ADRA Philippines Ignite Magazine Volume 2 No 1 2016

ignite T H E M A GA ZIN E OF A D R A P H ILIP P IN E S VOLUME 2 NO. 1 JANUARY-MARCH 2016

Sea of Change PROGRESS AND RESILIENCE FOR THE PEOPLE OF MERCEDES

ignite

ADRA FAMILIES & FRIENDS AT THE YEAR-END PARTY

VOLUME 2 NO. 1 (JANUARY-MARCH 2016)

contents

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SNAP SHOTS Round-up of freshest ADRA news and events

ENDING THE CYCLE A cyclical dilemma haunts the farmers in Leyte

director’s corner

COVER STORY Inspiring stories from the SARAM project

MEANINGFUL CONNECTIONS Sharna Kosmeier reflects on her mission trip in the Philippines

INTERVIEW The SARAM Project team reflects on their journey

ABOUT THE COVER Harvest time! Fishermen in Mercedes carry a basin of groupers freshly harvested from the fish cages constructed under the SARAM livelihood and sustainability project.

editorial EDITOR/DESIGN/PHOTOGRAPHY

ARJAY ARELLANO SUPERVISING EDITOR

DENISON GRELLMANN CONTRIBUTORS

JOSE OROZCO SHARNA KOSMEIER WINDELL MARANAN

Partnering with communities is surely a blessing!

In the last couple of months, we’ve had some very interesting experiences through our work with the less fortunate. Our team learnt that the communities we serve have some much potential which sometimes only need a spark to trigger much action. With the SARAM (Agri-business) project for example, we’ve had farmers not only producing organic vegetables and eating healthier meals, but also engaged in improved rice plantation techniques, and fish production using typhoon proof submersible fish cages. Apart from these, community members also experienced disaster preparedness and mitigation initiatives which have allowed them to sustain their livelihoods when disasters come. ADRA facilitated this empowering process but community members themselves drove it forward.

Through much hard work and partnerships, three new projects have been awarded.

The first one located in Bato, Leyte, is dealing with malnourished children, pregnant and lactating mothers. The other two projects are enabling farmers and fisherfolk to recover and diversify their livelihoods through market oriented initiatives and adequate business planning. These projects are not only important for individual families but for the community as a whole as they regain their dignity as human beings and hope for a better future!

ADRA Philippines has also creatively shared its emphasis on Love, Mercy and Justice. A musical concert entitled “IGNITE NITE” brought a number of Adventist musicians and artists together in Pasay last November to magnify the importance of the Ministry of Compassion message. Performers from different corners of the Philippines contributed their time and resources to be part of this event and we are highly thankful to them! Since this event was such a hit, we are excited to have IGNITE NITE 2016 later in the year so starting planning for it!

Recently, we had an ADRA Connections group of students from Avondale College, Australia, come to Iloilo province to build a playground for an impoverished school where children had never experienced a swing or a slide before. Building was only part of it. For many months, these Avondale students had to determinedly fund-raise for this project in their own communities. We thank them for making a difference in the lives of many children!

These last months have also been a great spiritual, professional and personal growth for our team members. Through fieldwork in the communities, training workshops, team bonding activities and sharing times, we’ve become better humans!

God has surely blessed ADRA and our team during this period and we are humbly grateful for that!

DENISON GRELLMANN COUNTRY DIRECTOR

PUBLISHER

ADRA PHILIPPINES All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of ADRA Philippines.

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FACTS & FIGURES Our Work in 2015 Here is a quick look at the various emergency and development programs of ADRA around the Philippines.

JAN-MAR 2016 IGNITE MAGAZINE

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SNAP SHOTs ADRA NEWS & EVENTS ROUND-UP

ignite nite reynan dal-anay

REYNAN DAL-ANAY

November 22, 2015 was an evening of inspiring performances that put across a common message: love, mercy and justice.

For the first time ever, ADRA Philippines held a musicalvariety concert called IGNITE NITE to raise awareness on the issue of poverty and promote social justice. The milestone occasion brought together talented performers like the world-class The Philippine Meistersingers, male group Verses & Voices, international trio Praise, and The Voice Kids Philippines finalist Reynan Dal-Anay. Short theatrical presentations by Sa Isang Sulok Ng Bilog Na Mesa and video clips also added excitement to the show’s repertoire.

