Filipijnen
Het is tijd voor een serieuze blog. Het is je waarschijnlijk niet ontgaan dat de Filipijnen vorig weekend zijn getroffen door tyfoon Haiyan. Haiyan was niet de enige tyfoon, in de afgelopen weken zijn andere delen van de Filipijnen ook al getroffen door tyfonen of stormen. Een van de stormen zorgde 'gelukkig' alleen maar voor heel veel regenoverlast bij de familie van onze Filipijnse hulp M. En goddank hadden ze net geoogst en komen die inkomsten niet in gevaar. Daar heb je waarschijnlijk niet veel over gehoord op het journaal, want helaas zijn de stormen en tyfonen een jaarlijks terugkerend fenomeen.
Maar Haiyan houdt de gemoederen bezig in Singapore. Er wonen hier ruim 120.000 Filipijnen, veelal werkzaam als huishoudelijke hulp. Deze vrouwen hebben in een groot aantal gevallen in de Filipijnen hun familie wonen. Zij werken ver weg van hen, bij ons in huis, om hun eigen kinderen een betere toekomst te geven. En dan gebeurt dit... Deze vrouwen kunnen geen contact krijgen met hun familie, hebben dagen in onzekerheid gezeten - of zitten dat nog, zien de meest verschrikkelijke beelden op internet van hun land. En dan komt het verlossende nieuws dat de familie veilig is, maar het huis is weggevaagd. Of dat man en kinderen er niet meer zijn. En dan zit je hier... Onze hulp M heeft een vriendin bij wie dat laatste het geval is. Het is zooo schrijnend.
Binnen de expatgemeenschap zijn er tientallen inzamelingsacties op touw gezet en ook op school wordt op verschillende manieren aandacht besteed aan de hulpverlening. Maartje heeft vandaag haar persoonlijke bijdrage geleverd: samen met mij heeft ze 30 koekjes gebakken en met M carrot cake gemaakt. Samen met Joost en Okke is ze in de buurt de huizen langs gegaan tot ze alles had verkocht. Bij ieder huis heeft ze zelf verteld wat ze deed: "I am raising money for the Philipines". Joost vertelde dat sommige Filipijnse helpers tot tranen geroerd waren dat Maartje dit deed "to help my country".
In totaal heeft ze 88 dollar opgehaald! Wij zijn heeeeel trots op haar, net als M.
Ik weet dat er in Nederland allerlei acties en inzamelingen zijn en dat de televisie maandagavond een grote actie doet. Helemaal super! Ook onze hulp M wist te vertellen dat de Nederlandse regering haar land helpt en was daar van onder de indruk. Toch wil ik je aandacht vragen voor het volgende: Vanuit Singapore is een bijzondere actie opgezet door een Nederlander (toevallig afkomstig uit Soest - voor de lezers onder jullie!), die afreist naar de Filipijnen en daar ter plekke hulp verleent. Hieronder kun je zijn Facebook post lezen, die ik integraal overneem:
My longest Facebook post ever, hope you can find the time to read it and I appreciate your support/share. Flying to Cebu on Friday, every little bit helps.
Philippines Aid Initiative – “The Last Mile”
Almost 9 years ago, after the devastating tsunami that hit various countries in Asia, I felt useless sitting behind my desk in Singapore with something like this happening on my doorstep. I travelled to Phuket with 2 friends to see how we could help the people that were affected by this disaster. We arrived in Phuket where the supermarkets were open and well stocked, where ATM’s worked and where aid organizations were scrambling to set up their operations (in the JW Marriott).
Soon we heard stories of areas along the coast towards the north of the country, a ‘forgotten’ area that was harder to get to and where the TV news crews did not operate. We rented a number of pickup trucks, stocked them with everything we had heard the people there needed (baby milk, water, canned food, medicines and, most gruesome, a type of local tiger balm that people would put under their noses against the stench of death that was everywhere). We travelled north and visited dozens of fishing villages where 100-200 people were living out in the open or in hastily erected tent camps. We would provide them with as much as we could, take down their details (number of babies, elderly, special needs) and continue to the next village until we ran out of supplies. We would then return to Phuket, to the same supermarkets and pharmacies and start buying again and visit the villages again the next day.
Our emails (Facebook did not yet exist) to family and friends would almost every night result in an avalanche of funds. People who had given already to aid organizations would send us money simply because they knew us and because they would get an update the same day on how their money had been spent.
When larger organizations were able to help people with their most basic needs we started looking at helping people rebuild their livelihoods. In most cases this meant building fishing boats, fix nets, getting schools working again and drive people to regional markets so that they could show us what equipment they needed to rebuild their homes and livelihoods.
In total, I raised US$52,000 in about 5 weeks. My friends raised similar amounts from their networks. We learned that while large aid organisations are of course vital to help countries rebuild after a disaster, grassroots initiatives such as ours could make a world of difference for hundreds of people.
