LAUNCHING of SOUTH-EASTERN PHIL HEALH & ECONOMIC ALTERNATIVES PROJECT

Launching of South-Eastern Phil Health and Economic Alternatives Project

CLOSING REMARKS
March 3, 2009

Greetings:

To our government leaders from the four Provinces of region 12: Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and South Cotabato, to our Delegations of the European Commission (EC) to the Philippines, to our NGO partners and friends, Good morning!

Recognition:

As we close this program this morning we are now entering into the formal commencement of our South-Eastern Phil Health and Economic Alternatives Project or HEAL. In behalf of the NGO partners here, first and foremost, we sincerely thank the Delegation from the European Commission to the Philippines for appreciating the concept of HEAL and for giving us the opportunity to share your resources for our people and for taking us as your new partners in development for the next three years – and hopefully beyond 2012.

Our Local Government Units, the Local Chief Executives, who are here most especially, thank for your active presence, we assure you that you got the cream of the crop of NGO implementers in the development work in your respective provinces, we really thank you for recognizing and accepting us to be your partners in serving the least of the families in your province; and of course I wish to thank Dodoy Magdolot for his enabling leadership in forging the consortium of six NGOs to be part of this endeavor; Doy salamat for bridging hope and for being an instrument in allowing us to share our capabilities to our upland and boundary occupants, especially the Indigenous Peoples; and of course we wish to thank MAHINTANA Foundation for hosting this launching.

Challenges:

The area of coverage of HEAL PROJECT maybe small put against the total population of each province but if this project can create opportunities for development this can make a difference in the lives of the smallest unit of the society, the family, this can create ripples of development; and it can go beyond because it can recreate itself towards development of peoples in a new peace paradigm. So we are happy and hopeful that we can do something for the people in the margins that hopefully no firearms will be grown but rather life in abundance.

To all of us who put all our stakes into this project let us not forget to put all our trust and hope in the loving presence of God in this endeavor as we commit ourselves to make a difference and go creating ripples of development.

SALAMAT PO!

A PRESENCE THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE

OND HESED FOUNDATION, INC.
2008 ANNUAL REPORT
PRESENTED TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF INCORPORATORS 2009


A PRESENCE THAT MAKES A DFFERENCE

“ Undertake initiatives of creating opportunities towards peace and sustainable development of peoples and environment” thus says the strategic direction of OND HESED Foundation. This provides the staff the impetus towards achieving the institutional goals and at the same time enabling them to be transformed in the process.

The rice crisis of 2008 stirred panic among the urban and rural poor seeking out staple food to ease their hunger. This situation did not spare the people in the upland. However, the ongoing Food-Always-In-The-Home project, which was launched long before the said crisis, has served as a buffer thus mitigating the impact of hunger among the TAMASCO and AREIP households in Barangay Ned, Lake Sebu, South Cotabato. The taro (gabi), vegetables and peanuts grown in their backyard, were timely interventions that have eased their hunger. As one mother in Datal Bonglangon would put it: “We are no longer hungry but still our children will not go to school with taro as their ‘balon’. The children of the Bisaya look down at them eating only taro.” The project seemed to have saved them from the pangs of hunger, but their experience of cultural discrimination continues, even at the early stage of the IP children’s development.

Indeed, this anecdotal story clearly demonstrates the cultural discrimination and economic marginalization that the IPs suffer in the hinterlands. While the Food-Always-In-The-Home (Faith concept) may have creatively restored in them the indigenous way of responding to hunger, seemingly it did not generate change in the way that the wider community treats them. The dominance of the lowland culture continues to dwarf the IP’s indigenous culture even at the level of children. This condescending behaviour of the non-IP children towards the IP children may later affect the way IP will look and value the indigenous food vis-a-vis the “best food” in the market.

During the general assembly of HESED personnel, there was a sharing on how much travel time is spent and its difficulties reaching the far flung areas. In one area, the farthest, one will spend four (4) hours walk to reach the project site. The walk is not easy because the staff has to bring food supplies good for 22 days. A question was raised: “Why do we have to go there? Why not look for communities that are nearer and easier to reach? Two or three staff responded that – “HESED’s working charism says it all: “that we go to places where no one dares.” The marginalized people are in the far flung areas as the preferred people to be served by the institution.

