Situation

Thanks to their unique geographical position the Philippines are a strange melting pot of cultures and languages. There is a big mountain chain reaching from Japan until the Moluccan islands, Taiwan, Malaysia an the Phillippines being part of it too.
That created of old the possibility of intense trade. Contrasting with this the isolation: the Philippines cover 7100 islands of which 860 inhabited. This results in small communities with people that are very involved with each other.
The Philippines, being colonised in 1565 by Spain, were sold to the US for US$ 20 million. Second World War ended this domination. But the colonisation period still left traces: the big farms are in the hands of few, so poverty is a common symptom in the country.
That is the same at the island Negros, where the AID Foundation operates. The governmental CARP-program (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program) tries to eliminate this imbalance. But the inequitable spreading of the land cannot be without creating better social structures and providing agrarian training. The government, conscious of her own limitations, invites explicitly non governmental organisations to contribute.

History

The Third World Group Soest is a very active foundation in the field of development co-operation and has many volunteers. Locally there will be held a fundraising yearly with the co-operation of the Griftland college in Soest. The local authorities doubled every Euro raised. FEMI overheard this and donated to one of the many projects of the Thirld World Group: AID Foundation in the Philippines. In the meantime FEMI donates to the AID Foundation directly.

Allies

AID Foundation
AID (Alternative Indigenous Development) was founded on the island Negros in 1992 by the Dutch volunteer Auke Idzenga and Filipino Leonidas Baterna and others. The foundation's mission is "a society where technology systems exist in harmony with nature and serve as foundation of growth an sustainable development where people share and live in abundance and happiness and where there is peace, freedom and equity." Practically this means the development and production of simple and sustainable devices like hydraulic ram pumps, hydro chargers and foot pumps for small scale irrigation, but also education and seminars about health and emancipation. AID has grown towards a powerful organisation that can partially support itself by selling its products.

ICCO/Wilde Ganzen
ICCO (Interchurch Organisation for Development Co-operation) and Wilde Ganzen (Wild Goose) initiated by IKON, a Dutch religious broadcasting company, have come to an agreement to make donations together. Both organisations strive for the structural reduction of poverty in the world. Thanks to a big donation of these two organisations the existence of the department Research and Development of AID is guaranteed for two years.

Auke Idzenga
Auke Idzenga (1962) originally was a naval engineer, but with a great interest in applied, simple techniques close to the people. He went to the Philippines when he was 23 to assist the union. Because of the repression of the dictatorial regime in those days and disagreements about the future of the union, he and his (Filipino) wife Susan decided to go back to the Netherlands. They went back to the Philippines in 1997, supported by the Dutch Central Missionary Commissionership. With Dutch support they built their own workplace. First being in charge of the full technical programme, Auke is now involved in Research and Development. Auke and his wife have three children in the age of 14, 10 and 6. They want to continue their work as long as possible, even if the contract comes to an end in May 2004 and they will have to be self-supporting.

Goals

The department Research and Development being supported by ICCO/Wilde Ganzen, AID asked FEMI for support of their programme "Organisational reinforcement and safety of agrarian reform communities". FEMI agreed. AID want to reach the following goals:

* Reinforce and consolidate farmer associations and co-operations.
* Support communities in constructing of sustainable farms for the production of food and herbs.
* Creating networks for information sharing and the promotion of sustainable agriculture.

This project supports 16 communities and invites expressly not organised to participate. The two year project is calculated to cost € 31,000.

FEMI donated €3,600 in 2001, € 5,000 in 2003 and will donate in the period 2004-2006 €3,000 each year. The money will be used for building a new workshop and office.

Results

The donation in 2001 was used for the development of a ram pump. Thanks to this fully hydraulic - so without any electrical part - pump water can be available a maximum of 30 yards higher than the source, yielding a significant reduction of time and energy for the people in this mountainous area. There is great interest in these pumps, two pumps being exported to Japan. To fulfil the demands AID has set up installation teams on several islands.

If the ground could speak

If the ground could speak
it would express our words.
It would, just like us, tell that the years
have forged a tie of life
that is binding us together.

Our work makes the ground to what it is
and its yield gives us life.
We and the ground are one.

But who will listen?
Will they listen
those invisibles
who claim our grounds
from unknown distances.
Is it their ground?
Because scraps of paper say so?
Because there are men behind these scraps
speaking threatening words;
men with the power to shoot
and to kill;
men with the power to take away
our men and sons.

If the ground could speak
it would tell our words.
Because the ground is us
and we speak.
But who will listen?

Poem from the mountains of Cordillera, the Philippines.

Pictures