#adraresponds ADRA’s untiring Emergency Response Team was on the ground in two important typhoon responses last year. Typhoon Lando and Typhoon Nona struck the country in the last quarter, bringing heavy rains, widespread floodings and storm surges that displaced families. In the province of Aurora, ADRA was the first humanitarian organization to bring shelter assistance into two hard-hit municipalities, namely Casiguran and Dinalungan, and aided 800 families whose houses were totally destroyed by TYPHOON LANDO last October. Later that year, TYPHOON NONA destroyed houses and infrastructures in the Bicol and Southern Luzon regions. ADRA was again among the first to bring shelter kits to 500 affected families, particularly in the municipality of Bulan, Sorsogon.

SHELTER KIT DISTRIBUTION IN CASIGURAN, AURORA

amazing race

TEAM ADRA

We got it going, literally, last November 26 with our very first ADRA Amazing Race! (or our simplified version of that highadrenaline TV show). Our entire Country Office staff, divided into teams of four and gamely chased after one clue to another for the price of sheer fun and camaraderie. The race started in Manila’s upscale district of the Bonifacio Global City, zipped through the busy streets of Ayala, Makati, and ended at the monument of the Philippines’ national hero. Like the original TV format, our ADRA racers had to accomplish tasks and solve clues to get to their next destination. What a way to burn calories!

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AVONDALE COLLEGE STUDENTS

WHY MISSION TRIPS ARE MORE FUN IN THE PHILIPPINES? JYM BOCALA SHARES HIS THOUGHTS IN A FUN VIDEO. CLICK & WATCH!

connections trip How do you kick off a meaningful 2016? For these young people from AVONDALE College, it’s by taking a mission trip to the Philippines and helping a small community build a playground for the kids of Mangoroco Elementary School in Ajuy, Iloilo.

Through the ADRA Connections Trip program organized by ADRA AUSTRALIA and Philippines, these fifteen college students spent two weeks in our project communities sharing their valuable time and skills for the love of volunteering! The group also lent their helping hands during the distribution of rice subsidy by the Office of the Mayor to the poorest families of this municipality. They also spent some time in an island community called Punta Buri where they offered free blood pressure check-ups for the locals. Awesome time to be young!

new projects ADRA Philippines gears up for another exciting and productive year as two more development projects have been added to the organization’s roster. The first of the two is the livelihood project called ECONOMIC RECOVERY IN LEYTE (ERL) funded by Swiss Solidarity. The project started in September last year and will be implemented for 18 months to improve the economic situation of 500 households in typhoon Haiyan-affected communities in three municipalities of Dagami, Alang-Alang and Leyte on Leyte Island.

The second project is the ENHANCING MATERNAL, CHILD AND NEWBORN HEALTH THROUGH REVITALIZED HEALTH CARE AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT (EMBRACE) program focusing on young, pregnant and lactating mothers and their children in the province of Camarines Sur. The four-year project started in February this year and is funded by Global Affairs Canada.

At present, ADRA Philippines is implementing five long-term projects addressing issues on health, nutrition, livelihood and disaster risk reduction.

JAN-MAR 2016 IGNITE MAGAZINE

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arming is an important source of livelihood for the people of Dagami, a land-locked third-class municipality (pop. 31,400) in the province of Leyte, Philippines. If not rice, people here are dependent on coconut for producing copra, tuba (coco wine) and corn farming.

Fifty-seven year-old Melchor Tonido has been a rice farmer all his adult years and takes pride in being one. “Planting rice has been my family’s major source of income. We have no sea to turn to for alternative livelihood, that is why we respect and value our fertile lands,” he says.

Melchor lives with his wife, six children and two grandchildren in the rural community of Hinolugan. Two of his children already in high school, two are in elementary, three are still toddlers, and one daughter is a single mom with two children.

“For an ordinary farmer like me, that is a lot of mouths to feed,” he laughingly says. “Thankfully we have a steady supply of water from the irrigation that we have in our community. This means we can experience two planting seasons and more opportunity to produce and sell rice than those farmers in upland communities where they can only have one planting season,” he explains.

