Help in the Philippines
Barry introduced the speaker John Vanlaar. John's speech was about a project in the Philippines. His wife Cora is from that country and she is a past President of the Rotary Club of Cebu, Guadalupe. Consequently, he knows about every District official and club in the District 3860 where his wife once belonged. That is why they will guarantee the safety of every penny that they spend there.
The Philippines is a country made up of 7108 islands and it is the only English speaking and mainly Christian country in the Pacific Ocean but it is also the poorest.
It has a very small upper class, a small middle class, and then 50% of the population lives on less than $2.00 a day, 40% on less than $1.00. This picture we find all over the country, but some areas are just worse.
John painted a picture of what poverty is, and how bad it is to be hungry and why these people are in such a state. The Government has all kinds of intentions to do something but they do not have the money to fix it. The infrastructure comes first; the poor are not a priority. Meanwhile, the people are suffering and the percentage of malnourished children is the highest of the island of Cebu, medical help is nonexistent for the majority.
People cannot afford to see a doctor or a hospital; in most cases they will not even have the money for tricycle transport to get help. It is not uncommon to be born and die without ever having seen a doctor or a dentist.
Can we fix all that?..No, but we as Rotarians can help, we can try to steer the people away from perpetual poverty. Feeding is a must in the areas where the poverty is the worst, and then education has to follow. Literacy is the bridge from misery to hope.
It is the only way to bring these people out of this misery, we must educate them, we must educate their women, and that in turn will bring down the population growth.
With the help of Rotary, we can give a large group of people hope, we can feed the children, we can teach the children and adults to look after themselves and to read and write.
It all boils down to the one thought: What you do for yourself today will die with you, but what you do for others will continue to live.
Bob McIntyre thanked the speaker and advised that $1000 has been approved for this project.