Dutch foundation donates sewing machines and machine shop tools

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.


The turn-over ceremony



Opening the crates





A group picture of members of the Board of ACTS and Kapatiran Philippines.



Signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between Kapatiran Phil. and ACTS

The Sights that lighten my heart

Mirelle, a wild duck, chose to lay her eggs in a corner of my garden in Gouda. I watched her everyday laying her eggs. On a bright Easter Sunday 2006, the eggs were hatched. It was a sight to behold when Mirelle finally left her nest and led her brood to the nearby canal.



When I arrived in my home in Bansalan, I was surprised to see this hen laying eggs in a corner of my front garden. She reminded me of Mirelle. A few days after Christmas the eggs were hatched.



This is a carabao or water buffalo. Carabao is considered as a farmer's best friend in the Philippines. She is pregnant.




The bird of Paradise
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/MG106

http://www.thewisegardener.com/Bird_of_Paradise.htm

Sunchild's Favorite Pictures

The villa of the Rockefeller Foundation

Lake Coumo, Bellagio, Italy
July 2006

Sunset in Fort Myers, Florida
July 2006

Literary Collections

Two Wars
(and I just sit and watch)


Let there be love
But no one listens, no one hears
Let there be peace, but no one cares
No one dares.

Let there be war!
Suddenly tanks rumble on,
Cluster bombs fall
Mortal targets hit
Young and old
And they claim they charge
With surgical precision

The Devil's Pact is broken
"Shock and awe" the battle cry
I shiver with disbelief
Brothers against brothers
From the fertile land of Mindanao
to the glowing desert of Baghdad
The ground trembles
As the fighting goes on.

Blood spatters
Mangled bodies everywhere
Desperate, hallow cries of
Innocent men, women and children
But no one hears them in the wilderness
Their faint voices snuffed by
Drumfire of the raging war

War turns love songs into dirge
Laughter into bitter tears
The greed to wage war
In the name of peace
It is a shame
Will peace really come?
Will it be soon?

I see crimson fireballs as the
night falls in Baghdad
I sit and watch until I hear another
explosion and destruction in Mindanao
I sit and watch in shocked and awe
I see Mindanao through
the night sky over Baghdad
Two wars thousands of miles apart
And I just sit and watch
I just sit and watch

24 March 2003
(after watching CNN)


Women Peacemakers

We, women from distant lands
War, injustice, poverty and intolerance
Separated us from our loved ones
We fled, we crossed the seven seas
We sought refuge
We left our tormented countries behind
Hoping to find warmth and helping hand
A better place to find rest
Bitter memories we tend to forget
But like the rushing waves of the ocean
They keep on coming back.

The colors of our skin differ
Our religion is not the same
You are what you are
And I am what I am
Although I have not understood all this
Why for some being different really matters
What I know, we are women.

We give love, we build peace
While others make war
We know we cannot just close our eyes
There’s so much goodness in this world
A just and lasting peace is worth fighting for.

One day peace will come
Someday justice prevails
It will because we will make it happen
This is our undying promise
To make the difference
Women of peace
We must not pause, we must not be quiescent
Until our weary soul finds rest.

28 June 2003

Stand up and be counted

You count how many peddlers
walk in a dusty pebbled road
under the scorching heat of the sun
arms outstretched
his own fate he could not command.

You count how many paupers
plunge into darkness
amidst daylight and
lose a thousand hopes
a thousand dreams
for even the right to hope
is no longer his own.

You count how many mothers
cry in anguish
in so much pain
for her right to caress her child
could never be the same.

You count how many lilies
open their petals not in springtime
You count how many wild birds
Singing tunes out of rhyme.

You count how many thousand lives
struggle for a piece of bread
in order to survive.
You count how many deaths have been offered
to give meaning to a wretched
meaningless life.

And yet it is when life is full of miseries
of anguish
of pain
of hunger
and of poverty
that each man and woman stands up
to give hope to a morbid sorrow
to give life to a dying promise
to give rhyme to a song and
to be counted.

Remember 17th of April

one day in april summer
the fiery sun angrily radiates
its glaring rays
a huge ball of fire
giving life but also drying both land and fields.