Rice is a staple food on every Filipino family’s dining table and Melchor is grateful that his family has never experienced any critical shortage of it. “My children can eat all the rice they want, even without the fancy dishes” he says.

If there is one thing that worries Melchor, it is his ballooning debts.

MONEY WOES

ending the cycle PLANTING SEASONS COME AND GO BUT FARMERS IN DAGAMI, LEYTE DEAL WITH A CYCLICAL DILEMMA THAT NEVER SEEMS TO GO AWAY.

In every start of a planting season, he would need to borrow 15,000 pesos (300 USD) from local financers and use that sum to buy seeds, rent hand tractor, hire laborers, and spend on other expenses for the land preparation.

At the middle of the season, he would have to borrow again almost 6,000 pesos (120 USD) to purchase fertilizers and pesticides and spend on other cultural management expenses. He would have already borrowed a total of 21,000 pesos (420 USD) solely for rice farming.

“While waiting for the harvest, I would have to consider that amount on top of our household expenses for the next four months. This adds stress to me because what if something goes wrong along the way and I am not financially ready?,” he says.

During the harvest season, he would have produced 130 sacks of rice at best. Each sack could be sold at 600 pesos (12 USD).

First thing he would be doing is to pay his debts from the financer. The usual arrangement is that for every 1000 pesos borrowed, he would have to pay the exact amount plus 20 kilos of rice as an interest.

The reality is that Melchor is only a tenant and he would be obliged to pay 25 sacks to the owner of the land.

“My situation is the same with every farmer. Every harvest season, the landowner has a share income equivalent to 20-25 per cent of the

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total harvest. Fifty percent of the whole produce is for payment of debts, leaving only 25% for the tenants,” he explains.

Melchor would take home 12 sacks of rice and these would be his entire family’s supply until the next harvest. “This is our farming cycle at best. Things become worse when there are disasters because it means no harvest, no income. And we would have to borrow money to start planting and fixing our properties.” he says.

The Philippine agricultural sector is always badly hit every time a typhoon or widespread flooding affects the country. Typhoon Haiyan alone caused a total of 1.12 billion pesos (225 million USD) worth of agricultural damage, leaving local economies vulnerable and joblessness rampant. An estimated 5.9 million workers lost their source of income and livelihoods, of which 60 per cent were men and 40 per cent women.

“As a small-time farmer, I want to get out of this cycle. I want to be able to manage whatever I earn from rice planting, set aside more for my family instead of just paying debts. But how?” he asks.

WAY OUT In order to help Melchor and many farmers in Leyte improve their situation, ADRA Philippines has begun a project called “Economic Recovery in Leyte” which is an 18-month livelihood program funded by SWISS SOLIDARITY in coordination with ADRA SWITZERLAND. With this livelihood project, ADRA helps address the exacerbating poverty and long-term effects of Typhoon Haiyan in this region through income diversification of families and capacity building trainings such as financial management/literacy and business planning training, skills enhancement and farming innovative trainings, technical vocational trainings, providing capital inputs, and linking to the local market system.

“Sure, we have rice on the table every meal, but one thing that people don’t see is that we borrow large sums of money in order to produce it.

That part is a common dilemma among farmers here in Dagami. Every small-time farmer like me in this town needs to borrow money.”

Melchor is now an active part of the project. “When ADRA introduced the project, I thought to myself, ‘This is going to be relevant to me’,“ he says.

The first type of training Melchor attended is on financial management conducted by the ADRA Philippines staff. “I was able to learn how to monitor my finances and how to get out the cycle of indebtedness.

ADRA provided materials that will assist me in monitoring and I was trained on how to make a basic market analysis,” he explains.

Now he is attending capacity building trainings on “Innovative Rice Farming,” which focuses on System in Rice Intensification (SRI). The main objective of this training is for the rice farmers to have a lesser expense and yet greater gains.

“In this training, I learned how to make my own organic fertilizers, to have an effective land culture and preparation and pest management,” he adds.

