Guidelines on Clean up Day : Saturday, October 3
OPERATION WALANG IWANAN
Guidelines on Clean up Day : Saturday, October 3
GK Camacho, Brgy. Nangka, Marikina
Assembly time : 5 AM, RFM Pioneer
Departure : 5:30AM
Schedule :
7:30 AM Arrival
7:30 – 8 AM Site Orientation
8 AM – 4 PM Clean Up
4:30 PM Departure to Headquarters
Instructions :
- Volunteers should wear boots or closed hiking shoes. No slippers or sandals to avoid wounds and injuries.
- Each volunteer is expected to bring :
- One heavy duty shovel per volunteer
- Empty sacks for garbage collection
- Walis tingting and dustpan if possible
- Volunteers are asked to form contingents of 30-50 pax for easier mobilization.
- Each contingent needs at least 2 wheelbarrows for garbage collection.
- Each volunteer is expected to be self sufficient. Bring your own meals, snacks and water.
- We will not provide transportation so contingents are requested to coordinate. We strongly encourage carpooling or rental of a coaster or bus for each group because we don’t have enough space for parking.
Expectations :
- You will be clearing debris, mud, broken glass and dilapidated wood.
- Avoid wearing jewelry and bringing valuables that might get lost. There will be no place to leave your bags so make sure you can keep your stuff close to your body.
Contingencies :
All systems are considered GO for the clean ups. We will, however, keep you posted if the situation deteriorates due to this impending storm and if there will be a change of plans. Each contingent must send us their contact information through 0915-3333131 so we can send you updates, or log on to www.gk1world.com
Newsfeeds
GK just received a call from our brave UE volunteers who are penetrating GK Napindan in Taguig City. Water is once again waist deep, and they are trying their best to get through and give much needed medical help to the families who remain stranded. We will try to send them a vehicle, but they are also looking for a boat that can take them in! We honor you! Walang Iwanan!
HOW YOU CAN HELP
DONATE RELIEF GOODS. We need:
1. Bottled water
2. Ready to eat food (boiled eggs, sandwiches, cooked rice, bread)
3. Rice
4. Canned Goods
5. Instant noodles
6. Used clothes
7. Beddings especially blankets
8. Sleeping mats
9. Medicines
•Paracetamol
•Cough and colds preparation
•Oresol (ORS)
•Buscopan, Lomotil
•Wound care (betadine, band aid, alcohol, cotton)
Deliver to Operation GK Walang Iwanan Headquarters at RFM Gym along Pioneer St., Mandaluyong City (contact person : Raul Dizon 0917-888-8109).
VOLUNTEER. We need people to do the following:
1. Repacking of goods in our OPERATION GK WALANG IWANAN Headquarters, RFM Sports Center.
2. Distribution of goods, including scooping of ice cream in the GK command centers and neighboring communities.
3. Clean Up in the GK command centers and neighboring communities (especially in GK Brookside, GK Sitio Pajo and GK Camacho).
* Bring a shovel, walis tingting, sacks and garbage bags (for debris collection).
4. Medical Services. We need teams of volunteer doctors, nurses and paramedical staff to attend to medical needs of the affected families in the identified communities.
5. Transportation. We need people who are willing to lend their vehicles, trucks and heavy equipments for delivery and assistance in clean ups.
DONATE CASH.
?1. Gawad Kalinga Philippine Peso Current Account 3101 0977 56? BPI EDSA Greenhills??2. Gawad Kalinga US$ Savings Account 3104 0162 34 with Swift code : BOPIPHMM? BPI EDSA Greenhills??Please fax your deposit slip to : Delfin Mangona, Operation GK Walang Iwanan at 632-726-7405. Kindly indicate name of donor and contact number so we can issue official receipts.
ANCOP USA?You can send your checks to ANCOP USA, PO Box 10095, Torrance, CA 90505.?Or go to www.ancopusa.org if you prefer to do it online via credit card.??AYALA FOUNDATION USA?You can issue checks payable to Ayala Foundation USA with project noted (Gawad Kalinga Ondoy Relief) and send to : ?
