Following my donations

It’s not often you get to know how the money you donate to charity is actually spent but today I was able to meet Jun Perez, President of SEED Finance, the Filipino partner of Lendwithcare. I’ve always thought the whole concept of Lendwithcare is fantastic and was keen to find out more about how the scheme actually operates on the ground.

I didn’t think when I emailed the general email address that they’d actually be able to arrange the visit but within a couple of days they’d put me in touch with Jun. It’s always a concern that when you learn more about an organisation you find out about the issues and problems but nothing was further from the truth with SEED Finance. At the risk that I’m beginning to sound like this is written by their PR company I can assure you that I’m fairly cynical generally and have this week been accused of cross examining the Chairmen of the Quezon City Red Cross in a manner that was apparently more like an interrogation than a Q&A session.

So at the SEED offices we were shown to the small meeting room and given a history of their involvement with CARE International. Jun was friendly, well informed and enthusiastic as well as keen to talk about their work. Photos on the wall have the caption ‘Micro no more’ underneath and a map has pins showing their coverage of the country.

For anyone else who lends with Lendwithcare I can assure you from what I’ve heard your money is being well spent. The individuals we see on the website are all members of co-operatives in the provinces and this is how their loans are administered. Jun made it clear that their loans were not the cheapest in the market but that they offer an extensive support service that extends beyond the loans themselves. This includes technical assistance and training so not only are the loans protected but a sustainable business is created. It seems like these measures are helping contribute to their 97% overall repayment rate, up 57%.

Loans are targeted in the most deprived regions and in places where mainstream banking is difficult to access. Practicalities such as having to get a boat to another island can mean entrepreneurs have to take time away from their business to carry out simple administrative tasks. Mobile banking has been utilised incredibly effectively to address this issue and people can now order supplies, pay utility bills and send money to kid overseas all through their mobile phone and the co-op money card. This is backed my Mastercard and linked to their phone account.

Having introduced this scheme in a fishing village a complaint was made by an entrepreneur that he was unable to access his money one weekend when the cash desk was closed and the ATM wasn’t working. SEED and the co-operative decided to address this by installing mobile card swipe machines in small businesses on the island. This meant there was no need for people to withdraw cash in order to buy materials for their business. Simple solutions like this and utilising the latest technology mean are great for making the lives of the beneficiaries easier and allowing them to maximise productivity.

Another example of this is how it allows the organisation itself to work more efficiently. At a conference a request was made for funds for a co-op to Jun. He text someone in the office, they made the necessary approvals and the money was available in around 2 hours.

The governance of the organisation reflects the client focus and on the Executive Committee two out of the five members represent clients. There is regular dialogue with area, regional and national conferences to share ideas and best practice.

One of the clever engagement tools used by Lendwithcare is the updates from the entrepreneurs. Being of a sceptical nature I’m not sure I quite believed before that these were so accurate as to be about your money. Having heard about their systems and the fact that each beneficiary is visited monthly I’ll now be much more interested in these updates.

Currently only 5% of their income is from individuals with the majority of investment coming from companies. I know after visiting SEED I’ll be happy to put more money in and be confident it’s being well spent.

Printing, waste management and kids. Just another day at the office

Our final ‘proper’ day starts with a trip to a publishing company owned by one of the members of our host club and an introduction to their integrated approach from printing the books to training the teachers. The visit included our shortest drive yet – the previous record was set driving across the street – maybe 70 yards. This was into the van, out of the gate and into the gate next door. To the same building.

Next in true  varied form it was off to the city dump for some briefings.

Its easy to think that waste management might not be that interesting but as with all these visits once someone starts talking we suddenly become fascinated with the talk. Work on the site began after 250 people were killed in trash slide 11 years ago. The city council got involved and engineering solutions were put in place to ensure this wouldn’t be repeated. As with every initiative here the work being carried out is founded on extreme necessity and the risk of loss of human life giving each project an urgency that might not be found elsewhere.

Despite this there are ambitious plans for the future taking the project forward and including incorporating the government tree planting programme, an eco park and a housing scheme.

A large proportion of the waste is processed by hand with 490 trucks a day coming into the plant from around Quezon City. 8 groups of 75 scavengers  go through the waste sorting for reusable or recyclable materials. The workers are not paid and instead split the income from the materials that are sold from their work.