MELCHOR TONIDO

The ERL project is a continued recovery effort of ADRA in Typhoon Haiyan-affected communities in the municipalities of Dagami, Alangalang and Leyte-Leyte in Leyte Province. In the aftermath of the super typhoon, ADRA assisted more than 1,000 households in the same region through shelter repairs and construction of piped water system and biogas.

“I am grateful that ADRA is continuing its assistance to us here in Dagami and other towns of Leyte. I want to be a better farmer in knowledge and practice and I know that this project is going to make it happen for me,” he says.

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sea of change

BY ARJAY ARELLANO/JOSE OROZCO

M

ercedes-born fisherman Ernesto Manoguid weighs a basket of grouper fish (locally known as lapulapu) that he and other fishermen of the Association of Active Fisherfolk in Mercedes (ASAFIM) have cultured for months. It is finally harvest time and he is weighing the last basket of the day. People from neighboring barangays have arrived at the seaside very early in the morning to see the fish, hoping to buy some for their families. Big restaurants in the Manila capital are waiting, too, for these menu-bound fish to be delivered by midnight. After series of weigh-ins Ernesto puts down that last basket and totals his tally to 577 kilos. With every kilo priced at 680 pesos, the whole association would be earning close to 400,000 pesos from this season’s harvest. “That is a useful amount to top-up our normal income. This is a welcome change.”

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ERNESTO MANOGUID

Within the last decade nothing much has changed in Mercedes: poverty is ever present, typhoons a constant menace and the search for livelihoods always a struggle. In an area where more than 75% of households live below the poverty line, no help is enough.

Ernesto almost gave up his faith on this town entirely when he left to work in Taiwan years ago.

“But after two years I realized that the overseas life was not for me so I moved back home. I sold fish in the local market to provide for my family, but my business went bankcrupt because of the local economy. So what a sigh of relief for me when ADRA came to our town to do the SARAM Project!” he exclaims.

The Sustainable and Resilient Agribusiness Development in Mercedes (SARAM) Project was an ADRA Philippines initiative funded by the New Zealand government and in coordination with ADRA NEW ZEALAND. It was directed at fortifying this municipality’s ability to resist the wrath of mother nature and the menace of poverty.

The idea was not to change tradition and ways of life but to enhance lifestyles and society while maintaining the essence of their culture. The SARAM Project would

modernize farming, vegetable planting and fishing methods while preparing the community for the eventual natural disasters.

The three-year project that started in February 2013 provided livelihood support to more than 6,800 people through a funding of approximately 26 million pesos (823,470 New Zealand dollars). The ADRA staff worked with 780 rice farmers, 150 fisher folk (including Ernesto), 420 households and 2,000 community members in total.

Meanwhile, as Ernesto would say, fish farming is thriving and the fish farms are well managed. Fishermen and women have created groups of 5 to 10 people in which they manage their own fish farms. They have received training and now can make their own fish cages.

Households are generating more food for their family members from their own vegetable gardening with skills acquired through the organic (see next page)

embracing change Most beneficiaries never had any education in their field of work and many of the things they learned had been through practice or tradition.

The fear of change was great, but not more than the fear of not being able to provide for their families.

SARAM made important impact on many rural communities of this town. For example, more rice farmers are now using the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) and thus are producing greater yields and increasing their income.

SRI is a method of farming that differentiates from traditional rice planting in its core principals: quality selection of seeds, spacious and careful transplanting, efficient use of water, constant weeding and use of compost.

JAN-MAR 2016 IGNITE MAGAZINE

“Knowing how to properly farm and plant (organic vegetables) without high costs is a great help to us. I may grow old but the thing that I learned because of ADRA will continue to flourish.”

TERESITA, 62,

VEGETABLE FARMER

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By the Numbers

vegetable gardening trainings. Farmers learned techniques such as composting, soil testing, natural pesticides, seed preparation and selection.