In the end, I provided a detailed overview of how the money was spent and the money that I simply could not spend (it came in faster than I could spend it) I handed over to an orphanage in Phuket where many children were taken to after losing their parents.
It was one of the most challenging but also enriching experiences in my life and I have always said that I will never sit by again when something like this happens, knowing I can make a difference based on my experiences in Thailand.
That moment seems to have come.
In the past few days it has become clear that the situation in the Philippines is as dramatic as it was in the tsunami hit areas in 2004/2005. While the total death toll may be much lower, the number of people at risk is probably as high as it was in the areas where we operated then. While a lot of money and physical goods (clothing, food, tents) are being donated, it seems that there is a problem with ‘the last mile’, meaning it does not reach the people – or at least not all people.
My plan is to travel to the Philippines and start focusing on this ‘last mile’. I plan to fly to Cebu and rent a pickup or large van and buy goods that I know people need based on conversations I have had with people in the area. One place I have been in touch with is the island of Bantayan, which has been right in the tornado’s path. 140,000 people live on this island and almost everything has been destroyed. Bantayan can be reached by driving 100km north on Cebu and then take a boat to the island (17km). I have found that in Cebu City everything can be bought that is required on the island and I plan to follow the same process as I did on Phuket: raise funds, buy the most necessary items and feed this back to the donors.
How can you help:
- Donate money, no matter how big or small the amount is you feel comfortable with. Every dollar will be accounted for. All the costs for my trip to Cebu and my accommodation there will be borne by me.
If you transfer money, please send an email to arnout.mostert@gmail.com so I can keep track of all payments. It sometimes takes a while for money to get into the account but this way I can spend whatever comes in immediately.
My bank details:
Account name (in both cases): Arnout Mostert, address 70 Taman Permata, Singapore 575193.
Singapore: DBS Bank, account number 063 3 001511. SWIFT code: DBSSGSG, bank code 7171, branch code 063
Netherlands: ABN Amro, account number 566776820, SWIFT code ABNANL2A, account number for IBAN NL85ABN0566776820
- Fly out to Cebu and join me. I found in Phuket that it helps a great deal to be with a team, no matter how small.
- Share this with anyone you know and who you think may be interested to donate or help otherwise.
As soon as I will get to Cebu I will get a local phone number and I will try to post updates as often as possible.
Thanks for your attention and help,Arnout Mostert
Wat een fantastisch initiatief van deze man! Wij steunen hem en weten dat hij de donaties goed besteed. Daarom roep ik jullie op om een donatie over te maken naar zijn bankrekeningnummer in Nederland of in Singapore. Je kunt hem volgen via facebook: https://www.facebook.com/arnout
Allemaal doen!
Maar Haiyan houdt de gemoederen bezig in Singapore. Er wonen hier ruim 120.000 Filipijnen, veelal werkzaam als huishoudelijke hulp. Deze vrouwen hebben in een groot aantal gevallen in de Filipijnen hun familie wonen. Zij werken ver weg van hen, bij ons in huis, om hun eigen kinderen een betere toekomst te geven. En dan gebeurt dit... Deze vrouwen kunnen geen contact krijgen met hun familie, hebben dagen in onzekerheid gezeten - of zitten dat nog, zien de meest verschrikkelijke beelden op internet van hun land. En dan komt het verlossende nieuws dat de familie veilig is, maar het huis is weggevaagd. Of dat man en kinderen er niet meer zijn. En dan zit je hier... Onze hulp M heeft een vriendin bij wie dat laatste het geval is. Het is zooo schrijnend.
Binnen de expatgemeenschap zijn er tientallen inzamelingsacties op touw gezet en ook op school wordt op verschillende manieren aandacht besteed aan de hulpverlening. Maartje heeft vandaag haar persoonlijke bijdrage geleverd: samen met mij heeft ze 30 koekjes gebakken en met M carrot cake gemaakt. Samen met Joost en Okke is ze in de buurt de huizen langs gegaan tot ze alles had verkocht. Bij ieder huis heeft ze zelf verteld wat ze deed: "I am raising money for the Philipines". Joost vertelde dat sommige Filipijnse helpers tot tranen geroerd waren dat Maartje dit deed "to help my country".
In totaal heeft ze 88 dollar opgehaald! Wij zijn heeeeel trots op haar, net als M.
Ik weet dat er in Nederland allerlei acties en inzamelingen zijn en dat de televisie maandagavond een grote actie doet. Helemaal super! Ook onze hulp M wist te vertellen dat de Nederlandse regering haar land helpt en was daar van onder de indruk. Toch wil ik je aandacht vragen voor het volgende: Vanuit Singapore is een bijzondere actie opgezet door een Nederlander (toevallig afkomstig uit Soest - voor de lezers onder jullie!), die afreist naar de Filipijnen en daar ter plekke hulp verleent. Hieronder kun je zijn Facebook post lezen, die ik integraal overneem:
My longest Facebook post ever, hope you can find the time to read it and I appreciate your support/share. Flying to Cebu on Friday, every little bit helps.
