MOVE UP HEADSTRAINING FOR COMMUNITY LEADERS

QUEZON CITY – Resilience through Financial Freedom and Preparedness: The Moving Urban Poor Communities towards Resilience Project (MOVE UP) holds its Training of Trainers on Financial Literacy and Community Savings Groups, Torre Venezia, Quezon City, March 6-9, 2018. Attended by around 60 participants representing barangays from MOVE UP target cities Malabon, Quezon City, Valenzuela, Caloocan and Navotas, the training aims to boost the understanding and skills of target communities on financial planning, insurance and investments while linking it to disaster risk reduction and management.

As an outcome, a pool of trainers is formed to deliver financial literacy sessions and form community savings groups in barangays.

The training is one of the series of projects of MOVE UP which seeks to demonstrate systems and models of Alternative Temporary Shelter, resilient livelihoods and risk transfer modalities to improve the disaster risk reduction and management in MOVE UP target cities in Metro Manila. Funded by the European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) under its Humanitarian Action Plan for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, MOVE UP is an urban disaster risk reduction project implemented by a consortium composed of Action Against Hunger Philippines, Plan International Philippines and CARE Nederland with its local partner, ACCORD Inc. ●

RACE AGAINST HUNGER KICKS OFF IN THE PHILIPPINES

The school year 2017-2018 was made a lot more exciting for students in the Philippines with the launch of the Race Against Hunger. Promoted by Action Against Hunger and present in 28 countries, the campaign aims to create awareness on the problem of malnutrition to young people and empower them to help families suffering from hunger.

The campaign has three key moments. First is the awareness-raising session where an Action Against Hunger staff goes to the school to discuss the problem of hunger and malnutrition in the Philippines. Second, the students look for sponsors who will be willing to pledge an amount for each lap they would finish during the race. Students will collect this after the race. Lastly, the school puts up a race where students run for as many laps as they can.

“An important part of the campaign is creating awareness among the young people about the problem of hunger,” said Suresh Murugesu, Technical Coordinator of Action Against Hunger, “through them, they will spread our advocacy to their immediate family – parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, even friends. Such engagement will eventually lead to commitments from concerned citizens to support our projects in fighting hunger all throughout the Philippines.”

Five schools in Manila initiated the Race Against Hunger in their campuses: Muntinlupa School for Child Development, Philippine Cultural College – Tondo, The King’s School Manila, Philippine Cultural College – Caloocan, and the United Campus of Mahatma Ghandi and Australian International School.

For Elizabeth Carandang, Principal of MSCD, the race was a great opportunity for their faculty members and students to extend their help to other communities. “We were excited because we are not only reaching the barangays near to us but we are reaching out to other barangays who need our help. The children are excited to learn that they can also help little children by just participating in this race,” said Carandang.

 

A RUNNER’S PROFILE:

She is not your average runner.

That is the best way to describe Katrina Candice “KC” Veran, a Grade 5 student from Muntinlupa School for Child Development (MSCD) where the first Race Against Hunger in the Philippines was held in July 15, 2017. KC is the 10-year old record holder for the highest amount a student was able to raise in sponsorship amounting to Php16,500.00 in pledges. Action Against Hunger interviewed her on how she did it.

What was your motivation in getting a lot of sponsors to pledge?

  • The reason I was motivated was because I really wanted to help the children who were hungry, who did not have food and who have a

lot of needs.

Who were your sponsors?

  • My Lolo, my Titas, my cousins, and my mommy & daddy. I would tell them that by sponsoring me, they will be helping people who do not have food.

How many laps did you finish?

  • 12 laps I think… No, it was 14 laps.

14 laps! Wow that is great! How did you feel after the race?

  • This is the first time I’ve joined a charity event and I felt happy because I knew that I would be helping people in need.

We will be having other Race Against Hunger events in 2018. What tips can you offer other children in getting sponsors?

  • Whenever a relative visits the house, I would immediately ask them to sponsor me on how many laps I can finish. Just go and find sponsors – anybody can be a sponsor!

237,000 PEOPLE STILL DISPLACED FROM MARAWI

One year after the Siege of Marawi started on May 23, 2017, an estimated 237,000 people are still displaced. While an estimated 164,000 people have returned to the city, “ground zero” or the site where the intense fighting occurred still remains closed.