A savings scheme endorsed by the government is a rack of tiny piggy banks where once a week workers put in 15 pesos or more if they can afford.

Another income generator is the refuse derived fuel produced from the organic waste. James from Harrogate showed us round the plant in which the material is autosegmented before the metal is manually picked out. Organic waste is then baled and sold as fuel for use in place of fossil fuels. When James arrived in August last year the plant was non existent and has been designed, built and made operational in this time in an indication of how quickly things move here.

Similarly the Biogas project began 2008 and now has 90 gas wells over the site producing electricity for 3500 families and generating income for the city.

Although this is a government project there is still a CSR angle. This covers all the key areas and is delivered in partnership with their private sector partner. As with most we’ve seen so far there is a holistic approach covering education, livelihoods, housing and disaster management as well as healthcare and nutrition through the Patayas Poverty Alleviation Foundation.  

Welding courses are offered with employment opportunities with the private secor partner after completion and ‘jumpers’, the kids that climb onto rubbish trucks looking for things to sell have been organised into a football team to get them off the streets.

Another massive lunch and then onto a feeding programme (ironically) where the Rotary club hosting us have created a community corps with resident to create a partnership and feed the local children. Having picked up some tricks from the Aussies we took along sweets, pens, chalk and bubbles and were mobbed by the children once they realised what we had. After some awkward conversation where I tried miming to the kids and writing and drawing in chalk on the pavement they revealed they actually spoke perfect English and I think were laughing at me a little. Or a lot. Basically at four they can speak two languages and I couldn’t even remember the Tagalog word for pretty. 

Big presentation and the governor's ball

The day of the big presentation dawned and I went down to the conference centre to catch the Aussie’s 9am slot. As always they gave an impressive performance although with it being their last day this had a sadder element than normal with the sections on their highlights drawing tears from three of the five team members.

Having sussed the logistics and picked up some tips for our own slot later in the day I headed back to the hotel for some finishing touches which turned out to be a complete rewrite as the WiFi failed to let us download Prezi at the last minute.

Blazers on and back to the auditorium for our slot. Excited by our surprise finale we scanned the audience for people we knew. The presentation went almost exactly to plan but sadly our final video – worked on until the early hours of the morning failed to play correctly. Luckily the audience didn’t know that we’d spent hours making the footage in time with the music and enjoyed it anyway.

Our first free time was unfortunately spent in a fruitless search for Dan’s iPhone before it was time to get ready for the ball.

Some faffing, photo taking and stops at the off licence made us pretty late an awkwardly there didn’t seem to be a table for us. However one was hastily put together and we made attempts to disguise the excessive amounts of wine by hiding half the bottles under the table. It being the Aussie’s last night we snuck out to get some group pictures taken of the 10 of us and get a final Gangnam filming in. Duties over it was back into the ball for some final ‘fellowship’.

As always entertainment was provided and it was lovely to spend time with my first host family, Dennis and Karen and also to see Dennis take part in the performance with his classmates. Never people to leave a party early we were the last to leave with our hosts from the first week, Camp Crame. It seems difficult to believe that a month ago we’d never even met these people and as it was when the Aussie’s left it will be sad to leave them. 

Off to Baguio and a defeat for Dan's van

After the heat of Manila we're off to Baguio for the district conference. After some logistics by Dan G (our co-ordinator) and an extended breakfast in McDonalds we piled into his van with our luggage for the six hour drive. Always making use of our very scarce spare time we all got out or laptops, iPads and phones to get on with some blogging, photo sharing and work on the presentations.

After some stops for snacks and to use the 'comfort room' along the way we unloaded the extra Aussie team members into alternative transport so we could stretch out and headed for the mountains. The landscape here is spectacular with the steep mountains rising quickly out of the flat flat fields. As we'd all had a quick nap the sight of the mountains increased the enthusiasm although the 'cold' weather had not yet showed itself.

The mountain roads proved challenging to the van and despite a stirling effort it finally gave up and broke down  9km from Baguio. Luckily it chose a picturesque spot which handily had a snack stop and a store selling furniture which was an ideal place to have a light lunch (probably a snack by Filipino standards) provided by Marby, Natalie's host. As Dan G and the driver poured water into the overheated engine we made some attempts to befriend the child sorting runner beans and a younger observer. Sharing our lunch with them didn't seem to work neither did playing peekaboo or our attempts at Tagalog. Dan G explained that they didn't speak Tagalog (possibly why that wasn't  working) and that they were part of the indigenous population.