Philippines Aid Initiative – “The Last Mile”
Almost 9 years ago, after the devastating tsunami that hit various countries in Asia, I felt useless sitting behind my desk in Singapore with something like this happening on my doorstep. I travelled to Phuket with 2 friends to see how we could help the people that were affected by this disaster. We arrived in Phuket where the supermarkets were open and well stocked, where ATM’s worked and where aid organizations were scrambling to set up their operations (in the JW Marriott).
Soon we heard stories of areas along the coast towards the north of the country, a ‘forgotten’ area that was harder to get to and where the TV news crews did not operate. We rented a number of pickup trucks, stocked them with everything we had heard the people there needed (baby milk, water, canned food, medicines and, most gruesome, a type of local tiger balm that people would put under their noses against the stench of death that was everywhere). We travelled north and visited dozens of fishing villages where 100-200 people were living out in the open or in hastily erected tent camps. We would provide them with as much as we could, take down their details (number of babies, elderly, special needs) and continue to the next village until we ran out of supplies. We would then return to Phuket, to the same supermarkets and pharmacies and start buying again and visit the villages again the next day.
Our emails (Facebook did not yet exist) to family and friends would almost every night result in an avalanche of funds. People who had given already to aid organizations would send us money simply because they knew us and because they would get an update the same day on how their money had been spent.
When larger organizations were able to help people with their most basic needs we started looking at helping people rebuild their livelihoods. In most cases this meant building fishing boats, fix nets, getting schools working again and drive people to regional markets so that they could show us what equipment they needed to rebuild their homes and livelihoods.
In total, I raised US$52,000 in about 5 weeks. My friends raised similar amounts from their networks. We learned that while large aid organisations are of course vital to help countries rebuild after a disaster, grassroots initiatives such as ours could make a world of difference for hundreds of people.
In the end, I provided a detailed overview of how the money was spent and the money that I simply could not spend (it came in faster than I could spend it) I handed over to an orphanage in Phuket where many children were taken to after losing their parents.
It was one of the most challenging but also enriching experiences in my life and I have always said that I will never sit by again when something like this happens, knowing I can make a difference based on my experiences in Thailand.
That moment seems to have come.
In the past few days it has become clear that the situation in the Philippines is as dramatic as it was in the tsunami hit areas in 2004/2005. While the total death toll may be much lower, the number of people at risk is probably as high as it was in the areas where we operated then. While a lot of money and physical goods (clothing, food, tents) are being donated, it seems that there is a problem with ‘the last mile’, meaning it does not reach the people – or at least not all people.
My plan is to travel to the Philippines and start focusing on this ‘last mile’. I plan to fly to Cebu and rent a pickup or large van and buy goods that I know people need based on conversations I have had with people in the area. One place I have been in touch with is the island of Bantayan, which has been right in the tornado’s path. 140,000 people live on this island and almost everything has been destroyed. Bantayan can be reached by driving 100km north on Cebu and then take a boat to the island (17km). I have found that in Cebu City everything can be bought that is required on the island and I plan to follow the same process as I did on Phuket: raise funds, buy the most necessary items and feed this back to the donors.
How can you help:
- Donate money, no matter how big or small the amount is you feel comfortable with. Every dollar will be accounted for. All the costs for my trip to Cebu and my accommodation there will be borne by me.
If you transfer money, please send an email to arnout.mostert@gmail.com so I can keep track of all payments. It sometimes takes a while for money to get into the account but this way I can spend whatever comes in immediately.
My bank details:
Account name (in both cases): Arnout Mostert, address 70 Taman Permata, Singapore 575193.
Singapore: DBS Bank, account number 063 3 001511. SWIFT code: DBSSGSG, bank code 7171, branch code 063
Netherlands: ABN Amro, account number 566776820, SWIFT code ABNANL2A, account number for IBAN NL85ABN0566776820
- Fly out to Cebu and join me. I found in Phuket that it helps a great deal to be with a team, no matter how small.
- Share this with anyone you know and who you think may be interested to donate or help otherwise.
As soon as I will get to Cebu I will get a local phone number and I will try to post updates as often as possible.
Thanks for your attention and help,Arnout Mostert
Wat een fantastisch initiatief van deze man! Wij steunen hem en weten dat hij de donaties goed besteed. Daarom roep ik jullie op om een donatie over te maken naar zijn bankrekeningnummer in Nederland of in Singapore. Je kunt hem volgen via facebook: https://www.facebook.com/arnout
Allemaal doen!
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