Philippines 2: First Distribution

Don & Dr. Ito From Philippines Photo Album

It was a long way but we all made it! Duncan, Don & Sue arrived yesterday at 10:30 AM and I arrived exactly twelve hours later at 10:30 PM. We were met at the airport by Jess, the SCAW Philippine representative, and Tony, our driver for the duration of the distribution. Tony has been a constant as he has been the driver for the SCAW travelling volunteers for the last twelve years. He is a careful driver but most of all he knows how to maneuver through the crazy traffic in Manila.

After a nice breakfast at the hotel, we proceeded to our pre-distribution meeting with the Kiwanis team and visited the warehouse where the bedkits were packaged, ready for distribution. They had to give up the old warehouse for many reasons, and this time used two of Dr. Ito's homes which were converted into warehouses. The two homes which used to be beautifully furnished now contained 4,000 bedkits wall-to-wall, ceiling-to-floor in the livingrooms and all the bedrooms. We observed the amazing production line where six volunteers filled a huge plastic bag with sixty-two items.

The Philippines 2 Team From Philippines Photo Album

We had our pre-distribution meeting where Dr. Ito Torres submitted: the financials, the distribution sites, a list of bedkit items, and bank statements. To quote him, he said that because they had to order the items at short notice before receiving the remittance from SCAW, that they used "face-value" as collateral. He made a face!

He explained that the SCAW Philippines distribution is a family affair. This involved the die-hard team plus their spouses who were given important responsibilities.

After a quick lunch, we proceeded to our first distribution which was at a school in Karangalan, Antipolo (Honor in English). It was especially moving because all the children were affected by the recent flooding that devastated the area. We distributed 400 Bedkits which represented 10% of the total. Emotions were overflowing not only for our team but most of all to the parents, teachers, and volunteers who were grateful as this represented a new beginning for them to recover from their loss.

So this is how our first day ended, full of anticipation for more successful and heart warming distributions in the next few days.

Linda Taiabjee
for Team Philippines 2

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