in Brgy Sila, San Vicente, Samar, the island captain has informed me that they have only less than 100 students in the brgy, and the situation is a little similar to that of Sulu. Some teachers have to share the task of several grade levels under 1 instruction and 1 room.

I thought, since we had excess provisions, we might as well give to this marginalized area as well. I have called the village captain, and great timing indeed, he said it will be their island fiesta.

It was already vacation season, approaching election, and as expected, buses are fully booked. We had to take chances on extra trips from bus companies in Cubao Terminal. Luckily, we got a bus to Legazpi city, from where we transferred to a van going to Bulan, and from there a boat going to Brgy Sila. It was a travel forever for my friends, especially to 2 who have come all the way from Baguio City.

brgy sila, san vicente, northern samar

brgy sila, san vicente, northern samar

kids in brgy sila, san vicente, northern samar

kids in the elementary school of brgy sila, san vicente, northern samar

kids of the elementary school in brgy sila, san vicente, northern samar

It was quite easy distributing to this island. The captain had good contacts with the teachers who in turn knew their head counts by heart. In fact, during the distribution, they also had the list available so called each student one by one. 

After the distribution, we took the extra time to take the friends around the beautiful islands of Brgy Sila, and after, were served with local seafood.

In the evening, we were called to attend the barangay celebration, and was pulled to the dancing as well. :-)

pink beach in brgy sila, san vicente, northern samar

abundant seafood in brgy sila, san vicente, northern samar

sayawan in brgy sila, san vicente, northern samar

boat back to Bulan Port from Brgy Sila, San Vicente

sleeping in the Naga bus station awaiting the morning for the bus forward

For those who'd be interested in conducting an outreach program for the kids, please pm for the list of the students and contact numbers of the school staff. 

For information on how to go to pink beach or brgy sila, san vicente, northern samar, please visit this link

To see other interesting places in San Vicente, Samar, see this one.

kids in brgy sila, san vicente, northern samar

We have 500 bags ready for distribution to schools in Patikul, Sulu and I've come home from my study in Indonesia just for this distribution. We don't have clear chance of being able to deliver on time, and the bags are also awaiting delivery. Our provision is in fact for more than 500 students, but we don't want to purchase anymore, just yet, while we are still unclear of the logistics part.

Meantime, i remembered about my last visit in Brgy Sila, San Vicente, Samar, the island captain has informed me that they have only less than 100 students in the brgy, and the situation is a little similar to that of Sulu. Some teachers have to share the task of several grade levels under 1 instruction and 1 room.

I thought, since we had excess provisions, we might as well give to this marginalized area as well. I have called the village captain, and great timing indeed, he said it will be their island fiesta.

It was already vacation season, approaching election, and as expected, buses are fully booked. We had to take chances on extra trips from bus companies in Cubao Terminal. Luckily, we got a bus to Legazpi city, from where we transferred to a van going to Bulan, and from there a boat going to Brgy Sila. It was a travel forever for my friends, especially to 2 who have come all the way from Baguio City.

brgy sila, san vicente, northern samar

brgy sila, san vicente, northern samar

kids in brgy sila, san vicente, northern samar

kids in the elementary school of brgy sila, san vicente, northern samar

kids of the elementary school in brgy sila, san vicente, northern samar

It was quite easy distributing to this island. The captain had good contacts with the teachers who in turn knew their head counts by heart. In fact, during the distribution, they also had the list available so called each student one by one. 

After the distribution, we took the extra time to take the friends around the beautiful islands of Brgy Sila, and after, were served with local seafood.

In the evening, we were called to attend the barangay celebration, and was pulled to the dancing as well. :-)

pink beach in brgy sila, san vicente, northern samar

abundant seafood in brgy sila, san vicente, northern samar

sayawan in brgy sila, san vicente, northern samar

boat back to Bulan Port from Brgy Sila, San Vicente

sleeping in the Naga bus station awaiting the morning for the bus forward

For those who'd be interested in conducting an outreach program for the kids, please pm for the list of the students and contact numbers of the school staff. 