The displaced population, many of which are suffering from psychological stress, are hardly receiving support from the international community. “We are talking about an intense unprecedented siege in the country that lasted five months that turned Marawi into a ghost town,” said Javad Amoozegar, former Country Director of Action Against Hunger Philippines, who led the emergency response projects when the armed conflict started. “Although the battle officially ended on October 23, 2017, seven months later the level of destruction made it impossible to return to ground zero and 237,000 displaced persons (an estimated 360,000 people initially left the city) still live in settlements or in host communities that can barely cover their basic needs: they depend on food aid and water purchased from private suppliers or supplied in tankers,” explained Benedetta Lettera, Desk Officer for Action Against Hunger Philippines.

“The delicate situation was further exacerbated when Tropical Storm Vinta made landfall in the areas where the evacuees were staying on December 22, affecting 175,000 people,” added Amoozegar. Lettera also mentioned that many farmers or people with peri-urban orchards were displaced, losing their livelihoods and source of food. “The siege completely broke the market dynamics: Marawi was the main commercial center and supplier of goods to the river communities of Lake Lanao. The economic impact of the armed conflict was that it completely destroyed trade,” she explained. Amoozegar warns of the risk of radicalization among the young people: “In the context of extreme poverty, they will find that joining jihadist groups to be an easy option. What happened in Marawi could resurface at any time or anywhere in the island of Mindanao. ●

10 TUKLAS INNOVATIONS GET UNDERWAY IN MINDANAO

After a series of reviews done by the Tungo sa Kahandaan ng Pilipinas (TUKLAS) Innovation Lab, 40 out of 72 innovations were chosen for the final review. The final 40 and their ideas are now being supported as TUKLAS Innovators and Innovation Teams.

10 of these 40 innovations are now in the stage of developing its prototype in some Mindanao communities. These prototypes are: 1) DisP(ner) Bag, a weather-proof emergency bag that can be used for multiple purposes, such as a floater or tent; 2) Popularizing Indigenous Early Warning Systems, a system of documenting and popularizing indigenous knowledge on early warning for disaster risk reduction; 3) Bamboo River Embankment, a bamboo dike embankment to mitigate the impact of frequent flooding and soil erosion; 4) Matigam Kaw Iso: Mandaya Children’s Active Participation, an innovation on encouraging participation of children from hazard-prone, indigenous people communities in disaster risk management through a child-to-child approach; 5) Formulating Innovative Resiliency reduction program and manual; 6) Disaster Resiliency Fund, a community- managed, savings program for disaster preparedness activities of coastal communities; 7) People’s Initiative and Involvement in the Development of Technology (PINDOT), an offline mobile application for emergency reporting, and mapping of vulnerable families; 8) Promoting Cultural Innovation for Increased Resilience of Children, a facilitation of peace modules and cultural exchange to support the recovery of children affected by armed-conflict; 9) Growing Food, Saving Lives, use of urban gardening as an approach to community building and coping with post-disaster trauma among internally displaced persons from Marawi City; and 10) Early-Warning and Early Response Mechanisms for Armed-Conflict, a community-based mechanism to prevent and mitigate impact of armed-conflict and other human-induced disasters. In Filipino, ‘tuklas’ means ‘discover’, thus the TUKLAS Innovation Lab aims to identify innovative ideas and entrepreneurs across the country.

Hosted by Plan International and in partnership with Action Against Hunger, CARE, and the Citizens Disaster Response Centre (CDRC) which is a local civil society organization (CSO), TUKLAS has a collective experience of 174 years working from within the communities in the Philippines to improve emergency preparedness and response.

The TUKLAS Innovation Lab reaches out through networks of CSOs, community groups and leaders, businesses, academics, inventors and inspired youth to identify, test, and refine innovative ideas and methods to strengthen communities’ response and preparedness to disaster across the country, taking a bottom-up or user-centered approach to nurture, test, and scale promising models that will address gaps to improve emergency preparedness in the disaster prone country. ●

TASK FORCE BANGON MARAWI AWARDS ACTION AGAINST HUNGER

MARAWI CITY – Action Against Hunger Philippine Mission’s humanitarian efforts in response to the Marawi Siege was recognized during the closing ceremonies of Marawi Week of Peace, a week-long commemoration of heroism and unity during the conflict initiated on May 24, 2018 by Task Force Bangon Marawi, its member line agencies, and local government units.

