Empower 500 Homeless Girls with Books and Wellness

In the Philippine Province of Sulu, located in the Pacific "Ring of Fire," thousands of Filipino families have become homeless due to non-stop calamities including earthquakes, typhoon floods, and never-ending volcano eruptions in and around neighboring Indonesia.  Throughout the region, Covid19, armed conflict, and dire poverty have caused the continuous closing of schools for three years.  Ramshackle electical infrastructure has caused fires that spread rapidly in many communities, damaging schools and requiring temporary housing of displaced families. Women and girls are the most seriously affected due to their special needs and duties to take care of children and the elderly. This project empowers girls made homeless or trapped in poverty from these disasters by providing books and school supplies.  This creates humane learning environments to continue their education and provide hygiene and wellness supplies to overcome numerous health problems they face.

The American staff of Asia America Initiative has been limited in travel due to the pandemic and continuous heavy rains, earthquakes, volcanos and flooding in the Mindanao region, as well as the continuous threat of violent crime due to the desperate poverty.  However, after 20 years of service and relationship-building in the area, we have synchronized the efforts of our overseas organizers and local front-line service providers and hundreds of volunteers to provide urgent eduational, health, hygiene, clean water and gardening supplies to sustain the well being of communities.  Our emphasis is on community-based partnership, where even the most destitute local villagers can believe that they have a stake in the programs that we build.  "Although our emphasis is on families and the duties of men to embrace their responsibilities," says Proincipal Merhama of Salih Yusah Elementary School with close to 1,000 pupils in Jolo,  "many of our program leaders and hardest workers are women and girls...    AAI has been an advocate of equal rights through shared responsibilities which also fits into our traditional tribal customs."

In preparation for return to face to face classes at many local schools in mid-August, AAI has increased our shipments of donated books, school supplies and hygiene maerials. And thanks to our GlobalGiving community of donors from around the world, we have contributed the funds needed to repair and brighten schools, within classrooms and outdoor garden environemnts to develop a celebration of learning for all school members and their families.

AAI is sponsoring schools offering reading camps that help to bring in girls left homeless. There they receive a meal and basic medical check from the school nurse. AAI programs focus on good hygiene and hand washing and the girls are given instructions on how to care for themselves.

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Empower 500 Homeless Girls with Books and Wellness

Links:

• Asia America Initiative web site