This simple conversation provides an “image” of how the HESED personnel have indeed interiorized the basic principle that it promotes. Their willingness to spend 22 days away from their families is a manifestation of how OND HESED’s strategic direction and its operating principles are influencing the lives of these people. This indeed is the backbone of our institutional affectivity and efficiency – the challenging impact of a challenging slogan of “a presence that makes a difference.” A ripple of commitment that may bring hope to the seemingly hopeless situation – a hope against hope.

A year ago, one funding partner shared that the zero mortality and morbidity of Barangay Tapian, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Shariff Kubunsuan Province from water borne diseases was their selected impact of the month for their country program. This was made possible through the Promotion of Culture of Peace Project that ushered in clean and safe water to the stakeholders of the three (3) coastal barangays (Badak, Kusiong and Tapian). The establishment of the two (2) BAWASAs and their continuing operation indicates that the simple people can indeed be leaders of their own people who could stir their communities into the people helping people with dignity.

HESED is doing compassion; and one that creates opportunities that makes a difference! We are therefore once again challenged by the very spirit of Hesed – compassionately creating opportunities that allows people to become and grow with dignity.

THE GLOBAL CHANGE that KILLS and DEVASTATES TOTALLY

Climate Change or Global warming is the greatest threat facing the planet Earth. If nothing is done to arrest it, this devastating process will be irreversible, thus lethal to Mother Earth. The youth, to whom the future belongs, will be the vulnerable recipient of this threat.

The advocacy on climate change in Sarangani among the youth started last July 2008. Since then activities on Climate Change were launched by the youth themselves in their respective municipalities. Today, all those efforts and initiatives culminate in the Youth Camp in Malungon, Sarangani Province. The culminating activity is a three day affair - January 9 until the 11th of January 2009. This is initiated and organized by OND HESED Foundation and in partnership of World Vision, SPECTRUM and the Third World Network (TWN).

The participating youth comprises largely the Sangguniang Kabataan of Sarangani Province, some members of the Catholic Youth Movement of few parishes of the Diocese of Marbel and those that belong to other NGO/POs youth sectors. They come together to consolidate their different resolutions to further advance their campaigns on the issues of Climate Change. It is hoped that the Youth Camp will provide an avenue for the participants to make a provincial platform to discuss the different resolutions made during their respective municipal consultations on climate change. It is also envisioned that this will serve as a forum among the youth to discuss community-based actions to address climate change focusing on adaptation and mitigation strategies; to concretize youth-oriented actions that will serve as inputs to the development of municipal and provincial level strategies on climate change; and to mobilize the youth to strongly urge local governments to adopt municipal and provincial level policies and strategies on climate change.

This youth camp went through a process: the focus group discussion, the different municipal consultations and were participated by more or less 20-30 youths. The youngest of them was 11 years old from Alabel. The aim was to bring these environmental issues into the awareness of the youth and for them to organize as a potent force for change.

The organizers strongly believe that human activities are big factors in the warming up of the earth or the increase of temperature that intensely affects and threatens the survival of all life forms including humans. We believed that the changes in the atmosphere have likely influenced temperature, precipitation, storms and sea level. These changes have impact on the weather as experienced in persistent torrential rains causing landslides and flash floods, killing people and other creatures, destroying properties and environment along its paths; changes in the distribution of good quality water to crops, livestock and inland fish production, loss of arable lands due to increased acidity and associated salinity, ground water depletion, changes in livelihood opportunities, migration of fishers and communities; impact on Coastal and Marine Ecosystems as observed in massive coral bleaching in various reefs, fish kills and high mortality of cultured giant clams in ocean nurseries; impacts on food security and health risks as many biological organisms linked to the spread of infectious diseases are especially influenced by the fluctuation in climate change variables like dengue fever, malaria sensitive to such climate parameters as temperature relative humidity and rainfall climate related.

Climate Change is an ethical or moral issue. Climate change is a question of justice, responsibility, and common good. For instance, it is unfair or unjust that those who contribute least to climate change are the ones who suffer most. The women, the children and the villages of the poor in Third World countries suffered most of the consequences of climate change. It is therefore imperative that we focus on the ethical or moral principles that center on issues of climate change. There is a need to consider seriously the principle of equal rights to emission tempered with sustainable development. We need also to consider the precautionary principle as we chart our policies and strategies on mitigating climate change.

We are therefore calling our government leaders together with the leaders of other sectors of our society to be guided by these ethical or moral principles in charting appropriate strategies to at least mitigate the increasing impact of greenhouses gases. We urge them to be critical in their ways of doing things and to enjoin the youth in the campaigns to save the Mother Earth from devastation.