A massive Saviour
03.12.2009
Thank God for our new upstairs office (built a few years ago with donations from Columban Partnership Parishes in Melbourne) it was a massive saviour.
Marlou Concepcion is the Project Manager of KAZAMA Grameen Bank, Zambales, the Philippines. She writes, ” In all our history, no one remembers so great a flood disaster. By the mercy of the Lord we were saved when the floods and high tide came together around our KAZAMA head office. Outside the floods were chest high on the roads around us and the muddy flood waters remained in our offices for several weeks.
Our new upstairs office(built a few years ago with donations from Columban Partnership Parishes in Melbourne) was a massive saviour, thank God. The gravest destruction has been in the Botolan area. The whole area including the Bucal bridge and dike as well as the Grameen office at Caracel became a lake and most of the members of that Branch of the Grameen Bank had to move to evacuation areas. Many people lost their houses, their livelihood projects and everything they possessed. Several schools were destroyed, leaving the children way behind in their learning.
The Department of Public Works has suggested that the flooded dike cannot be fixed until March 2010. Transport and communication, both to and between the northern branches of Grameen is almost impossible. In Botolan itself 300 families were severely affected by the flooding and typhoons because they lost everything. Many are in dire need of food, clothing, medicine and a house to live in. The Branch office of the Grameen Bank had to be moved from Botolan to Iba and from there staff are continuing to offer their members whatever support we can.
Super typhoons Ondoy and Peping also brought untold destruction to hundreds of Grameen Bank members in Manila and Kalookan. Many people had to climb on their roofs to escape the floods. They say that the blame for the extent of some of the flooding goes to the Government for not cleaning the waterways. As a result all Central Luzon is under a ‘State of Calamity’.
The Grameen staff are still numbed by these events. The value of projects wiped out has been estimated at Aud$46,500 as so many projects and livelihoods vanished into the sea. The Philippine Government has appealed to the United Nations, international communities and other NGO’s for help. All prices in the market are frozen and the international debt payments have been stopped fro three months.
The Grameen Bank will do all it can with their ‘no interest’ charge for three months to support all members affected because they have nobody else to turn to except KAZAMA.
Fr Sean Connaughton has transformed the lives of many in the Philippines through the establishment of a ‘Grameen Bank', which provides small loans, particularly to women, so that they may generate income to feed and educate their families.
See the Kazama Grameen website
or
Read more about the Partnership Programme
