GK Hope Village School Appeal

I’ve now been back in Australia 6 weeks. It was quite surreal and joyous at first after having been away for 16 months. It was so nice catching up with family and friends, reacquainting myself with my country and culture and … earning a wage again! But I have also started feeling the effects of reverse culture shock – Australia seems so quiet, clean and orderly, and despite our relative material wealth, we seem to find plenty to complain about. I find my thoughts often drifting back to the Philippines – fond memories of the families who were so happy to receive their own home for the first time in their lives and the dedicated full time GK volunteers who made it happen. It’s not something I can easily forget, nor want to.

Since I’ve been back, I’ve heard that GK Hope Village really want a school, and in fact, when I was there I had thought to myself several times “what this village really needs now is a school” but there had been no funding for it. So, I have decided to make a commitment, along with a Canadian volunteer, to raise the money to build a 2 classroom school for the Village. Those who have been following my blog might remember references to GK Hope Village. It houses approximately 100 families and is situated in the foothills on the outskirts of Talisay – the municipality just north of Bacolod. Most of the families were poor squatters ‘relocated’ to this site from the city when the government ordered them to leave their shanties prior to the government destroying them for an alternate use for the land. The families were expected to rebuild their lives and their homes with whatever materials they can find on the relocation site. This is where GK came in to help these relocated families build a village.

It is one of the first villages I visited in my first few weeks and was chaperoned around by Josephine, the delightful mother of 3, who insisted on shading my white skin from the sun with her umbrella. Many of the houses have been funded by Anna Balcells and family. Anna made the very inspiring speech during the handover of a batch of houses in the village that I included in blog post 16. When my Mum and Aunt visited last December, we held a Christmas party for the children of GK Hope Village and were overwhelmed by the fun that was possible from a simple packet of balloons and amazed by the Christmas trees they’d made from waste materials. As yet, the village has no school. At present, the nearest school is over 5km away. This is too far for children to walk every day, and most parents cannot afford the transport to send their children to school. My experience in the Philippines confirmed my firm belief in education as vital in breaking the cycle of poverty.

The School will cost PHP 500,000, the equivalent of approx. AU$12,000. My commitment is to raise half of that (i.e. $6,000). Thanks to the generosity of family and work colleagues, I have so far raised close to $3,000. I am now appealing for donations to raise the remaining $3,000. All donations are tax deductible and you can rest assured it will be going directly where it is needed. Perhaps you’re stuck for what to get that hard-to-buy-for friend or family member for Christmas … why not make a donation to the GK Hope Village School fund in their name? (And to my family and friends … if you don’t know what to get me for Christmas – a donation for the school would be a fantastic present that will keep on giving!)

If you would like to help me reach the $6,000 target, please contact me.

Stay tuned for updates on progress.