HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 2015-05-13, Page 7Wednesday, May 13, 2015 • News Record 7
Seaforth resident visits the Philippines for charity work
Marco Vigliotti
Postmedia Network
Chris Hills spent the better part of
the first three weeks of April crisscross-
ing the vast island nation of the Philip-
pines, helping to distribute about 5,000
bed kits to needy children residing in
some of the country's most impover-
ished communities.
As part of his ongoing volunteering
efforts with Canadian chanty Sleeping
Children Around the World (SCAW),
the Seaforth resident was once again
afforded the opportunity to hand -
deliver the valued aid packages, which
contain 38 crucial necessities such as
mosquito nets, toothbrushes and
school supplies.
He also distributed 28 bed kits pur-
chasedwith donations generated from
a SCAW fundraising dinner held in
Clinton backinlate March.
Hills, who has now visited the Phil-
ippines three times for SCAW, remains
upbeat about the impact the packages
can have for impoverished children
there, most of whom live in simple tin
roof shacks in the country's derelict,
typicallyflood-marred slums.
Even the sourcing of the products
benefits the country, he explains, with
the items contained in the kits pro-
duced in the Philippines.
'All of the items are manufactured
and/or sourced in the Philippines, so
that provides a boost to the local econ-
omy," Hills said in an interview after
returning from the trip, which ran from
April to 19.
Members of the charity's Philip-
pines -based partner group assisted
Hills and six other Canadian volun-
teers as theyventured out to 16 differ-
ent locations across Luzon, the coun-
try's most populated island.
In addition to delivering the kits, the
volunteers conduct interviews with
recipient families to see what other
items they would want included in the
packages and to gain a firmer picture
of their living situations.
Despite most residing in "grim" dirt
floor dwellings often located in active
flood plains, Hills noted that the
families remained remarkably positive
in the interviews even as they
described the challenges of living in
extreme poverty.
"They can sit there and tell you these
horror stories and it's so matter of fact
that you'll have the interpreter in tears,
the Canadian in tears and eventually
the mother and father in tears telling
you the story," he said. "But, you will
never come along happier people'
The interviews also provide power-
ful imagery for subsequent presenta-
tions by the volunteers back in Canada
detailing the importance of the work
they do, Hills said.
"As you learn more about (their)
everyday life, you're better prepared to
paint that picture for people," he
added.
Hills points to school supplies as
being among the most popular items
in the care packages, stating that chil-
dren there are greatly enthusiastic
about the prospect of attaining a for-
mal education.
Although there is no cost to attend
elementary school in the Philippines,
supplies for classes are not provided
and must be independently
purchased.
It's a cost that can be especially bur-
densome for the families served by
SCAW, most of who barely eke out a
living pillaging scrapyards for pop cans
and other recyclable goods, Hills said.
"There are huge sacrifices made to
get children to school - you've never
seen children as excited to go to school
and as disappointed if they can't go"
he said of the Filipino children. "If they
miss school, it's a bad day.'
As a travel leader for the charity,
Hills is entering the last of his four-year
term visiting the Philippines. After next
year, he will be shipped off to another
yet to be determined nation served by
SCAW.
Hills acknowledges thatitwillbe dif-
ficult to say goodbye to the "dedicated"
local volunteers and parents and chil-
dren he met while stationed in the
southeastAsian country.
"You develop really close attach-
ments" he added. "You see 5,000 chil-
dren, you meet them. You meet family
members, you also meet some of the
parents and teachers involved."
SCAW claims to be one of a few
Chris Querido/Submitted
Seaforth resident Chris Hills takes in a celebration with local Filipino children
during his visit to the Southeast Asian nation last month as part of charity work
for Sleeping Children Across the World.
Canadian charities, if not the only one,
to allocate all fundraising revenue to its
services and programs. Declaring itself
the 100 per cent charity, it guarantees
that all bed kit donations reach a needy
child.
Administrative expenses at SCAW
are reportedly covered by a legacy fund
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r&.I'I ■Iui 1I'
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setup by founder Murray Dryden.
It does not conduct telemarketing
or mass mailing campaigns.
The cost of a bed kit is $35. For a
donation of that cost, a donor will
receive a photograph of a child with
the bedkit, showing the donor's
name and country on a label.
In addition to the Philippines,
SCAW also provides bed kits to an
array of developing countries,
including India, Bangladesh, Togo
and Kenya.
Since its incorporation in 1970, it
has donated about 1,415,000 bed
kits.
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REVIEW OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF HURON EAST OFFICIAL PLAN
TAKE NOTICE that the Municipality of Huron East will hold an Open House under Section 17 & Section 26
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Dated at the Municipality this 12th day of May 2015.
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