SARAM PROJECT’S KEY ACHIEVEMENTS

780 FARMERS & LABORERS TRAINED

IN SRI 12 FARMING BARANGAYS COVERED 460 FARMING EQUIPMENT

DISTRIBUTED (E.G. WEEDERS,

THRESHERS, HAND TRACTORS AND WATER PUMPS)

150

FISHERMEN ENGAGED IN FISH FARMING

5

BARANGAYS (3 ISLANDS, 2 COASTAL) COVERED

PHP 334, 238

TOTAL

INCOME IN A SEASON FROM THE

FISH HARVEST UNDER THE PROJECT

420 HOUSEHOLDS TRAINED IN

ORGANIC VEGETABLE FARMING

AND RECEIVED SEEDS AND GARDENING TOOLS

7 COMMUNAL GARDENS WERE CREATED 7 SEEDLING NURSERIES WERE BUILT 26

BARANGAYS (ENTIRE MUNICIPALITY)

APPROVED THE INTEGRATION OF

LIVELIHOOD SECTOR IN THE

BARANGAY DISASTER RISK

REDUCTION MANAGEMENT PLAN;

APPROVED EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS

Another important contribution of the project is that barangays in Mercedes are now better equipped and prepared to face disasters. All the 26 barangays of this municipality have adapted the Community-based Disaster Risk Reduction and Management plans that include livelihood development.

The SARAM Project in collaboration with the Center for Disaster Preparedness have worked hand in hand with the government to jointly implement Disaster Risk Reduction in the Barangay Development Plan as well as in the Municipal Development Plan.

Community leaders, fish farmers, rice farmers and vegetable planters have received training and have acquired the specific Risk Reduction knowledge for their labors.

Indeed the people of Mercedes are more economic self reliant and have developed greater resilience against natural and man-made disasters.

“Because of the project, I now have a thriving pond business where I raise lapu-lapu fingerlings for two months and sell to the ASAFIM members and others who have their own fish cages,” says Ernesto.

“Before SARAM, we could not go out to the open sea every time a disaster would strike and we were left with no food and income. Now, we have the fish cages that are just located near our islands that we can depend on,” he adds.

ADRA’s SARAM project has truly brought about a sea of change. The impact of this project is deep, constant and refreshing.

Some in the community were resistant at first, yet as the people saw the sea of change they let the tide of progress carry them on.

As Ernesto concludes, “It is hard not to see the difference of this community from two years ago. We are having a good kind of change.”

2,000

INDIVIDUALS TRAINED IN

DISASTER RISK REDUCTION MANAGEMENT, FIRST AID AND

BASIC LIFE SUPPORT 8

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OUR STORIES

Lives are transformed in Mercedes, Camarines Norte through ADRA’s SARAM Project

NORMA ACULA

E

ver since I was young I have always loved planting vegetables; it is my favorite part of the day. It is also a source of income to support my family’s needs.

I started planting in my small backyard using my own methods, without any knowledge on organic farming.

Early this year, I heard that there was an NGO working here in Mercedes that helps many poor areas like our barangay. I didn’t know that it was ADRA. At first I was not interested in participating in the activities.

But several months passed, my neighbors received garden tools from the organization, which made me wonder what ADRA is.

Then I learned that ADRA was conducting a series of trainings and seminars on vegetable organic farming as part of the project’s goals in empowering the beneficiary partners.

Planting vegetables is my life. After attending the trainings by ADRA, I realized that there are better techniques in cultivating vegetables and producing greater harvest.

As I plant vegetables now, I enthusiastically apply what ADRA has taught me about proper handling, care and maintenance, proper distancing and even composting in vegetable production.

At present, I’m happy to say that I harvested more than before! My income has increased, too. My backyard garden doubled in size! I continue to plant in our vacant lots because I’m enjoying farming, earning extra income and eating healthy veggies.

SALVADOR MOLINA

O

TERESITA QUINONES

P

nce a farmer, always a farmer. That is me and I have always been proud to be one. I am always happy working in my rice paddy everyday for more than 60 years. I actually received a “Best Farmer” award from the government in the 1970s.

reparation for upcoming disasters is essential for the people in Mercedes, and the SARAM Project has helped us become ready. As a mother and wife it is necessary for me to help make sure that my family is safe.

When the SARAM project started, I was excited to learn about the new technologies that could improve our rice production. Even though I am a very experienced farmer, I am open-minded to new ideas.

There are many things I have learned from the many sessions on Disaster Risk Reductions that ADRA and the Center For Disaster Preparedness staff conducted.