For information on how to go to pink beach or brgy sila, san vicente, northern samar, please visit this link

To see other interesting places in San Vicente, Samar, see this one.

Read More »

SULOngSULU Year 2 Distribution

Last year, with a call for help from a youth group in Sulu, we started the #SULOngSULU project. This is a citizen action drive in aiding the needs of our students in the Sulu area. Thus far, this circle of a few travelling friends have attended to a renovation of a primary school, distribution of school supplies, and sending a few more lab materials for a chemistrylaboratory.

This year around, I am travelling around Indonesia, but I did not want my proximity to deter me from contributing to the progress of my country. Before leaving, I had a word with these friends and asked if we can go ahead with little things like this, and I am glad they were feeling the kind of fullfilment I get when I see something done.

Apart from these friends, social networks has helped bring our advocacy to other people. There was Wina Asuncion who set up a benefit concert , Mara Balayan who did a Hand Lettering workshop, Maria Isabel Bernal of GivingIzReceiving who sold T-shirts to fund a planned Alternative classroom for theBadjaos, and also accounting firm SGV (through Mr Christian Lauron) who shared in time for the company's anniversary.

Overall, these activities and solicitations came up with P65,147 cash, and around estimated P28,000 worth of school supplies.

We were able to furnish 500 bags with 1 box of crayons, 4 pencils/ballspens, 1 sharpener, 1 eraser, 1 ruler, 2 pad papers, 3 notebooks. Some supplies were in excess so some bags got 5 notebooks, 3 pads, and scissors.

Other materials such as envelopes, art papers, bodpapers, tapes, ledgers, yellow pads, lesson plans were provided for the teachers.

Around 428 students in 6 primary schools received bags. 82 bags on the other hand went to Brgy Sila Elementary School, in San Vicente Northern Samar.

The 500 bags were packed complete initially, and because of logistics concern with the AFP Civil Relations Group keeping us in the limbo of whether we will be able to deliver or not, we thought about holding any further purchasing of additional bags and school supplies for more students as we may end up overstocked with goods, not to mention we have almost filled up our friends apartment with donations.

Meanwhile, we had excess funds, so we thought about sharing it to other areas who may need it, and is easier to deliver. There has been excess funds beyond the planned distribution target, so we thought about giving them out to others in need.

The planned distribution was to be 3rd week April, but PAF C130 flights to SULU have been held specifically for election related matters, apart from that the kidnapping issues in Sulu at the time made the flights too busy to accommodate any civilian related matters.

We were almost getting frustrated waiting for every announcement of flight, and thinking of moving it again through Cebu Pacific Cargo services as the first time, but the cost is not practical as it will triple the cost of the items.In the end, if we move with this option, it will seem as if we bought the items at the same price as they would have been sold in Sulu, and making all the fundraising efforts useless, as we have ended up making business for the transport companies instead and sweating it all out for nothing.

But with the help of 51st SAF in Tawi Tawi, we were able to connect to 50th SAF in Sulu who took care of the logistics; they have sponsored the shipping of the goods with 2GO, and even hand carrying some on the commercial flights of their personnel. They also took charge of the moving from Zamboanga henceforward up to distribution.

While we aimed for 1000 kids and we may come up with 1000 bags, the security situation causing trouble with logistics make it not practical to proceed with school supplies. Incidentally, from the recent distribution of excess school supplies in Tawi Tawi, we have been told that the children of Malassa Elementary School don't have seats. Students come to class and squat. Hence, the excess funds will be used to build seats for the school. Currently, we are awaiting for an estimate cost of the materials from 51st PNP SAF Group in Tawi Tawi.



Meanwhile, the funds from the T-shirt sales of GivingIzReceiving will proceed with building the Alternative Classroom for the Badjaos. At the moment, we are awaiting correspondence from the village chief about seeking and finding interested Badjaos to work on the renovation of the structure, after shipping and provision of materials.

