FAMILY FUNDING - AN APPEAL TO HELP REBUILD CHEEY HIGH SCHOOL, PALAWAN, PHILIPPINES
This is an appeal for help and assistance to rebuild the devastated Cheey National High School in Busuanga, Palawan from the Typhoon Haiyan that ripped through the Phillipines early November 2013. We need to raise $20,000 to rebuild ONE class room so the children and teachers have a base to work from.
The aim is about getting poor kids in a remote part of the
Philippines back to school. These kids will remain uneducated unless
we can get direct help to them. It will be years before this sort of
infrastructure will be rebuilt. These kids and their needs are so far
down the “AID” pecking order in a disaster of this scale.
Busuanga was the last of the six Philippine islands whacked
by the typhoon, with wind speeds of over 300km decimating most
structures. The landscape used to be lush, now it is denuded.
WHY THIS IS SO IMPORTANT:
For the last few years a close family member, Greg Hutchinson,
has been running ecologically based kayak tours in this remote part of
the Philippines. He has built modest “local style” structures for his
guests to stay in, using local people to construct them. And more
local people are employed to help him run the tours. He is a vital
employer in the region. He has been using funds from every booking to
help build THIS school for the local kids. He recently had a campaign
to get children from remote rural communities some pushbikes to get to
THIS school.
Greg also organised the construction of trails for them to ride on, for although they were eager to attend, the distances they had to travel on foot were daunting.
He has lost his own properties, but is much more distressed
to see the children losing this opportunity to gain an education
because they have NO school. He is adamant that he will rebuild and
continue his business so his staff will have continuing income. But
he can't help to rebuild the school without our help.
If you are touched by this, will you help us raise the money to
rebuild this school? If we can get together $20,000
we can rebuild ONE class room so the children and teachers have a base
to work from. The school had five classrooms, but baby steps needed here.
HOW WILL THE FUNDS BE USED:
The funds will be used to reconstruct one badly damaged classroom to proper building standards, able to withstand weather events, and we will make it ready for computers to be used for the first time. This is a high school that did not even have ONE computer, and if we can achieve this then pupils can access recognised international learning programs.
We want to make their education facilities BETTER that before. Also we are separately collecting good used computers donated by Australian Businesses who are upgrading their hardware. They are being cleaned up by a friend with an IT business in Sydney, he is kindly volunteering his time to do this. We are storing them already so they can be shipped in one lot after the building has been constructed. Greg will supervise the rebuilding and authorise expenditures for labour and materials.
HOW CAN YOU HELP:
The esteemed Australian journalist, George Negus, has offered to be
the patron of our appeal. He knows of Greg’s work, and sees this as
an opportunity to get help QUICKLY to these kids, and maybe, in a
perfect world, to the thousands and thousands of other children in the
same boat, if this campaign could get momentum.
We ask for your trust in us that funds you donate will go
directly to the school project. Greg will oversee the rebuilding. It
is not a complicated job. It can be done quickly if money is
available for materials and to pay for skilled local labour. You can
be assured every cent we raise will be used responsibly.
This is URGENT. We appreciate your HELP!
Sincerely,
Jan Malcolm & Family (Sister of Greg Hutchinson)