First is, you have to help your family together with your fellow neighbors in the community. Second is that we, the farming groups, have to be united so that we can save the life of our plants, too.

The seminars I attended taught us new plant spacing, composting, and weeding techniques as well as how to improve our use of water.

At the start, I applied the techniques in a 10x10 meters area to try and see if it truly works. I was truly impressed when I saw the significant increase of my production. After that cropping, I tried it in my entire farm using the red rice.

From 80 cavans per hectare, my production has increased to 120 cavans! This is the first technology that was able to increase my production. I have tried other methods before but the SRI technology is very successful by comparison.

As an elected leader of the local farmers association, I have been encouraging my fellow farmers in the association to use the technology and see the results themselves.

At present, I have a business partnership with a company to produce black rice and red rice for export using the SRI method.

JAN-MAR 2016 IGNITE MAGAZINE

I can say that there have been improvements in our ways of thinking since the SARAM project has begun. Before these DRR trainings, we thought that staying inside our houses was the only way we can save our lives. Now we know that even if just Storm Signal No. 1 comes, we should all look a for a common safe place to stay in.

We would no longer wait for Signal Number 2 to be raised. What is important is that when you hear that there is an upcoming hazard, no matter how hard up you are with your life, you have to do your best to at least store some food. In times of need you would have something to eat especially when you are in an evacuation center.

Knowing how to properly farm and plant (organic vegetables) without high costs is a great help to us. I may grow old but the thing that I learned because of ADRA will continue to flourish.

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MEANINGFUL

connections I

“If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.”

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (Written at on the entrance of Mangorocoro Elementary School)

expected that my first Connections trip would reveal how grateful I should be for all that I have. In reality, I learnt how much I should value what the people of the Philippines have to offer - their culture, resilience and happiness.

I have wanted to go on a mission trip for as long as I can remember, and when I was 15, I went with my family to Papua New Guinea. There, we visited villages and witnessed the close of an evangelistic campaign. It was powerful to see and I wanted to do something to be more involved. I knew Avondale College ran mission trips, and so in my first year I seized the opportunity to go to the Philippines!

Upon arriving with the rest of the team, we were greeted with the tropical air and friendly smiles. I soon realised this to be inherent to the country. Nevertheless, behind the delectable food, scenic beaches and bright smiles is a nation accustomed to hardship.

I knew of the devastation caused by Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), however

AVONDALE STUDENT SHARNA KOSMEIER SHARES HER EXPERIENCE PARTICIPATING IN THE ADRA CONNECTIONS TRIP

engaging with people directly affected showed me a real perspective of their reality.

I learnt first-hand stories of survivors who hid with their children for hours, unsure if other relatives and friends were safe or of the true extent of the damage. I realized more fully the fragility of life, but also a community’s determination to fight for it.

Following ADRA’s previous ancillary assistance in response to the disaster, our project was to build a playground at Mangorocoro Elementary School in Ajuy, Iloilo. This involved digging foundations, landscaping, painting the equipment and replanting shrubbery. The work was physically demanding at times but thankfully, not too intense, and we were fortunate enough to have shade and local help.

The children and families of Ajuy are resourceful and hardworking. A playground can be positive to their wellbeing but I realized that our real mission as volunteers was, through the physical service of implementing a playground, to befriend and create connections with the people we met.

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“It was an awesome opportunity to widen my cultural horizons, see a lifestyle beyond my own, and give something back to the global community.”

SEE MORE PHOTOS HERE

It was rewarding to mingle with teachers and parents and find common interests in music, sport and study with the children, who also taught us several words in Tagalog. We learnt to say “kamusta” in greeting, “masarap” in regards to the delicious food, “mahal kita” to the friends we made, and our time in general was “saya-saya.” By the end of our stay, we were also very practiced in asking for ‘pandesal’ at the market.

After the completion of the playground, we assisted the mayor of Ajuy in distributing rice to those families most in need. This was a highlight for me, as I was able to meet a lot of people in a short time and it was amazing to learn how much of a difference 5 or 10 kilograms of rice can make to a family.