The Iligan Base Team, headed by Ivan Ledesma, received a plaque of appreciation from Retired Maj. Gen. Delfin Lorenzana, Secretary of National Defense, and Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez, Jr., AFP Chief of Staff. Action Against Hunger was the only International Non-Government Organization to receive the Task Force Bangon Marawi award. ●

RESTAURANTS AGAINST HUNGER: DISHES THAT FEED MORE

Chefs, restauranteurs, and foodies will once again get the chance to fight hunger this 2018 through Restaurants Against Hunger, a campaign that aims to create awareness and raise funds for projects fighting hunger in the Philippines.

The mechanics of the campaign is simple: from October 1 to December 1, participating restaurants offer dishes from their menu which are tagged as ‘dishes that feed more.’ Every time a customer orders a special dish, a portion of the profit goes to Action Against Hunger projects in various areas in the Philippines.

“Restaurants Against Hunger makes me realize that our craft goes beyond mere cooking, it also transforms into a stronger cause that enables us to have a chance to make someone’s future healthy,” stated Chef Roland “Lau” Laudico, the campaign’s ambassador in the Philippines. This international movement started during the World Food Day in France in 1998. Because of the success of the campaign, this was later launched in the United Kingdom, Canada, Spain and the United States. As of writing, 13 countries around the world, including Italy, France, Colombia, Bolivia, India, Germany, Guatemala and the Philippines, are implementing it.

“The campaign is now on its 3rd year in the Philippines,” said Dale Nelson Divinagracia, Fundraising Manager for Action Against Hunger. “We initially launched it in 2016 coinciding with the burgeoning Manila food scene. Amidst the growth, we knew that chefs and restaurant owners were looking for ways to help stop hunger in the country. The campaign was the perfect avenue for them to

extend their reach.”

In 2017, a total of 103 restaurants joined the campaign and raised Php 683,737.00. The previous edition was supported by LTB Chef’s Association and sponsored by McCormick Culinary Philippines. Collaborators were Zomato and Spin Manila, Inc. “I’m on board for Restaurants Against Hunger, I hope that you will come on board too!” said Marla Moran, owner of Café Mediterranean and Wild Ginger. ●

VALUING PWD’S CAPACITIES IN MANAGING RESILIENT LIVELIHOOD OPPORTUNITIES

Epitacio, 53 years old and a father of three, has been living with optimism despite his physical deformities. He is a polio survivor, a disease that attacks the nervous system leading to paralysis. Despite his condition, Epitacio was determined to live like a normal person and strived hard to provide food and other basic needs to his family. He is an elected councilor of Barangay Balete and the federation president of Bayabas Special Persons Organization (BASPO).

“My husband is a good provider because he accepts carpentry works, shoe repair and did hair cutting just to provide our needs. Even both of us are working, still it is difficult to catch up the needs of our children,” says Morninggrace, wife of Epitacio.

As voice of persons-with-disabilities, he started the lobbying for an income generating project for BASPO years ago. He talked with

government agencies and private organizations about the condition of his members and their hopes to have an extra source of income. But because of limited funds, his requests were denied. Action Against Hunger introduced the concept of resilient livelihood under the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management – Climate Change Adaptation (DRRM-CCA) project funded by Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID). BASPO was chosen based on their identified needs, existing capacities, availability of managed projects and recommendations of the Local Chief Executive.

“It was our first time to be involved in discussion like this asking about our needs, views and opinions on our desired livelihood. We

appreciate consultations and sharing like these as we realized that we are part of the community also, not as hopeless people but capable individuals that can contribute in any community undertakings,” explains Rene Dumanhog, treasurer of BASPO. After exploring various livelihood options suitable for persons-with-disabilities, a community-based mushroom production was chosen and formally started last April 19, 2018. As pilot, 30 members and immediate family members of BASPO were trained on tissue culture, spawn making, substrate making, bagging, monitoring and harvesting.