Pls see here for an excel file of the received donations, tally of expenses, and data on school supply recipients.

Last year, with a call for help from a youth group in Sulu, we started the #SULOngSULU project. This is a citizen action drive in aiding the needs of our students in the Sulu area. Thus far, this circle of a few travelling friends have attended to a renovation of a primary school, distribution of school supplies, and sending a few more lab materials for a chemistrylaboratory.

This year around, I am travelling around Indonesia, but I did not want my proximity to deter me from contributing to the progress of my country. Before leaving, I had a word with these friends and asked if we can go ahead with little things like this, and I am glad they were feeling the kind of fullfilment I get when I see something done.

Apart from these friends, social networks has helped bring our advocacy to other people. There was Wina Asuncion who set up a benefit concert , Mara Balayan who did a Hand Lettering workshop, Maria Isabel Bernal of GivingIzReceiving who sold T-shirts to fund a planned Alternative classroom for theBadjaos, and also accounting firm SGV (through Mr Christian Lauron) who shared in time for the company's anniversary.

Overall, these activities and solicitations came up with P65,147 cash, and around estimated P28,000 worth of school supplies.

We were able to furnish 500 bags with 1 box of crayons, 4 pencils/ballspens, 1 sharpener, 1 eraser, 1 ruler, 2 pad papers, 3 notebooks. Some supplies were in excess so some bags got 5 notebooks, 3 pads, and scissors.

Other materials such as envelopes, art papers, bodpapers, tapes, ledgers, yellow pads, lesson plans were provided for the teachers.

Around 428 students in 6 primary schools received bags. 82 bags on the other hand went to Brgy Sila Elementary School, in San Vicente Northern Samar.

The 500 bags were packed complete initially, and because of logistics concern with the AFP Civil Relations Group keeping us in the limbo of whether we will be able to deliver or not, we thought about holding any further purchasing of additional bags and school supplies for more students as we may end up overstocked with goods, not to mention we have almost filled up our friends apartment with donations.

Meanwhile, we had excess funds, so we thought about sharing it to other areas who may need it, and is easier to deliver. There has been excess funds beyond the planned distribution target, so we thought about giving them out to others in need.

The planned distribution was to be 3rd week April, but PAF C130 flights to SULU have been held specifically for election related matters, apart from that the kidnapping issues in Sulu at the time made the flights too busy to accommodate any civilian related matters.

We were almost getting frustrated waiting for every announcement of flight, and thinking of moving it again through Cebu Pacific Cargo services as the first time, but the cost is not practical as it will triple the cost of the items.In the end, if we move with this option, it will seem as if we bought the items at the same price as they would have been sold in Sulu, and making all the fundraising efforts useless, as we have ended up making business for the transport companies instead and sweating it all out for nothing.

But with the help of 51st SAF in Tawi Tawi, we were able to connect to 50th SAF in Sulu who took care of the logistics; they have sponsored the shipping of the goods with 2GO, and even hand carrying some on the commercial flights of their personnel. They also took charge of the moving from Zamboanga henceforward up to distribution.

While we aimed for 1000 kids and we may come up with 1000 bags, the security situation causing trouble with logistics make it not practical to proceed with school supplies. Incidentally, from the recent distribution of excess school supplies in Tawi Tawi, we have been told that the children of Malassa Elementary School don't have seats. Students come to class and squat. Hence, the excess funds will be used to build seats for the school. Currently, we are awaiting for an estimate cost of the materials from 51st PNP SAF Group in Tawi Tawi.



Meanwhile, the funds from the T-shirt sales of GivingIzReceiving will proceed with building the Alternative Classroom for the Badjaos. At the moment, we are awaiting correspondence from the village chief about seeking and finding interested Badjaos to work on the renovation of the structure, after shipping and provision of materials.

Pls see here for an excel file of the received donations, tally of expenses, and data on school supply recipients.

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