Empower 500 Homeless Girls with Books and Wellness

Dear Friends,

Each year, thousands of Filipino families become homeless due to non-stop calamities including earthquakes, typhoons, floods, and volcanoes. In urban regions, the mountains and the countryside, women and girls are the most seriously affected. Asia America Initiative, our volunteer partners and GlobalGiving donors provide the invaluable gifts of books, home grown foods, farming tools and hygiene for long term success. This project empowers girls made homeless from these disasters by providing school supplies to continue their education and hygiene supplies for health and wellness.

AAI and partner organizations have expanded operations during 2023 to help more families in remote areas.  Miss Tess, represents AAI and our partner OWI in purchasing seeds and other supplies for home-grown nutrition for our community-based Organic Gardening program. "The beauty of these feeding programs,"  says Miss Tess, "is the joy and confidence that the communities gain that they can survive their ordeals and rebuild their lives.  In addition, providing story books to the girls gives them confidence that they will return to school and can overcome tragedy to succeed."

Our cost-effective projects empower girls to overcome homelessness by supporting their wellness and educational needs. Literacy, writing skills, and basic math build confidence and self-worth. These skills enable girls to recover after calamities. AAI's long-term goal is to encourage all children, especially girls, to excel in literacy and offer a have safe environment to achieve their dreams with dignity while learning how to feed their families and developing job and academic skills.

If you would like to add to your support or begin a monthly donation, please click the link below.

Thank you for assisting in this worthwhile and joyful celebration of health and well-being.

Empower 500 Homeless Girls with Books and Wellness

Thank you,

Albert Santoli,

Director, Asia America Initiative

Links:

• Asia America Initiative website

Dear Friends,

Asia America Initiative and our partners have made Share-a-Book events an integrated activity in supporting communities  devastated by flooding throughout the Philippines. The archipelago of 7000 islands of all shapes and sizes once again is recognized by the United Nations and other global natural disaster watch groups as the most highly impacted nation in the world.  The ongoing sequence of continuous volcanoes in the surrounding Ring of Fire region has impacted high-impact shifting cycles of El Nino and La Nina temperatures, tides and winds that create unexpected and sometimes severe storm cycles. Since Christmas season 2022, our relief programs have aided more than 500,000 people of all ages, from infants to great-grandparents in more than 100,000 families.

Annually, thousands of Filipino families became homeless due to non-stop calamities, including earthquakes, typhoons, floods, volcanoes, armed conflict, and fires.  Girls, due to their specific health and educational needs,  are often the most seriously affected. This project empowers girls made homeless for months and years from these disasters by providing books and school supplies to continue their education and hygiene supplies for wellness programs.  Our teams have served isloated mountain-top communities and lowland areas with severe damage in homes, schools and hospitals submerged in flood waters.  Areas we have assisted include Quezon, Batangas, Mindoro and the Ilocos mountainous regions of Luzon, in the north; Cebu, Cuartero, Capiz, Tinglayan Kalinga, Leyte and Samar in the central Visayas Region; and Davao, Lanao del Sur, Misamis Oriental, Cotabato; Kidapawan, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental, Zamboanga and Sulu in the southern Mindanao region. 

In mountainous and lowland areas,entire families are displaced and often underserved by provincial and national government live in open-air evacuation centers. Access to safe shelter, education, clean water, and sanitation is extremely limited. Lack of hygiene is a major cause of illness. The lack of schools, essential books, and classroom supplies prevent adequate learning. "The provision of books in rebuilt schools in communities recovering from floods is a wonderful blessing for forgotten communities," says Dr. Yolanda, lead organizer of AAI-OWI-IPI community-based volunteers.   "Entire families are so excited to know that some one 'out there' in the world cares about them... This has also helped to build peace and cooperation among neighboring Christian and Muslim discplaced communities." 

Our corps of volunteers has grown.  This is due to the dedication, commitment and bonds of trust between AAI, One World Institute and Philippines-based International Pharmaceutical Foundation with a number of US and local community organizations such as the Lion's Club, Filipino Overseas Workers associations and retired police and military veterans.  In addition, local citizens of all ages have joined our expanding teams of aid workers and volunteers.

AAI's long-term goal is to encourage all people who have survived devastating storms, especially girls, to excel in literacy, promote peace, and offer a safe environment for girls to achieve their dreams with dignity while developing job skills despite their challenging situations.

If you would like to add to your support or begin a monthly donation, please click the link and GlobalGiving will prepare that for you to assist in this worthwhile endeavor.

Empower 500 Homeless Girls with Books and Wellness

Thank you,

Albert Santoli,

Director, Asia America Initiative

Links:

• Asia America Initiative website