After our impromptu picnic the other van came to pick us up and we 'negotiated' Baguio's complex one way system with some complex moves including a three point term on a two lane one way street and some indecisiveness at a sign saying 'Turn right only' which involved a little reversing. The narrative throughout the journey was about the lack of a comprehensive driving test or licencing system in the Philippines and the possibility of paying for your licence if you fail the test. We also encountered what we thought to be our first roundabout - I hope it wasn't as we went round it the wrong way...

Instead of arriving at the hotel as we were expected we were delivered to a 50's diner for some mango shakes and confusion over transport arrangements with the Aussie team. Not wanting to miss out on the new 'set' we did some quick filming much to the amusement of the staff.

Arriving at the hotel the cooler weather made an appearance although our bags did not for some time. Always working hard we began filming and work on our presentation and worked long into the night albeit with a few beers to keep us company.

Salubo at 4am and rice two ways for breakfast

Earliest start yet at 3.30am for my first Salubong (the encounter). 

Yesterday Virgin Mary was taken from the shrine next to the lounge at home and loaded onto a cart to be lit and beautifully decorated with fresh flowers before being safely stored away for her trip the next day. So after dinner and karaoke it was an ‘early’ night ready for the 3.30am start.

Which turned out to be more like a 3.50am start with just enough time to make myself look decent before meeting my host Jean and her daughters in the street to watch as the statue was slowly pushed up the street by the helpers as a few neighbours followed. My third cockroach passed in front of me but steeled by the previous day I stepped over and avoided a commotion.

The meeting place to ‘get behind’ Mary was the local Petron station where a larger crowd had gathered. Even at this ungodly hour (!) the butchers and veg stall was doing a roaring trade and trikes and vans were forced to manoeuvre their way around the cart. After my initial self-consciousness at being the token tourist I managed to get some bleary pictures (reflecting how I was feeling) and noted the irony as a member of the church carefully avoided stepping on a couple of homeless people sleeping on the street as he took pictures of the lavish float on his iPad.

At some unknown signal the cart was pushed off to meet the Jesus statue for the re-enactment of the resurrection. All I can say is that the service was in Tagalog, it was standing room only and it was 28 degrees at 5am.

On the way back there was some discussion around getting a trike for the 500m back to the house but after some jokes about Filipinos and walking we made the long walk home in time for breakfast of coloured rice cake and rice porridge in the street before home for a nap. 

An inspirational vist to a Rotary housing project

All housing today with a trip to see Brookside, a joint development with the Rotary and Kawad Kalinga. Worlds away from the estates we see in the UK the exotic plants and palms were carefully planted between brightly painted houses and people worked alongside children playing in the street.

Residents pay around 300 pesos (£6) for their property and the land is owned by a church group.  There are community facilities on site with a library and boards in the public space showing the photographs of the area before the construction, through the build and now.

Work with the residents is continuous and residents can be removed for ‘antisocial’ behaviour. From what I understand this is largely governed by the religious principles of the site and grounds for eviction would be activities such as drugs and prostitution.

The school overlooks a wooden chapel and basketball court in the main area and is well kept. I was shown around by the Grade 6 teacher who had a great passion for the children and the work of the school later breaking down when she described her gratitude to the Australian team for their solidarity in the problems faced in the school. A great emphasis was placed on getting the children a good standard of education and parents pay a reduced 50 pesos a month (£1) and help out with cleaning and the cooking the breakfasts provided to give the children a good start to the day.

In 2009 the area flood waters rose over the roofs of the houses and families came to the first floor of the school for shelter. But the water rose higher and reached that level and children had to be passed along a rope to the community centre up the hill where they were safe. Families belongings brought to the school for safe keeping and the schools books and records were all destroyed. I notice now there are no offices on the ground floor. The local Rotary club worked with a sister club in Singapore to provide food for families over the two or three days it took for the floodwater to subside.

The teacher was genuinely proud as she told me how the solid construction of the houses in this project had meant that there had been no deaths from the flooding as there had been in other areas.

