Community Outreach programs should be about a passion to help those that are economically less fortunate or those that require help during temporary hardships. PhilippineOne outreach will embrace this passion and work to resolve the many hardships that require help in local communities.
It’s hard for anyone not familiar with the day to day routine of Filipinos to understand the array of differences between their lives and ours. Many speak English well because of school, tourism and the languishing remnants of an American occupation (until Philippine Independence on, coincidentally, July 4th, 1946). They have grasped western capitalism and have tried to make it their own yet have failed miserably. Filipinos dress like westerners and, those living in the core city areas, eat a lot of western fast food. An unusual amount of them have cell phones contrary to what their salaries dictate that they can afford. I would say that walking Manila streets is almost like living in a make-believe universe.
So many cars, bikes, trikes and jeepneys line the streets 24 hours a day. Many restaurants serve dinner at 4am to appease the call centre employees that work night shifts so the early morning buzz never lets up. You’d swear this was the most dynamic city in the world…until you walk outside of the 1 mile radius of Manila and it is then that the harsh truth is exposed. The “second-world” country status that this nation was recently accredited with is a sham. Poverty is everywhere you look and street kids – trained or not – tug at your shirt asking for food or money.
There is only so much one group can do to help a community. PhilippineOne compounds” will always be located in areas where affluence is a rarity and where food security is questionable. Our outreach program will concentrate on street children, orphans and battered or abused women. Since our goal is to feed nutritional food to the masses at affordable prices, it is reasonable to assume that we also believe in the healing power of nutrition and exercise and this will remain as an unspoken mantra.
At the same time, PhilippineOne employees will be visiting schools, hospitals and community centers to deliver speeches on the benefits of healthy living and address the scientific facts behind the malaise that hounds the Filipino society. I suggest that diet is tantamount to most of the health issues as well as the unfair branding of “lazy” that Filipinos have endured for years. Consider that years and years of crappy food will eventually sap out any and all energy and this is a lifelong event that begins at birth. For example, recent reports claim that Filipino ‘shortness’ isn’t just a natural genetic trait of Filipinos, but rather is due to generations of maternal and child malnutrition. Undernourished mothers give birth to undernourished children. The report also suggests a link between malnourished and stunted children, an increase in teen pregnancy, and mothers who do not space their pregnancies. The report also noted that one in three children – or 33% of the country’s children aged zero to five years-old – are stunted or too small for their age.
The PhilippineOne outreach program will be very aggressive in addressing our goals to ensure a healthier and safer community. It will take time but the end result will be a message to, not only the Philippines, but to the entire planet.
