Port Barton is located on the island of Palawan, on the western border of the Philippines. Palawan is very close to Malaysian Borneo and is known for its wildlife, beautiful natural features and UNESCO world heritage site. The population of the entire island (280 miles long) is about 900,000 people. Port Barton, on the other hand, has just a few thousand people, and nearly 500 children from the town and surrounding areas attending schools. School supplies generally make their way from Manila to Puerto Princessa, the largest city on the island and the location of the airport. Most people make their living from the sea.

Help One Future brought two large boxes of children’s books donated by Discovery College, a semi-private elementary school in Hong Kong. In Puerto Princessa we purchased notebooks, pencils, pens, crayons, water paints, chalkboards, rulers, clay, and other school supplies for distribution. All of these items had been highlighted by the principal of the school as supplies that were in very short supply in Port Barton. Once these supplies were obtained, we had to transport them over the central mountain range in a four-wheel drive van that could navigate the local roads for the three hour trip.

We would like to thank all of the generous donors who made it possible for the kids in Port Barton to enjoy much-needed school supplies that will allow them to maximize their educational experiences at school. We would also like to thank our volunteer families who spent a lot of their own money and time to facilitate everything. Below are some selected photographs of the students and their new supplies.

Happy Holidays! It’s near the end of 2008 and we have fond memories of our time spent 12 months ago in Guiuan in the Philippines. Thanks to your many donations, we were able to provide many children with much needed school supplies to help them take advantage of educational opportunities.

This year, Help One Future is planning a distribution on the island of Palawan in the western Philippines. In particular, we are focusing on a small town called Port Barton on the northern coast of Palawan.

View Larger Map

There is one elementary school and one high school in Port Barton. It is located about a three hour drive away from Puerto Princessa, the main city of Palawan. We have spoken with the principal of the elementary school in Port Barton about how best to aid the approximately 400 students and other children in the area. The younger children are particularly lacking in supplies. The town also has no library, and only a few donated books stored in the principals office.

We are collecting used children’s books once again in Hong Kong to send over. We are also actively seeking your donations to assist in obtaining school supplies for the children of Port Barton. Bear in mind that any donation is helpful. Even a few dollars can purchase pencils, crayons, and paper that students would otherwise not have for their use. In these economic times, many people around the world are tightening their belts and cutting back on expenditures. Unfortunately there are many for whom cutting back means going without school for a year. The Philippines and other third world countries will be particularly hit hard as their economies and currencies remain volatile, remittances from family members overseas fall, and supporting industries like call centers cut back on staffing.

As usual, we will be documenting the distribution with video and photos, as well as stories about the experiences. This year we would like to thank our friends Beau and Amy and their three kids for bringing their experience from last year’s trip to Port Barton. They will be joined by one of our directors, Kacey, and her family. Please use the box on the right to donate via credit card, or contact us with any questions you may have.

We are grateful for everyone who has continued to donate their gently used children’s books. Beau, Amy, Jorie and Bentz recently picked up some donated books from a library in Hong Kong for the distribution in Port Barton.

Sharing the events here is a great way to show your kids how even their small donations can have a great impact on kids their age across the world.

 

We are accepting donations of used, but working, digital cameras to give to our children in schools.

Can you remember the first digital camera you saw? The magic of seeing the picture you took seconds before appearing on the screen right before your eyes? Often as we have traveled to schools for distributions we have been able to capture the students with our point-and-shoot or digital SLR cameras – and then instantly create entertainment for the students by replaying the shots for them. For many of the children, this is the first opportunity they have had to be close to a camera.

These experiences spawned the idea for our next fundraiser, Pics for Pesos 2008. We are looking for your donations of used, but functional, digital cameras (our goal is 50!). Volunteer photographers will spend several hours teaching children the basics of photography, after which the children will be free to set their creativity free and capture images of themselves and their surroundings. A selection of their photos will then be printed and auctioned off to raise funding that will support the goals of Help One Future – to provide necessary school supplies to these and other needy children that will allow them to take full advantage of their academic experience.

Details are still in the works, but in the meantime please spread the word. Dig out your dusty 3 and 4 megapixel beasts (or better) and get ready to drop them in the mail. Drop boxes will be hosted in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Salt Lake City, Hong Kong, and Manila. Also, if you don’t have an old camera, but would still like to help specifically with Pics for Pesos 2008, you can specify that your donation should be directed towards the Pics for Pesos 2008 project when you donate. Please send us an email with any questions.

We are going down to the Philippines in July to explore further opportunities to assist with the new school year just outside the metro Manila area. in the wake of the recent typhoon, we hope to be able to find opportunities to help kids who would otherwise be sitting this year out. Thank you for your continued donations and support.

 

The people in Manicani live in very humble circumstances. Many own boats and fish for a living, but when weather is bad, the money runs out because they cannot catch anything. Despite these hardships, the people there are very optimistic and cheerful. They are very loving; helping each other survive.

Manicani Island was perhaps the most memorable aspect of our visit this year. Due to bad weather, the seas were a bit rough, but we managed to get there in one piece (although soaking wet and with a broken boat). Many excited kids greeted us at the dock, and accompanied us to the center of town. Because the waters were rough, most of the teachers were not able to come out that day to teach classes. The parents and community pulled together to help us gather the children, organize them by grades, and record the children’s names.

 

As we passed out the supplies in the first Barangay, children’s faces lit up with excitement. They said it was the first time they had ever received any help like this. Some teachers cried, saying that this gave them hope for the children’s future and their’s.

We are back from our trip now, and have a lot to share. Many of the schools were lacking basics for the students such as pencils and pens. We will be posting some pictures of the trip, and some videos as well. Thank you so much for all your support – it has made a big impact on many needy children.

This is one of the Barangay’s we went to for school supplies distribution. Most of the people here fish for a living.

Many of the kids here were eager to see us as word had already spread that we were coming. They were very excited to get school supplies, and eager to learn more about us. The Lefler kids were a hit: they showed the kids how to do hand tricks and other games you can play without toys.