Ayala Foundation USA
255 Shoreline Drive, Suite 428
Redwood City, CA 94065
Tel. no. 1-650-598-3126
Fax No. 1-650-508-8898
Email: info@af-usa.org
or you can donate to Ayala Foundation USA via credit card by visiting http://www.af-usa.org/donate_now_form.asp. In “choosing organization to receive the donation”, please choose “Gawad Kalinga-Community Infrastructure Program” for now. By tomorrow, September 29, Tuesday Philippine Time, you will be able to choose “Gawad Kalinga-Relief”.
DONATE ONLINE AT www.gk1world.com
Click on “Operation GK Walang Iwanan at this website. This facility can accept donations from all over the world.
Please allow us to honor our armed personnel, who are with us in the field, conducting relief and rescue operations, even when their very own families are also in need. Thank you for dedicating your life to the Filipino people. GK will intensify our efforts to help make sure you and your families live in dignity. Walang Iwanan!
Newsbreak: GK just received a call from our brave UE volunteers who are penetrating GK Napindan in Taguig City. Water is once again waist deep, and they are trying their best to get through and give much needed medical help to the families who remain stranded. We will try to send them a vehicle, but they are also looking for a boat that can take them in! We honor you! Walang Iwanan!
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
DONATE RELIEF GOODS. We need:
- Bottled water
- Ready to eat food (boiled eggs, sandwiches, cooked rice, bread)
- Rice
- Canned Goods
- Instant noodles
- Used clothes
- Beddings especially blankets
- Sleeping mats
- Medicines
- Paracetamol
- Cough and colds preparation
- Oresol (ORS)
- Buscopan, Lomotil
- Wound care (betadine, band aid, alcohol, cotton)
Deliver to Operation GK Walang Iwanan Headquarters at RFM Gym along Pioneer St., Mandaluyong City (contact person : Raul Dizon 0917-888-8109).
VOLUNTEER. We need people to do the following:
- Repacking of goods in our OPERATION GK WALANG IWANAN Headquarters, RFM Sports Center.
- Distribution of goods, including scooping of ice cream in the GK command centers and neighboring communities.
- Clean Up in the GK command centers and neighboring communities (especially in GK Brookside, GK Sitio Pajo and GK Camacho).
* Bring a shovel, walis tingting, sacks and garbage bags (for debris collection).
- Medical Services. We need teams of volunteer doctors, nurses and paramedical staff to attend to medical needs of the affected families in the identified communities.
- Transportation. We need people who are willing to lend their vehicles, trucks and heavy equipments for delivery and assistance in clean ups.
DONATE CASH.
1. Gawad Kalinga Philippine Peso Current Account 3101 0977 56 BPI EDSA Greenhills 2. Gawad Kalinga US$ Savings Account 3104 0162 34 with Swift code : BOPIPHMM BPI EDSA Greenhills Please fax your deposit slip to : Delfin Mangona, Operation GK Walang Iwanan at 632-726-7405. Kindly indicate name of donor and contact number so we can issue official receipts.
ANCOP USA You can send your checks to ANCOP USA, PO Box 10095, Torrance, CA 90505. Or go to www.ancopusa.org if you prefer to do it online via credit card. AYALA FOUNDATION USA You can issue checks payable to Ayala Foundation USA with project noted (Gawad Kalinga Ondoy Relief) and send to :
Ayala Foundation USA
255 Shoreline Drive, Suite 428
Redwood City, CA 94065
Tel. no. 1-650-598-3126
Fax No. 1-650-508-8898
Email: info@af-usa.org
or you can donate to Ayala Foundation USA via credit card by visiting http://www.af-usa.org/donate_now_form.asp. In “choosing organization to receive the donation”, please choose “Gawad Kalinga-Community Infrastructure Program” for now. By tomorrow, September 29, Tuesday Philippine Time, you will be able to choose “Gawad Kalinga-Relief”.
DONATE ONLINE AT www.gk1world.com
Click on “Operation GK Walang Iwanan at this website. This facility can accept donations from all over the world.
