Neighbours help neighbours
There are few places in the world where the difference between rich and poor is so clearly visible as in the Philippines capital, Manila. Plywood and tin shacks sit cheek by jowl with middle class gated communities and luxury shopping centres.
Crossroads’ partner works in just such an area, providing goods, services, and opportunities to their neighbours in need. Their projects include feeding programmes, community facilities with after school and weekend activities and even establishing schools.
“These supplies are more than just tools – they are gateways to opportunities.” NGO programme coordinator
“Proper chairs and tables allow students to focus better during lessons. Positive feedback from both students and teachers has been overwhelming!” wrote a school principal.
This shipment contained a wide variety of goods. Because most of the slum dwellings are built of flimsy materials, on low-lying land subject to flooding during the frequent typhoons, we included a lot of emergency relief kits, such as tents, mosquito nets and tools for reconstruction as well as solid shoes and clothes to replace those which had washed or blown away.
Furniture, books, computers and kitchen equipment have gone towards extending and improving two schools that are also used for afterhours tutoring and leisure activities.
Individual students in need were also provided with school bags, pens and toys.
BEFORE: Neighbourhood feeding programmes run by our partners always needed to budget for disposable plates and cutlery, meaning that fewer needy children could be served each day.
AFTER: Crossroads’ shipment included hundreds of unbreakable plates along with utensils, allowing many more children to receive a nutrition meal each day. Lacking money, parents of the children happily wash up after the meal as a form of payment.
Teachers are thrilled to unpack more than 70 cartons of books from the shipment in order to establish a school library.
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