To date, an aggregate volume of 13 kilos have been harvested out of the 390 fruiting bags and gained about Php 2,600.00. Members

including Epitacio are appreciative of their efforts because they are beginning to savour the fruits of their labor. Initial profit was used for motorcycle maintenance that has been mobilized for rice straw gathering and other operational expenses like replenishment of fruiting bags.

To ensure resiliency during emergencies, a Community-Managed Savings and Credit Association (CoMSCA) was adopted to encourage the culture of savings among members. Part of the savings mechanism is to establish a social fund that will be pulled out in times of need aside from the individual savings. Epitacio further says that “I am hopeful that this livelihood project will help us augment our income to and to increase our participation as vulnerable group in disaster risk reduction activities of the municipality.”

Action Against Hunger is working closely with the Municipal Mayor’s Office, Municipal Agriculture Office and Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office (MSWDO) to expand the production facility particularly the construction of laboratory, incubation and sterilization areas. Trainings on financial management, product development and roll-out of savings mechanism are also pipelined to be implemented by month of May 2018 aside from marketing and product development activities. ●

KEEPING THE SCHOOL CLEAN

On May 23, 2017, conflict broke out in Marawi City between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and armed fighters from two ISIL-affiliated groups – Abu Sayyaf and the Maute. This led to a 5-month siege that destroyed most of the city’s central commercial district and forced 350,000 people to evacuate their homes. 5% of the evacuees stayed in evacuation centers while 95% choose to stay with relatives and friends in nearby communities.

The host communities where the evacuees stayed were caught unprepared with the massive influx of people. Food, health, water, sanitation and other basic services for the displaced population were severely compromised. Action Against Hunger personnel were on the ground two days after the conflict started to assess the situation and determine the urgent humanitarian needs of the affected population. Emergency Response projects in Food & Nutrition, Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH), Food Security and Livelihoods, and Shelter started on June 1, 2017 and continues to this day.

These are the voices of the people who endured the Siege of Marawi through resilience and determination.

 

Built in 1965 for the education of children of farming families from the remote areas of Pantao Ragat, the Aloon Elementary School’s problems on water, sanitation and hygiene were as old as the school.

Norphia M. Ombawa, 33, was a student from the school and now teaches there.  She observed that her pupils are experiencing the same situation she had as an elementary student before. There were no water facilities in the campus because the water tank for rainwater storage was already rotting in rust with age.  They were using plastic containers to catch water when it rains. During the dry season, they had to fetch water from a spring which was a distance from their school.

“Our toilet which was made of wood collapsed a few years back so we didn’t have one to use. Our pupils would go under the trees at the back of the school to urinate and sometimes, to defecate”, she said.

With the line of trees just a few meters from their classroom, sometimes the smell of feces would go through their windows and distract their classes. Some of her pupils would also smell bad throughout the day because of being improperly washed. She worried that their exposure to germs would get them sick.

The local government responded to the water concern by connecting the school’s pipes to the water storage facility in the Mosque across the street.  But, the lack of a toilet for the students to use was still a problem and open defecation continued.

This situation became more difficult when several families displaced due to the Marawi Conflict took refuge in their village on May 2017. The number of pupils spiked up with children from the displaced population enrolling at the school.  They went back to having less water, if none at all because the Mosque’s water tank was also shared with the refugees.

So when the Action Against Hunger tracked the displacement of children in the village, they also heard the concerns of the teachers on the school’s lack of toilet and their own water access facilities.

Action Against Hunger’s mobile team was already working in the area answering the needs of the displaced population and got word of the school’s concern. With the funding from the United Nations Children’s Fund and the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund, the organization built a tap stand for handwashing, tooth brushing and drinking water. A two-door concrete toilet was also constructed within the school grounds.

Action Against Hunger personnel held a series of hygiene promotion sessions to the students, teaching them the importance of proper sanitation & hygiene to avoid the spread of diseases.  These sessions also trained them on the proper way to hand wash and brush their teeth. After these sessions, each student was given a hygiene kit that contained soap, shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste and towels that they could use every day in school and at home.

