Bayani Challenge 2014
PDC is actively involved in projects that benefit the lives of children in various municipalities around the globe aimed at helping local communities at a grass roots level. PDC has partnered with Philippines-based Community Development Foundation – Gawad Kalinga, to take part in the annual “Bayani Challenges”.
Together with local leaders in more than 200 municipalities across the Philippines, the annual Bayani (“Hero”) Challenge sees funding partners and volunteers working together to bring an abundance of hope and help to end poverty in villages across the country. The annual challenge includes activities like youth conferences, house builds, repairing & rebuilding local schools, health missions, sports programs and clean-up drives.
Typhoon Haiyan – Rebuilding Sibol School
In 2014 devastating calamities brought about by a Category 5 Super Typhoon Haiyan (also known as Yolanda) resulted in thousands of families losing their homes, livelihood, community and loved ones. It was such a powerful storm affecting so many South Asian regions, that it left the towns of Central Luzon, Philippines, paralyzed and in need of help. As part of the 2014 Bayani Challenge, PDC provided volunteers and funding on two separate occasions to aid in rebuilding projects in Palo, Leyte – a very poor region in the Philippines.
The first occasion, following the ground breaking in May 2014, PDC staff volunteered their time to rebuild the Sibol School that had previously been destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan. The aim was to have a fully functioning kindergarten school complete and ready for the new school year starting in early June. Facilities would include school furniture, blackboards, kitchen facilities with septic tank & drainage and it will also run solar panels to allow the school to have full power backup. During their time in Leyte, volunteers also held storytelling sessions and played games with the local children to celebrate Mother’s Day.
The following June, PDC continued to do their part by bringing a second group of volunteers to the typhoon stricken province of Leyte, with the help of Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation. Together they led and completed the formal turnover of the PDC Sibol Learning Centre and other housing projects in the community of Brgy San Agustin, Palo. Volunteers conducted several outreach activities such as distribution of school supplies to the local children. They also hosted livelihood programs for mothers such as basic entrepreneurial marketing and accounting sessions, cooking classes, awarded basic livelihood starter kits to families as well as facilitating a ‘barber treat’ for all the dad’s on Father’s day. The opportunity that the PDC team had to completely immerse themselves in living with the locals of the area made this an unforgettable experience for all involved.