BAWAT PILIPINO BAYANI
(Sept. 28) Buayang Bato, Mandaluyong -Within hours, GK saw its first heroes. GK beneficiaries immediately signed up to help with the repacking of goods. They had already finished cleaning up their own homes, and upon realizing the devastation in other areas, the Kapitbahayan immediately mobilized and set up bayanihan action teams to do volunteer shifts in the Operation GK Walang Iwanan Headquarters at the RFM Gym along Pioneer St. Mandaluyong City.
This confirmed the strategy of using existing GK villages as command centers to help distribute relief goods to nearby affected areas. We knew we could count on our GK Kapitbahayan (neighborhood association of GK beneficiaries) to help us get organized, and to reach out to other communities in need.
Corporate partners like Globe, Meralco, Nestle, RFM and Selecta also began sending their donations in cash and kind, and volunteers from universities also came to help. Fedex and other trucking companies also offered their services to deliver the relief goods.
It was an amazing sight to see the social divides disappear, as GK beneficiaries joined the bayanihan line with students from exclusive schools as they did the repacking and distribution.
Activities commenced at 6 PM, and volunteers kept doing their work until 3 AM to make sure that command centers would get relief goods early the next day.
COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT AT ITS BEST
(Septe. 28) Napindan, Taguig – With help from the Philippine Marines, GK leaders were also able to penetrate GK Napindan, Taguig at around 6:00 PM. This was a GK community that had been stranded and under water for over 48 hours, and had survived with very little food or water. Our team expected to see a mob of hungry families, but upon seeing the truck of relief goods, the GK Kapitbahayan immediately organized themselves and their residents. They lined up in knee-deep water, and it became one of the fastest and most organized relief distributions that GK has seen.
This was GK’s community empowerment and servant leadership at its best, and it was humbling to see them practice this despite the devastation and their great need.
They informed us that many of them already had swollen legs from wounds and lesions, and today (September 30), a medical team of doctors, nurses and medical students from UE will be conducting a medical mission for these families.
We were also informed that USTMAA will be sending funds through their Kalinga Tomasino campaign, to be used to buy much needed medicines for the medical missions in various command centers. As the relief progresses, medicines will be critical as more families fall ill due to their situation.
At the end of Day 1, GK was able to send out about 2,000 food packs to 6 of the 10 command centers. This translates to about 10,000 individuals fed in the first 6 hours of operation.
Day 2: September 29, 2009
GK woke up to more good news as the sun showed itself today. ANCOP USA pledged Php1 Million for GK’s relief efforts. GKAL USA was also sending funds for medical missions, and Condura was giving us 4,000 food packs!
We were also getting texts from the provinces who wanted to help. GK Masbate, often a beneficiary themselves because of the many typhoons that hit them, was sending us P5,000 as their humble contribution. Our brethren from Mindanao, like Davao and Kidapawan, were also mobilizing to send both goods and cash. These are not big amounts, but it comes from big hearts, and it will go a long way.
We heard news that the GK Hero’s Run in the US would dedicate their funds for relief efforts, and that GK HI Singapore was already mobilizing resources to send to the Philippines!
“OK NA KAMI. SILA NAMAN.” (WE ARE OKAY. TAKE CARE OF THEM)
Sitio Pajo, Quezon City – In GK Sitio Pajo, the creek overflowed and water reached the second floor. Most of the families were evacuated, and had to use a rope to keep them from getting swept away by the floodwaters. But those in the inner areas were stranded and it was the sturdy row housing that provided safety to them and their families.
Edgar Amaga, a GK beneficiary from Bagong Silang, Caloocan who oversees the construction in Sitio Pajo just called his family to check on their situation, and upon finding out that they were okay, decided to stay there for the rescue, evacuation and relief efforts because he knew he was needed there more. Someone even showed us a video of GK residents putting up the rope rescue system to help the families evacuate.
Operation Walang Iwanan had sent relief goods to Sitio Pajo for two days, but when we arrived there yesterday, we were surprised to see a relatively clean community. GK Kapitbahayan had organized themselves into clean up teams, and were already at work trying to restore the community. GK had been sending relief goods to them and to their neighbors for two days, but it was the GK Kapitbahayan community leaders themselves that told us that they no longer needed food packs, and that other areas probably needed it more.
