I was in Laguna, Philippines at the beginning of this month. This province has been badly hit by three typhoons – one after the other.
While I was there, the latest typhoon codenamed “Pepeng” hit. Our Goducate team was sitting under some coconut trees discussing our plans when the sky darkened when strong winds blew and bent the coconut trees around us. Thankfully, we were not in the direct path of the typhoon. I was told that this typhoon packed winds of 240 Km/hr. In other words, its effect is like that of a gigantic sports car running over an entire town. Can you imagine the devastation? But then, this is only the beginning!
The winds usually bring along plenty of water and bury towns and fields in the process. As I drove around Laguna, I saw newly formed lakes. I could imagine that under those lakes were the victims’ hard-earned possessions, livelihoods and dreams!
The purpose of my trip was to monitor the use of relief funds that some generous Singaporeans had given to feed the hungry victims. The leader of our Laguna Goducate team, Leo, had asked me for permission to set aside PHP40,000.00 (US$860.00) of the fund to start a Goducate Learning Center. He felt that it was not only important to feed the hungry but also to help them help themselves. The donor readily agreed to allow a part of his gift to be set aside for this new purpose.
A widow, Sophia, had offered to transfer a part of her land to Goducate to build a learning center. It was hard to imagine that this poor widow, with two teenage kids, who lived from hand-to-mouth was giving us about 500 sq feet of her tiny land to help others! The land that she donated is right in front of her front door of her simple house. In other words, she will walk out of her front door and literally step into the learning center!
We plan to use the funds to build a simple structure with a cement floor, half-height hollow-brick walls (to allow natural “air-continuous” ventilation) and a zinc roof.
We held a simple ground-breaking, with the neighbours as witnesses. Then we had a lovely lunch of native chicken soup, sweet-potatoes and rice-cakes. Over lunch we dreamt of the day that this little center would be filled with kids learning their ABC’s, mothers learning hygiene and preventative health and the whole community learning livelihood skills (eg. vermiculture).
A dear couple, Jonathan and his wife Gina (and their year old son) have offered their services to help run this learning center. Jonathan loves the poor and Gina is gifted with teaching little children. They are willing to relocate to this community. And we hope to build a little house for them at the back of Sophia’s house.
I believe that the dreams of this little community in Mabakan, Laguna, can be a reality, if we all do our part.
Let’s help the helpless help themselves!
More photos (click thumbnail to view photos):
[nggtags gallery=laguna-lc]
This is the first Goducate Center ever to be built in the Southern part of Luzon. We need your support guys to complete this humble edifice which will soon rise in Mabacan, Laguna as a learning center for the children in this part of the world.