In addition, we visited the island of Punta Buri. The simple lifestyle set against a natural backdrop of picturesque beaches, coconut trees and bamboo pump boats was uncluttered and beautiful, consistent with the nature of its people. They provided us

with a generous lunch, after which we played games with the children and our nursing students took blood pressures of many of the local women.

Although the island appears to be a carefree paradise, they did not have easy access to this kind of service and were grateful for the assistance.

As a whole, I was so refreshed by the radiant happiness and kindness that was evident in the people we met, from the mayor’s office to the markets.

Despite enduring hardships tougher than I could imagine, hospitality and friendliness were readily displayed.

A particularly touching memory is of the Turnover Ceremony, where many members of the community came to see the culmination of our project. Despite the sporadic rain the school cheerfully accepted the playground and thanked us for our efforts. This was especially memorable as the community united to celebrate the finalization of the project. It was humbling to accept their appreciation

for our small contribution to the school community.

Reminiscing on the experience, I believe our time in the Philippines has been an informative and humanitarian exchange through which I have been challenged and blessed. Although I was a little apprehensive leading up to the trip, I’m so glad I followed through with my commitment to go and I would encourage others to do the same.

It was an awesome opportunity to widen my cultural horizons, see a lifestyle beyond my own, and give something back to the global community. As young people especially, I think it’s so important to be aware of issues other than our own and to realize the fulfillment of being involved in a project bigger than ourselves.

On behalf of our team I would like to express a heartfelt “Salamat Po” to the beautiful people we met, for their warm generosity, inspiring conversations and the opportunity to create a cultural partnership we will always remember.

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hat do you think is the project’s most important contribution to the people of Mercedes?

The project challenged the people to embrace change and introduced new if not better ways to do their livelihood. We were able to share and transfer knowledge and skills so that they can be resilient especially in times of calamities. Most importantly, the project was able to diversify sources of income for the people and capacitate them and the local government in mitigating the risks of potential disasters.

What was your most memorable experience(s) doing development/humanitarian work in this region?

CHATBOX Three full years of effecting change in Mercedes, Camarines Norte would have been futile if not for the SARAM (Sustainable and Resilient Agribusiness Development in Mercedes) project. Our ADRA staff share few inspiring things about their whole experience.

When Typhoon Glenda destroyed the fish cages and brought so much discouragement to the people, it was really a big trial. But it also became a source of motivation. It was inspiring to see the people pick themselves up after the disaster. That is why we will never forget the community people whom this project was designed for. Their warmth and hospitality were inspirational. We oftentimes found ourselves tired and stretched to our limits but whenever we heard them say “Thank You,” all the hardwork was worth it.

What was the biggest challenge you’ve encountered working with the SARAM project?

Typhoon Glenda, as mentioned, was a big challenge but another hurdle that we had to overcome was the skepticism of the people towards the project. Most farmers and fishermen in Mercedes had preconceived notions about farming and fishing and it was not easy for the project to open up their minds to newer methods. Implementing the project in 26 barangays was no small feat considering the topography of Mercedes.

What are your hopes for the people of Mercedes?

We are confidently leaving a number of people who could continue what we have started; people who could pass the knowledge on to others so that better things would happen in this town. Our hope is for these people to overcome extreme poverty using the alternative livelihood methods that we shared with them. We also hope that they would take disaster preparedness seriously for the sake of their lives and livelihood.

(Members of the ADRA SARAM Project [Top Photo]: Jeffryl Pascua, Ruel Veloso, Frederick Ferrer, Wilson Maranan, Joeven Abayon, Danny Abiar, Ele Bollozos and Ross Gallaza.)

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PARTING SHOT

PARADISE FOUND A young volunteer for the ADRA Connections Program enjoys the cool sea breeze and the breathtaking view that can only be experienced on Islas de Gigantes (Islands of the Giants).

In Bato, Leyte, ADRA Philippines is working closely with child-rearing women and health workers to promote better nutrition for mothers and children through the MASIGLAHI (Maayos na Nutrisyon Para sa Masiglang Lahi) Project funded by the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and in coordination with ADRA Canada. ADRA Philippines supports the #GLOBALGOALS to reduce severe malnutrition and deaths among newborn and children under the age of 5.

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