Once again, residents came up to tell us that they were willing to sign up and help in whatever way they could. They knew it was time to pay it forward.
“UNAHIN NYO NA ANG MAS NANGANGAILANGAN.”
(ADDRESS FIRST THOSE WHO ARE IN MOST NEED)
Baseco, Tondo – GK went with Nestle’s David Laurel, who happily reported to us that Nestle CEO Nandu Nandkishore’s birthday party in GK Baseco, Tondo pushed through the day before because the GK Kapitbahayan said they were in good shape and were more than willing to celebrate this special day with him and other Nestle employees. David shared that he was touched to see how the residents all around Baseco (not just in the Nestle village) had already cleaned up the community, and were just happy and grateful that they were not as devastated as the other areas.
He was surprised to know that Baseco was originally in the list of command centers, the caretaker team and the GK Kapitbahayan leaders themselves decided that relief goods should just be sent to other areas that needed it more, because they could manage their own needs. Floodwaters had also risen in their area, and some of their personal belongings had been affected, but they gave way to other families who had lost everything and badly needed whatever relief they could get.
“PAMILYA NAMIN SILA.”
(WE ARE FAMILY.)
Camacho, Markina - With help from the military, GK was also able to bring relief goods to GK Camacho, Marikina, one of the hardest hit areas. What we saw was mind-boggling. Mud everywhere, garbage hanging on electrical lines, cars overturned and piled on top of each other, long lines of people waiting for relief goods.
But this was matched by the bright smiles of the residents, who told us of their sad story but also showed us the indomitable Filipino spirit that simply never gives up. What was also amazing was our GK caretaker team also lived in Marikina. They themselves were victims of the disaster, but they delivered water and some basic goods to the community as soon as they could, even before any relief goods could come in.
We also saw some old clothes that were being distributed, and heard that this was from the SIGA (GK youth group) from GK Amparo and GK Ragojos in Quezon City. We had no idea where they were able to get old clothes, but it was inspiring to see that our GK residents from non-affected areas, especially the youth, were at the forefront of the relief and rescue operations. We also saw GK Bayan-anihan’s Noi Quesada and her 4 daughters, shovels and garbage bags in hand, helping clean the homes of the residents. “We didn’t have much financial resources to share, but I know there’s something we can do to help.”
Volunteers are now being mobilized to help in the clean ups in the coming days.
“MAAASAHAN NYO KAMI.”
(YOU CAN COUNT ON US)
Selecta Village, Cainta – Since the storm, GK had been trying to penetrate Cainta or at least get reports from the communities, but it was hard because power had not yet been restored and there was no means of communication for many of them. Yesterday, we were finally able to hear from them, and once again, families said that flood waters had risen almost to the second floor, but that their homes were sturdy and they were all okay.
Consultation with the caretaker team and Kapitbahayan leaders yielded a quick decision : GK Selecta would become a command center for relief distribution to other badly hit areas near them in Taytay and Cainta, like Tawi-Tawi, Napico, Karangalan, Hapay na Mangga and Balagot.
GK delivered almost 2,000 packed goods to them at 8 PM, which they stored in their multi purpose center. When we left, they were organizing their bayanihan action teams for distribution to other sites. They even told us, “Umuwi na kayo – kaya na namin ito. Maaasahan ninyo kami. Walang Iwanan!” (You can go home now, we can handle this. You can count on us. Let us leave no one behind!).
These words were what we carried with us as we headed back to headquarters. When we got back, the team proudly announced that we had distributed a total of 15,000 food packs have been sent out to our command centers. But there is so much more to be done. So many families out there need our help.
But it is amazing to know that we now have our GK Kapitbahayan as partners in the mission. From beneficiary to benefactor. No one is too poor that he cannot give anything. Bawat Pilipino Bayani!
Walang Iwanan! (Leaving no one behind).
Ikaw, anong taya mo para sa bayan?
(What is your stake for the country?)
