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| (Image Source: Good News Pilipinas/Globe Telecom) |
Two years into the pandemic, involuntary hunger rates are still found to be at 10%, according to the Social Weather Stations and the Philippine Statistics Office – higher by 1.2% than pre-pandemic levels. This is aggravated by the 6.4% unemployment rate. But while Filipinos still struggle to adjust to a new way of life, families continue to confront even more hardships, among them those affected when Typhoon Odette hit several parts of the country in December.
Four-year old Fatima and her family from Talibon, Bohol were among those severely affected by the powerful typhoon. They lost their home and most of their belongings due to the storm, leaving them lost in uncertainties in their daily life. In other areas, Nanay Evangeline from Dalaguete, Cebu, and Myrabel from Taytay, Palawan, were also greatly affected – losing their homes and livelihood due to Odette. With the hopes of assisting families like Fatima’s, Nanay Evangeline’s, and Myrabel’s, Globe Telecom and Caritas Philippines joined hands to give them much needed support under the Globe of Good, a program that aims to provide multi-sectoral stakeholders a platform to encourage collective action towards achieving sustainable and inclusive development for communities by leveraging the power of technology.
Under its Alay Kapwa Legacy Program, Caritas Philippines provides beneficiary communities with a holistic intervention program that goes beyond family feeding. It supports beneficiary families towards self-sufficiency through training for the creation of backyard and community vegetable gardens for food security. The foundation also empowers its partner families through the formation of self-help groups and a community association that channels small regular savings contributions to create a micro-lending business among members. They provide skills training in micro-entrepreneurship using digital tools, and a one-time business capital of Php10,000. Caritas Philippines values family as the basic unit of society and provides values formation support through responsible parenting and family sessions.
“We, at Caritas Philippines, focus on sustainable development programs and participative partnerships which cover assistance in addressing basic needs and values formation to provide holistic intervention to partner families. We aim to strengthen the families to allow them to contribute to their communities. We hope that our partnership under the Globe of Good program will enable us to reach more communities,” said Caritas Philippines National Director Most Rev. Jose Colin Bagaforo, DD. The organization is one of the many partners of Globe in its advocacy of creating impact and uplifting the lives of Filipinos, especially those in most need. The partnership aims to reach over 2,400 individuals from farmers, fisherfolk, and community sectoral groups, and provide them with both food and sustainable livelihood and employment opportunities. “As a digital solutions company, we strive to make our products and services to be forces for good for our customers. We believe in utilizing technology to imbibe good habits. Globe of Good aims to extend the ability to support organizations like Caritas Philippines so that we, as a community, can create a bigger positive societal impact,” said Globe Telecom Senior Vice President for Corporate Communications and Chief Sustainability Officer Yoly Crisanto.