Like in Bolton work is being done to provide employment opportunities and income for families on the project. Following the flooding the sister rotary club in Singapore was keen to do more and with RC Holy Spirit they developed a scheme where women in the project were provided with materials to do quilting, candle making and sewing and now produce items to be sold in Singapore. This is a fantastic example of what rotary is like in Manila.

Projects here are targeted to meet specific needs in local areas and inventive sustainable schemes allow the work they do to have great long term effects. In principle they focus on the basics as we do, education, training and employment to allow people to lift themselves out of poverty. When they walk through the estates they are greeted by workers and the residents recognise the badge demonstrating what looks like a really meaningful relationship with the communities and their beneficiaries. 

Links are also maintained with the children through the Rotaract club within the school which is partnered with the club that supports the project.

If anyone does want to know more about this my driver from the host club, Angel, has offered to answer any questions I might have about their work. 

Fiesta at a housing project and gangnam style the Filipino way

A slightly hungover start to Saturday with another early start. At breakfast in Jollybee (Filipino McDonalds) I knocked over two juices, a coffee and my pancakes. A promising start to the day as we discussed the traditional games we’d be playing later. I hoped they wouldn’t require too much coordination!

Today’s activity was a fiesta at a housing project on a relocation site in San Matteo outside the city. The informal settlers are encouraged the leave the city slum areas and are provided with a house in return for 500 hours labour. Schools and community spaces are built and a livelihood provided in the form of a mango grove. With mains electricity not available in the local area power is provided through solar panels on the roofs of the homes.

Getting out of the car the second thing you notice after the scorching heat is the stunning panoramic view of Metro Manila. Our guide told us that next to the site millionaires pay above the odds for the privilege of having this view.

Workers from one of the partner organisations Christians for Christ mix easily with the families who welcomed us into their houses to show off their carefully put together interiors. Constructed of concrete blocks and Styrofoam the units come finished with a  white painted cement interior and brightly painted outside in a terrace formation. Each consists of one room and a small kitchen area and bathroom to the back.

One owner, a carpenter, had, in his spare time, constructed an intricate shelving system that wouldn’t be out of place in an English country kitchen and the living area had been painted bright blue to match the exterior. All the properties were immaculately kept and tide. Richard, off meeting the voters had made a friend whose mother was providing the rich rice cakes for the fiesta and the whole room was covered in wide plates containing the carefully decorated cakes.

The development is not a government one and is a partnership project with Rotary, ANCORP (I’ll try and remember what that stands for) and Couples for Christ.

After a minor panic from our team leader when we once again lost Richard (he was of course in someone’s house chatting) the fiesta kicked off with a brief introduction to the project and thanks to all the partners involved. Some traditional Filipino dancing was performed by students from a local school and included one that involved balancing on an upright piece of bamboo – not exactly easy on the uneven ground but they persevered and didn’t let it get out of time.

The majorettes performed what we at first thought to be local music played on drums but later we recognised Katy Perry’s ‘Fireworks’ and the Gangnam Style dancing. Dan went down well with the female dancers although was oblivious to the attention he was getting!

I was lucky enough to be able to go with my hosts to their daughter, Ella’s graduation – at three! It was a wonderful experience although the logistics of lining up small children on the stage and getting them to follow direction looked challenging to say the least. The graduation ceremony as we would expect, complete with caps and gowns, was followed by some musical numbers recognisable as the end of term play we’d see at home. Although with it being ‘more fun in the Philippines’ there was a great emphasis on the fun and a fantastic showing from the parents with the retro dancing.

Afterwards some more photos and then off for a ride in a Kalasa (apologies on spelling) with Kassie. It’s so good that the girls have finally started to open up to me, my knowledge of Disney princesses is much improved, and its such a shame that I have to leave so soon.

My final meal with my hosts where unfortunately I was dropping off slightly on the energy levels and worrying about my 3am start was a great finale. Going to the fish market, selecting the fresh fish from the stalls, choosing your cooking method and eating in a canteen style restaurant was fantastic. The food was amazing and as always there were vast amounts with the leftovers taken home for tomorrow. On the way home it was maybe the tiredness or I just genuinely couldn’t believe that after the amount of food anyone would want to go for ice cream. But this is Manila so we did.

