We had our annual dinner in our chairperson's house as we have done so many times. It was a great way for us to catch up and tell each other how fat or thin each other since we last saw each other. As much as Facebook is a great way to keep connected nothing beats face to face communication and laughter. I was also thankful I wasn't the photographer this time so I would be in the pictures now.
A lot of the core members were in the province and in the US so using the power of Skype we were able to to have a video group call. The power of Technology is truly outstanding.
First order of business was the Financial Statement Report. A breakdown of all expenditures of last year including for the Christmas goodies and gifts given to the community last December and first time in 11 years having a surplus budget were it will be used for expenditures of the next batch of Grade 6 students of Banawen Elementary school graduating and going to highschool.
Just to provide a recap four years ago we decided to adopt Banawen Elementary school. This is the primary school for children of an indigenous tribe called Aetas. Prior to our adoption most students would only reach until Grade 2 or 3 as education takes a backseat to surviving.
This is a place where living is hard. The eruption of Mount Pinatubo on the year of 1997 displaced the Aetas from their ancestral lands and into different places. It is funny that legally the indigenous people like Aetas are protected but are given no budget and hardly any assistance in livelihood.
In the place called Banawen they try to toil under the sun on arid and rocky soil planting rice and root crops in order to feed themselves or barter for goods down in the mainland. They forage the forests for wild life and fruits but often than not come home empty handed.
Recess in most schools would have kids running around playing and then eating their snack of sandwiches, cupcake or chips. Even some public schools in the main cities would have feeding programs funded by the local governments.
In Banawen the kids would play tag, climb trees, sing and dance like other children but there is a certain hunger in their eyes. It can be seen in their diminutive size, their ribbed cages and their cracked skin. They would suck on a calamansi fruit if it can be found.
The school was built last January 2007 and it was 2016 when they finally had someone graduate and go to highschool.
If you want to learn more about Banawen Primary school I have three posts:
Gift in Kind Foundation: More than a decade of sharing our blessings
Sitio Banawen a community of Aetas: A story of Hope
Christmas in Banawen Zambales: Sharing your blessings
The next important thing discussed was fundraising and collection drives. We have a couple of companies that have started supporting us by donating money, volunteers and even medicines. This has been a big help and admittedly we still fall short most years but we still manage. We will be doing a fund raiser this year with selling shirts and I will run a contest for that.
Next stop was Steemit. I discussed what I do in Steemit. The concept of the gifteconomy. We also talked how to create an account, the different tabs and most importantly the wallet and Steem Economy. The concept of the 75/25 author and curation rewards was a bit overwhelming for them.
I showed them previous projects and charity works initiated by different communities. I showed them how some whales and dolphins would support these initiatives and give a lot of exposure. To make it simpler I used the final SBD amount redeemed for a post and multiplied by the rate of SBD at that time. I saw jaws drop.
We have never tried to crowdfund online before. Even if we use social media it would be really limited to our circle. The mere thought of using Steemit to promote this cause and actually receive donations astounded them. I wouldn't say that most of them are not tech savvy but the idea of a gifteconomy is such an alien concept for them. If we get a big whale or dolphin to support it will be so great if not as we always have done we will still go on.
We talked about providing more things for the school. New furniture, repaint the whole thing, get some playground sets for the kids to enjoy. Facilitate a Medical and Dental mission in cooperation with @steemitfamilyph who are mostly dentists and will be part of the charity activities of the group.
Maybe in the future get them satellite internet and computer equipment or tablets. Sigh people can dream right?
What's the plan?
Set up a Gift in Kind Foundation account so access can be shared between the core members especially if Social Media Manager is busy or indisposed.
Conduct a 2nd more in-depth training schedule when all the core members are back in the Philippines.
Coordinate with Banawen Elementary School Principal on getting additional materials for articles. Set up questionnaires and do several pieces of Humans of Banawen series.
Coordinate with @steemitfamilyph if they will be able to do the Medical and Dental Mission this year or would be for another time.
Ask assistance from @promo-mentors for added exposure if possible. If not Ohana will take of it.
Core team will create their own personal accounts to further help the main account and enjoy Steemit as well.
Rearrange Facebook Admins and postings to reflect content from the main account.
Do twice a month meetings over Skype for any changes in plans and updates will be posted in the closed group in Facebook and Googledocs for easy tracking of project.
I ended my part really happy and we were so excited to be embarking on this first step into the realm of digital crowdfunding. We were taking the first step to a bigger role not only for the school but maybe even for Banawen itself. This could be a source of seed money for a livelihood program for them. The aim here is to get the people of Banawen self-sufficient and have pride in themselves.
No meeting of ours would be complete without eating and so with smiles on our faces we attacked the food with much gusto. As usual our gracious chairperson prepared food for 30 people again hahha.
It was raining a bit so a hotpot was definitely something that we wanted.
After dinner we had a couple bottles of wines and cheese as we talked about the many adventures and misadventures we had in over a decade of helping people. Who would have thought that we would be able to do this and continue to share our blessing.
I hope that Steemit will share in this endeavor. From Gift in Kind Foundation we thank you.
All SBDs earn from posts about Gift in Kind and Banawen will be donated to all initiatives of the Foundation.