Norphia integrated the messages and techniques from these sessions in her classes and continues to remind them about the importance of being clean and keeping the surroundings clean as well.

“They became conscious on their hygiene and the cleanliness of the school. Their parents also told me that they brought this practice at home”, she shared.  ●

VINTA’S AFTERMARTH

The rain brought by tropical storm Vinta started to trickle over the village of Lininding in Piagapo, Lanao del Sur on the morning of December 23, 2017. Casan Panggaga, 41, hurried to get the rice grains that he laid to dry outside their house. It was when he was putting them in a sack that he heard the sound of heavy rain and raging water coming from a distance.

“I turned around and saw the water from the farthest part of the river swelled and was rushing towards our village. I ran back to the house while shouting for my wife to get the children out,” Casan shared.

He, his wife and two children took to the hills just as the water swallowed some of the houses along the riverside. From their elevated area, they saw their house slowly being uprooted by the strong currents until it finally drifted downstream towards the river. All of their belongings were swept away including the sacks of rice they recently harvested. Water overflowed from the dikes and filled their rice fields.

When the rain and the flood subsided, Casan saw the damage the typhoon caused to his livelihood: eroded sand, soil, rocks and debris buried the dikes and rice fields.

“It would take months of hard work to make it suitable for farming again. But I couldn’t start working because all my tools were lost to the flood,” he said.

Farming was not only his source of income, it also provided them their daily sustenance. All the harvested rice that would get them through the planting season was gone. They mostly relied on relief from the government during the aftermath of the tragedy.

Action Against Hunger mobile teams were on the ground conducting an assessment of the needs of the population affected by the typhoon within 24 hours.  With funding support from START FUND, the organization assisted Casan and other families from his community through the distribution of Temporary Shelter Kits for use in repairing and even rebuilding their houses. A kit contains construction materials for temporary shelter: tarpaulin, tie wire, rope, and nails.  It also comes along with construction tools: a hammer, a shovel & a saw.

Immediately after rebuilding their house, Casan and his son worked on their farm using the shovels to dig up and clear the mud from the rice fields. As soon as the mud is cleared, they will be working with other farmers to rebuild the dikes so that they could get water flowing from the river to their fields.

“We still need new plows to prepare the soil for planting. But, it’s not too difficult to start farming again because we have new tools now”, he shared.●

NORTH COTABATO LEVEL UP IN ZOD

COTABATO CITY– Seven municipalities in the provinces of Maguindanao and North Cotabato are declared as Zero Open Defecation (ZOD) in January 15, 2018.

The municipalities of Arakan, President Roxas, Paglat, South Upi, Upi, General Salipada K. Pendatun, and Datu Abdullah Sangki are declared as ZOD because 100% of the households in each of its barangays now have access to sanitary toilets, clean water and soap for hand washing. All of the barangays in each municipalities contributed to the total of 184 barangays in Maguindanao and North Cotabato earlier declared as open-defecation free.

“The ZOD declaration is one of the greatest achievements we’ve ever had. For us health workers, it is one of the greatest contributions we can offer to decrease communicable diseases, diarrhea cases and other environmental sanitation problems,” said Rebecca Tenorio who serves as a nurse in the Rural Health Unit of South Upi, Maguindanao for 14 years.

The ZOD program is one of the flagship programs of the Department of Health that aims to declare the entire Philippines as ZOD in 2022. Action Against Hunger has been supporting the implementation of the ZOD program since 2012 through the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)-funded project called Scaling up Sustainable and Resilient Basic Sanitation, Safe Water, and Improved Hygiene Behaviour.

The project aims to deliver clean water and improve practices on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene to households, schools and day care centers that make use of the Community Led Total Sanitation, a participatory strategy that facilitates the community’s desire to stop open defecation. The campaign has been gathering households and using “shock, shame, and disgust” to raise awareness on the negative effects of open defecation, especially among children, and create a demand for hygienic toilet facilities. “Action Against Hunger and UNICEF gave us confidence in advocating our campaign with the knowledge and learning they imparted to us. Truly, we believe we can do it on our own way,” added Tenorio.

As of writing, Action Against Hunger continues stop open defecation in more barangays within Maguindanao and North Cotabato to achieve 100% ZOD. ●