As I packed to go to my next host I was further overwhelmed by receiving gifts from hosts that have already been so generous. The hospitality I have had this week has been amazing. I would like to say a massive thankyou to my wonderful hosts for the first week for making me feel so at home and welcome in their home. It was sad to leave and I am already looking forward to seeing them again at the district conference. 

Housing projects, construction elevators and being outdone by the Australian team

A lie in until 7 it was off for our first day of ‘real work’ and Ed from the Camp Craume club took me to the Urban Planning department where they gave us a faultlessly relevant presentation on their housing plan and projects. (You will later see why this was impressive)

Great to see what they’re up to and the process of providing ‘socialized’ housing in the city. The focus is on areas where there are Informal Settler Families (ISF) and ‘blighted’ areas. Some polite questioning revealed these were what we would call slum areas. Housing projects are developed by the city in these areas in partnership with other bodies for the finance and development and involves use of charities such as Habitat for Humanity.

Instead of renting people are assessed on their ability to take out a 40,000 peso mortgage and make the 2500 (£50) peso a month repayments. This is affordable to street vendors, drivers and other workers making around minimum wage. No benefits back up the system and if you are living in a slum that is being developed and can’t afford to pay you can choose to be relocated to a cheaper development paying around 200 peso a month or find another vacant lot to rebuild. Relocation areas are generally further outside the city and further from jobs, schools and their communities. A lot like our overspill estates really.

When housing is allocated there is no points based system. If you are an existing occupant on the site you have priority, then those in danger zones, those affected by government infrastructure projects and then those whose homes have been demolished. Although many people in the slums are undocumented city surveys provide evidence on these claims.

Housing projects are championed by the current major who’s nickname is Bisket – hence the housing projects being named Bisketville 1 -12. Perhaps a naming system we should be looking into for our developments?

Quickly back to the police headquarters where Natalie and Dan were on their visit and some great discussion with Ed on social issues and what exactly my job involves. Too much good food again followed by birthday cake and plans for nights out then off for the afternoon visits.

After making it clear that if there were any more trips to the firing range I’d want to be involved first stop was one of the housing projects from the presentation and a slightly voyeuristic photo taking session of people living in slum housing. Then on to one of Eds projects, a high end apartment development. As we went up the first few flights of stairs some jokes were made about using the construction lift and when we left the stairwell to use the car parking ramp I was very relieved.

Sadly this was just the way to the lift, for those that haven’t seen its basically a lift with no walls, shaft or enclosure over the top that climbs precariously up the side of the 36 floors. To prolong the stress we had to wait a good 10 minutes for the lift operator by which time I’d had time to assess the situation as being less than felt safe! Eyes glued to the floor and holding on tight the worst part was stepping over the gap to the 34^th floor, the two flights of unfinished stairs (and climbing through scaffold on breeze block stands) to the roof and the two flights of open tread stairs to the top of the plant room.

Admittedly Ed was right and the view was stunning, a 360 view on Metro Manila. Lots of photos were taken and the only way to do this justice. On the way down he tells me the previous GSE team had refused to go up. If only I’d realised that was an option!

Back to police headquarters for a museum trip and the surreal experience of 5 police officers photographing us next to some mannequins then our first multi club rotary meeting.

Our presentation went OK until we saw the Australian team’s one  and a brief intro to us and our vocational areas was put to shame by one of the club’s rendition of a Filipino love song complete with handing out roses in the club pink to us at the end. An auction for the End Polio Now campaign was livened up by Steale’s Greek dancing, Natalie’s zumba solo and then a poor attempt at our whole team zumba(ing?). Definitely a lot to learn from the Aussie teachers on engaging an audience!

At the meeting Dan our fixer was worried I had not made today’s vocational visit. I explained how good it had been and how well it worked out. Apparently it was not the Urban Planning department I was supposed to meet but the Department for the Urban Poor.

Hats off to the planning department for their ability to whip together a presentation and pretend they expected me all along! 

Old Manila, Coconut Palace and the guessing game

Luckily a slightly later start to day two with the chance to see Quezon City’s rush hour in full swing. I think only a clip from an on board camera or birds eye view will be able to justify the chaos of six lanes of traffic interweaving, undertaking and using the u-turn lane.

