Out of the Box: March 2007

Stichting Gered Gereedschap is a nation-wide organization of volunteers which collects and refurbishes used tools for the benefit of small scale projects in Africa, Asia and Latin-America. Its head office in Amsterdam co-ordinates ± 200 collecting points where companies, organizations, and individuals donate their tools. In accordance with standard quality requirements these tools are refurbished, cleaned and repaired in over 30 independent workshops. Stichting Gered Gereedschap is a registered non-governmental organisation with neither political nor religious affiliations. The work of the foundation is financed through fundraising, sponsorships and private donations.

Sewing machines for Housley Multi-purpose Cooperative, Inc.

The women cooperative of Lower Mabuhay village in Bansalan is the happy recipients of the sewing machines from Gered Gereedschap. The members are sewing stylish and marketable T-shirts as their source of income. The small cooperative is already making T-shirts and uniforms for local police force, school, and some organisations. Their main concern at the moment is additional capital so they can buy the cloth in bulk straight from the factory in Manila where prices are much cheaper than buying them in the city. We would like to thank Gered Gereedschap and Ms Sylvia van den Berg of the Netherlands for their support without which these two projects will not be materialized.

My hometown is also lucky to receive machine shop tools from Gereed Geredschap through Kapatiran Philippines. To ensure proper implementation, Kapatiran Phil. turned over the tools to Advanced Computer Technical School (ACTS), an accredited school which offers automotive course. An agreement was also reached that Kapatiran Phil. and Association of Bansalenos Worldwide (a virtual community of former residents of Bansalan who now live abroad) could recommend scholars. ACTS will grant the scholars 50% discount of the tuition fees.