January 2017
This year we are moving away from providing humanitarian relief except for any new Aeta village we visit. Social media such as Facebook has been an effective tool for the foundation as we gained over 5,600 followers. We started receiving several requests from college students, medical and dental associations, and various clubs to visit the Aeta communities to provide humanitarian relief, goods, and school supplies. These activities do not cost the foundation any donated funds. Instead, we provide free services and instruct these organizations on how best to assist the Aeta communities. They have functioned as an extension of our services for temporary relief. Most importantly, we have gained the trust, collaboration, and partnerships of both the local Philippines communities as well as the Aeta communities throughout the Central Luzon covering the provinces of Pampanga, Tarlac, Bataan, and Zambales.
Our priority and focus have shifted to exploring, investigating, and testing spring waters for human consumption. Spring waters started showing up again, but unfortunately, some are hard to reach as they are 50-500 meters below the Aeta villages. We have begun marking their locations on a map with GPS coordinates, and have taken many pictures to attract the support of other foundations and organizations.
QUEZON PROVINCE: General Nakar is a place with aboriginal Dumagat communities, a different group of Aeta. Since their region is located quite far from Mount Pinatubo, they were not affected by the volcanic eruption. However, they do live near a different mountain called Mount Daraitan of Quezon Province. They, too, live below the poverty level and were seeking our help.
According to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) (01/10/15), a total of 793 families belonging to the indigenous Dumagat and Aeta groups living in the geographically isolated areas of Rizal and Quezon have been registered. These indigenous people and families have children under 18 years of age and are considered vulnerable and disadvantaged based on the assessment conducted by the DSWD. A program was developed to give each family Php500 (US $10) a month for health, including Php300 (US $6) per child per month for children in elementary school, or $6 per child per month for children in high school for a maximum of three children per household. The grants are also subject to the household’s compliance to meet the conditions of the program including 85% school attendance of children, immunization of children and pregnant women, deworming, pre-natal and post-natal care of pregnant women, and attendance at twice monthly community and family development sessions. The most a family can earn is $28 a month, which is less than $1 a day for a family of five.
I met the chieftain of the village who is now one of our Aeta honorary members. The entire community complained about not having seeds and agricultural tools with which to grow food. They currently live on 362 hectares (796 acres) of ancestral land of very rich and fertile soil but are unable to grow crops. Having water is not an issue as it rains often during the year. But some still live a semi-nomadic life.
Since this was our first meeting, we provided them with rice, sardines, coffee, creamer, and noodles as well one sack of root crop seeds and a couple of goats to raise.
Our goal for the Dumagat is for them to eventually become a source for seed development or producers of seeds to supply seeds to all the Aeta communities throughout the Philippines beginning with the Central Luzon Region.
Our priority and focus have shifted to exploring, investigating, and testing spring waters for human consumption. Spring waters started showing up again, but unfortunately, some are hard to reach as they are 50-500 meters below the Aeta villages. We have begun marking their locations on a map with GPS coordinates, and have taken many pictures to attract the support of other foundations and organizations.
QUEZON PROVINCE: General Nakar is a place with aboriginal Dumagat communities, a different group of Aeta. Since their region is located quite far from Mount Pinatubo, they were not affected by the volcanic eruption. However, they do live near a different mountain called Mount Daraitan of Quezon Province. They, too, live below the poverty level and were seeking our help.
According to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) (01/10/15), a total of 793 families belonging to the indigenous Dumagat and Aeta groups living in the geographically isolated areas of Rizal and Quezon have been registered. These indigenous people and families have children under 18 years of age and are considered vulnerable and disadvantaged based on the assessment conducted by the DSWD. A program was developed to give each family Php500 (US $10) a month for health, including Php300 (US $6) per child per month for children in elementary school, or $6 per child per month for children in high school for a maximum of three children per household. The grants are also subject to the household’s compliance to meet the conditions of the program including 85% school attendance of children, immunization of children and pregnant women, deworming, pre-natal and post-natal care of pregnant women, and attendance at twice monthly community and family development sessions. The most a family can earn is $28 a month, which is less than $1 a day for a family of five.
I met the chieftain of the village who is now one of our Aeta honorary members. The entire community complained about not having seeds and agricultural tools with which to grow food. They currently live on 362 hectares (796 acres) of ancestral land of very rich and fertile soil but are unable to grow crops. Having water is not an issue as it rains often during the year. But some still live a semi-nomadic life.
Since this was our first meeting, we provided them with rice, sardines, coffee, creamer, and noodles as well one sack of root crop seeds and a couple of goats to raise.
Our goal for the Dumagat is for them to eventually become a source for seed development or producers of seeds to supply seeds to all the Aeta communities throughout the Philippines beginning with the Central Luzon Region.