Manila’s premier tourist attraction (according to Lonely Planet) was a lovely old fort with a uniformed guard on a bike and some hot looking horse pulling tourist carts. There was a brief delay in the cultural tour whilst we posed behind the historical cut outs and with the statues but luckily our hosts were just as keen to get what the Australian team call ‘wacky shots’ as we were. We might need to look at cutting down on the cameras at some point though as waiting for seven photos in the baking sun might not be sustainable.

From the walls of the fort there were views over the Pasig river and down into the ruined cell where Dr Jose Rizal was imprisoned before his execution in 1866 for his part in starting the revolution against Spanish colonial rule. Brass footprints marked his path to the execution spot and his final poem, smuggled out of prison in an oil lamp, put our Spanish to the test. We all missed the explanation in English inlaid in the floor as we puzzled over the poem.  

Sadly Imelda Marcos’ coconut palace turned out not to be made entirely from coconut as billed. Built in the 70s and designed by Francisco Manoso there was an impressive amount of coconut involved from the chandeliers to the furniture. 20,000 coconut trees were used in the construction and originally made up 70% of the building. A table for 25 had a stunning inlay pattern made up of 40,000 coconut shells  and was put together by 60 small fingered children aged between 8 and 12.

Luckily enough trees were spared to provide some shade from the 40 degree heat on the patio whilst we heard about Richard getting left in the Korean demilitarised zone by his tour bus.

All facts in this are hastily scribbled and may not stand up to any kind of internet checking. Links are to help you find the right information…

I can remember a lovely meal with the GSE team that came to the UK who did their best to resolve my 3G issues and drinks, snacks and a live band with my lovely host family and their daughters who have stopped being shy and have moved onto testing my knowledge of flags. No I didn’t guess the Filipino one. Very embarrassing.

Flag raising, meeting the major and Rotary Hour

Our first proper day began with a very early start. (although apparently 5am is normal to allow Filippinos to get through the traffic to begin work at 8). The flag raising ceremony at City Hall was attended by hundreds of workers in their purple shirt uniforms and we were ushered onto the stage as the mayors guests with our host families.

This ceremony takes place every Monday morning and included and address from the Chairperson on Women and Family Relations which I think was linked to women’s month being celebrated here at the moment. A documentary filmaker was awarded a scroll and the best performing TB task forces were presented with certificates. As the ceremony was almost entirely in Tagalog it wasn’t always that easy to understand the standing up / sitting down / applauding ettiquette but as we were on the second row I hope the crowd didn’t notice our confusion.

When the mayor arrived on stage I think he was slightly overlooked by the UK team who were expecting him to be older and more formally dressed. No suits, chain or minder here, just a youthful looking man in his early 40s happy to be sorting his own chair out for the signing of a paper on TB. Perhaps our mayors could pick up some tips here although perhaps it is representative of the younger demographic; 40% of the Quezon City are under 20.

After a short breakfast where I managed to knock the table and spill four cups of coffee simultaneously onto the white table cloth it was off for tours of the memorial and museum (I’ll get Dan to write something interesting about the architecture here as he completely outdid me on this)

A whirlwind tour with our host club South Triangle included a drive round the university where there was a student demonstration about tuition fees following the suicide of a student over this recently and lunch in a rice restarant where we has (I later discovered from my host) what basically is pork scratchings in blood. I’ll have to check the details on this but tasted good before I knew what it was!

It was then off to UNTV to film a segment for the ‘Rotary Hour’ programme. It was the first outing for our formal group uniforms (yes that is the blazers and no there are no pictures) and I think given that we weren’t given any advance warning of the questions I think it went pretty well. Dan the ‘media face’ of policing and Richard’s smooth policians answers definitely helped us out.

Final trip of the day was to the mall and for a type of exercise I seem to remember being described as ‘mall walking’ in Modern Family. The malls are endless and include every shop you would see on the British high street and I imagine every chain you’d find in the US as well. If you’re struggling on scale think of the Trafford Centre stacked over 5 floors with a fairground in the top.

Tomorrow a lie in for a 9am start and a cultutural tour. 

Off to the Philippines

I will admit there is something that has spurred me on in getting up and running on the whole blogging thing. In December I was accepted onto Rotary International's Group Study Exchange, a fantastic opportunity to spend a month in Manila learning about how people work out there.


More to come on this but for now thankyou very much to Bury Rotary club for sponsoring my application.