One day in april summer
Grasses in the meadow
Turned green then golden hue
Flowers vainly spread their petals
Vanity even mortals envy.

One day in april summer
You were with me
Scheming, dreaming dreams that can never be
The gentle strokes on my hair
The touch on my blushing cheeks
The hurrays I heard for every victory
Bring me back to the good old days.

April comes, april goes
Come 17th of april
The promise reached its fulfillment.

You were there
Calm. Not moving. Lifeless.
The countenance I’ll never forget.
Death has finally come to you
Succumb to the eternal quiescence
Obedient to the will of the Maker
Or is it really His will?

Ah death in april how will I forget even
Amidst my most silent contemplation
The Wednesday’s child
I adore, love and behold
A child of the Maker
Who dreams nothing but to live
And transcends his life to the Maker
Just to be dust once again.

Rain in unforgettable april summer
Listening to the music
Driving me insane
It is the dirge
My dirge
Who has been deserted

All because of 17th of april.
Remember?

The construction of Kapatiran Multipurpose Center

Since 1998, I have been supporting women organisations in various villages of Davao del Sur and North Cotabato. The poor enterprising women took the initiatives in finding meaningful ways to improve their economic condition. They initiatied pig dispersal projects, nursery seedling, sewing cooperatives, and basic literacy program. They have been supported by various donors in the Netherlands.

In 2003, seeing the need for a steady source of capital, the Kapatiran Microfinance program was set up. The program is still going on run and managed by a small staff. To improve their service delivery and to have a space for their office and various
development skills training, the idea of constructing a multi-purpose center was born.

Thanks to the assistance of Economic Center for Migrants and Overseas Employees (ERCMOVE) which is based in the Netherlands, Kapatiran Philippines' dream to have a center will soon be materialised. the Mayor of the Municipality of Bansalan also provided significant support by providing sand, earth, and gravel to fill the lot. He provided 40 trips of dump truck loaded with sand, earth and gravel.

Financial supported has been extended by ETWA, Wilde Ganzen, NCDO, Seva Network, and several other individuals.

Our gratitude to the following people who have contributed to this project:

Nes and Ceny Duldulao, USA
Art and Essie Claveria, USA
Ceasar Torres, USA
Efrain Jimenez, USA
Gil Acaba, Australia
Ozden Yalim, The Netherlands
Eddie Cruz, The Netherlands
Rolando Calizo, The Netherlands
Corazon Dee, The Netherlands
Gerard and Saskia de Vries, The Netherlands
Frans and Heleen Hess, The Netherlands
Warner and Strategy, The Netherlands

The construction of the building finally started last December. From the pictures below, you will see the progress of the construction. I will aim post more pictures as soon as I receive new ones.



February 22, 2007







January 2007






December 2006

The most-awaited ground-breaking finally started.

Views of Mt. Apo: At least from the foothills

When you part from your friend,
you grieve not;
for that which you love most in him
may be clearer in his absence,
as the mountain to the climber
is clearer from the plain.
--Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931), The Prophet (1923), On Friendship





When you leave your hometown, a part of you is left behind. Childhood memories remained etched in ones memories. I love the mountains and the simple life the village people lead. The villagers are hard-working people. They live with what they have but they always have smiles on their faces. Tired and weary of poverty and yet full of spirit and hope for the future. There must be a way for them to rise up from poverty.

I am happy I had a chance to visit the village of Balutakay, the "vegetable garden of Bansalan."




Mount Apo is the highest mountain in the Philippines and overlooks Davao City, a few kilometres to the northeast.

Mt. Apo was first climbed on October 10, 1880 by a party led by Don Joaquin Rajal.

Mount Apo is one of the most popular climbing destinations in the country. The summit is very easy to reach, unlike other mountains such as Mount Halcon and Mount Banahaw. On May 9, 1936, Mount Apo was declared a national park by President Manuel L. Quezon. The mountain is home to over 270 bird species, with more than a hundred that are endemic.

A stratovolcano, Apo is flat topped, with three peaks. A source of geothermal energy, the time of its most recent eruption is unknown, and none are verified in historic times.

From Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Apo

My Son and Bansalan

(I’ve been writing my journals since I was 19. From time to time I re-read some of my entries, the period when my two boys were just small kids. I remembered that when my eldest son Michael was just 5 years old we had an interesting conversation about my hometown Bansalan, Davao Del Sur. The mother-and-son conversation went more or less this way…)

Why is the color of your eyes black, Mamma?

Because I am a Filipino.

What is a Filipino?

Look, son. The people here in the Netherlands are called Dutch just like your Papa. I am from the Philippines and so I am Filipino. Every country – and there are many countries all over the world – has a name for their own people.

But where is the Philippines located, Mamma?

It’s a distant country, far from where we are now. That’s where your grandma lives. You only reach it if you take the plane and travel night and day.

How come you are here in Holland?

Oh, that’s a long story. Maybe I will tell you next time.

Are there tigers and elephants in the Philippines?

Oh no, where did you get the idea?

What about monkeys?

Sure there are still monkeys!

What about snakes? Do you have snakes in the Philippines?

Yes. I remember when I was your age, I saw snakes a couple of times crawling by the riverbank not far from your grandma’s house. I was told they were not of the dangerous type, but just the same, I was terribly scared.

Are there plenty of big trees where Oma Helen (Lola Helen) lives?

Yes. A long time ago, I used to climb our guava and mango trees, but the fruit trees are not there anymore. They cut the trees because we needed space for our house and garden. We had also plenty of trees, really big ones in the forests. You know your grandma lives near the foothills of Mt. Apo, the highest mountain in the Philippines. We don’t have mountains here in Holland so I cannot make a comparison. You know the tall Euromast in Rotterdam, don’t you? Well, our mountains are much taller than the Euromast. But there are not much trees anymore in our forests.

Where have all the trees gone?

Where? I remember there was a logging company operating in our town. Your grandpa used to work in the sawmill as a mechanic. Everyday large trucks transported many trozos, big timbers from the mountain and brought them to the sawmill. Where they brought the lumber I exactly don’t know. But I vaguely heard stories when his workmates came to our house for a drink; I still remember they talked about some Japanese guests visiting the sawmill. Funny, but I was six or maybe seven years old then, almost like your age, and somehow I still remember their faces.

When we visit Oma, can I take a swim in the river?

What about the river? Oh yes, the river. I remember taking a bath there early in the morning before going to school. We also washed our clothes there especially on Saturdays. You know what? I also enjoyed catching small fish called paitan with friends in the neighborhood. Alas, there are no fish anymore, and the water has become very dirty and shallow. Too bad, you cannot swim in the river anymore.

Why is your hair black, Mamma?

Because I am a Filipino and most Filipinos have black hair.

Is the Philippines near Africa? The people there also have black eyes and black hair. I saw them on TV?

Oh no. The Philippines is located on the opposite side of the globe. Let me show you. It’s here, down here. See that group of islands? It’s called an archipelago.

Are there also soldiers in the Philippines? There are plenty of them in Africa.

Oh yes, my son. Plenty of them.

Do they shoot and kill people?

Yes, they do. Sometimes. Several times. Many times, I guess. There are people who carry guns in the Philippines and just shoot anyone.

But why? Are the Filipinos bad?

No, they are not bad my son. It’s actually like this. There are plenty of people in the Philippines who are poor, very poor. They have no money to buy food, clothes and medicine. Parents have no money to send their children to school and to buy them toys. They want to change the situation. They want to improve their lives and to have a better future for their children. But some people do not like that the poor will change the situation. Some want change and they use guns to.... But why are you asking so many questions?

Because I want to know!

But why do you want to know so much? I can’t go on answering all of them.

Because I wonder why I have brown eyes. Your eyes are black, and Pappa has blue. Where did I come from Mamma?

My son, that’s all for today. Next time I will tell you more. When you are a bit bigger you will find out for yourself the answers to your questions. Now, do you already know why your Mamma has black eyes?

What about your eyes? I don’t remember what you said. I’m so sleepy.

Go to bed my son. Someday I hope you will remember. I really hope so just like I remember.

Published in MindaNews, 17 December 2005