Christmas Fund Drive

[Bruce]

Thanks Greg! The important thing is that you DID something. No guarantees, but certainly a better shot at success than those who spend their lives waiting for the other guy to do something.

As for Pizza Hut, it is too bad that other national chains do the same. I think Mercury Drugs has a centavio collection program. But if they pooled their money, locally, they could do local projects to help the poor beyond feeding them.

While I do buy rice and medicine for the poor, that is instantly gone money. I also buy / build small fishing boats which will feed a family or 3 for years. Whatever you do, make a plan and then put some effort into it.

Edited December 10, 2012 by Bruce

[Thomas]

Look at it like this. If in the US you donate to the salvation army, red cross or similar big name charity, only a SMALL % of your donation may actually be used to directly help someone. The rest is for salaries, rents, utilities and the like. If donors actually knew what happened to their money they may then seek out specific charities to donate to that better use the money for the intended purpose of the donor.

Yes. I have no problem workers get "surviving" salaries, so can concentrate on doing the charity work proper, not need to spend much time working elsewhere to survive, but in many charities much to much go to salaries. I applied to a job in one such organisation as an Effectiveness boss, and wrote in my application the first I will do is to lower the boss salaries. I didn't got the job... :hystery:

Speaking of donations... Here is a biggie! Ah what the hell, I should start another topic for that, so look for VEGETABLES!

Yes, that's much important for nutricion. There are several projects in SouthEast Asia promoting eating more Malunggay (common in Philippine gardens) beacause of the very good nutricion values, specialy suiting poor as complement.

While I do buy rice and medicine for the poor, that is instantly gone money. I also buy / build small fishing boats which will feed a family or 3 for years. Whatever you do, make a plan and then put some effort into it.

Very good you give things for ill and small children, which can't solve things by work.

(I have done much volontary work, mainly with children so far by assist them to develop better,

but some "Help-to-self-help" projects too.

After I have moved to the Philippines I plan to do mainly the later, in something where it's chance they can add products/money THEMSELFES, because biger chance some more can get solved in the long run then, because if I will put my money to food gifts and such, then they will be finnished soon.)

[Bruce]

Thomas,

What part of Bohol do you plan to settle in? I have never been there but I understand there is a large tourist area in the south west area around the airport. Tagbilaran City. But if you go north east, it becomes more rural. Decide where you want to help and then see what is needed that is with in your ability and how much time you want to devote to helping others and then make a plan and jump in.

I use a local family to run things and act as a buffer between my wallet and the needy. They make sure there is very little cheating going on and that the work is actually carried out.

Helping the poor is certainly not for everyone! But if you can find a few Kanos that are not interested in helping directly but are willing to buy a sack of rice every so often it certainly helps. One of the small fishing boats that I have made and then donate to a family costs about $400, including motor! Then I make a deal with the family that they are required to donate to widows and single moms at least 15% or more of the daily catch. Sure they keep the best fish for themselves or to sell but since the locals even eat fish 1" long (Catbalogan area) any fish is ok as long as it is not spoiled.

Go to the local priest and get him to identify a needy and somewhat trust worthy family if you don't have any locals to do the grunt work.

[Thomas]

What part of Bohol do you plan to settle in? I have never been there but I understand there is a large tourist area in the south west area around the airport. Tagbilaran City. But if you go north east, it becomes more rural. Decide where you want to help and then see what is needed that is with in your ability and how much time you want to devote to helping others and then make a plan and jump in.

I use a local family to run things and act as a buffer between my wallet and the needy. They make sure there is very little cheating going on and that the work is actually carried out.

It will surely not be southwest Bohol. because I don't like tourists :) Perhaps it will be northeast Bohol, plan is to settle some kilometers away from the family of my future wife and then do some developing assistance localy undepending of which rural region i will end up in.

But my gf, who is from northeast Bohol, has missbehaved rather much :( so perhaps I will end up at e g (southeast) Samar instead :)

But at southeast Samar it's bad protection against typhons, and I prefer hills before mountains and very low land, so Bohol would suit me better.

I'm not retired, so I have to earn money somehow. Earlier I planed to have some Internet business for myself, and start some developing project for the locals, not profitable for me, but because of

/Internet is bad in most rural areas

/I'm starting geting old, so not sure I have strength for both own business, developing project and a younger wife :)

/plus I found some interesting ideas, during I research business alternatives for the aid project,

So I believe I better do a combination of the developing project and my business :) (=Starting some developing project, which give chance to both:

/add some refining jobs for unemployed

/give enough profit for me to survive OK by

/as well as adding income to local farmers by I buy their products to the be refined by the project.

(OR - I have talked with a NOT scam type of aid organisation. (I know the starter a bit since he was CEO in a big company at the stock market, and his children were in a chessclub I lead. He gave whole his millions of bohnus salary in this aid organisation, when he started it.) It's about assiting people with education and microloans for starting small businesses. They start in Phili now. Perhaps I will join them. (I know business econnomy, so perhaps I will do such education/instructions, IF I'm allowed to do it by the Phili officials, because the law says foreigners aren't allowed to teach. But I don't know if they count teaching teachers as teaching :)

Helping the poor is certainly not for everyone! But if you can find a few Kanos that are not interested in helping directly but are willing to buy a sack of rice every so often it certainly helps. One of the small fishing boats that I have made and then donate to a family costs about $400, including motor! Then I make a deal with the family that they are required to donate to widows and single moms at least 15% or more of the daily catch. Sure they keep the best fish for themselves or to sell but since the locals even eat fish 1" long (Catbalogan area) any fish is ok as long as it is not spoiled.

Go to the local priest and get him to identify a needy and somewhat trust worthy family if you don't have any locals to do the grunt work.

My future family-in-law was poor, but now the many sibblings are grown ups, so they have OK economy themselves, but I asume they know people around.

I have experience myself from "Help-to-self-Help" projects (to Eastern Europe back when the Berlin wall fell). But I will need Phili knowledge to be combined with mine to make developing methods suiting the Philippines.

A week ago I found a Filipina, which has worked with developing projects for business companies, but she retired because she got boored by it :) Now she do some volontary work for the church. We have started talking some about puting our knowledge together. Some problem though she live in Manila, and I don't like big cities, so I will surely not end up there. So it would be some distance problems, but knowledge can be moved through Internet :)

I believe your small fishing boat idea is good, at least basicly. (I don't know if the big fishing boats take to much fish, so the small get problem geting enough, as it e g is in west Africa, but better chance in Phili, because many islands and the huge fishing boats have harder to empty the fish then, I guess.)

I believe it's better, than DIRECT buy RICE to poor, to put such aid money in an idea I have, which improve harvest size of rice. (=Need more research, but I have found some things, which seem possible to combine to get more than 20% improved rice harvests for a cost of 2 rice sacks or so extra per hectare = Around 15-20 sacks extra harvest for a cost of 2.) Then poor farmers can get biger harvests, plus I thought they can pay the "equipment" by rice, so then there can be rice for poor people, who have no farmland too. But I suppose there are better places than West Samar to start such, because better have a equipment for around 1500-2000 USD or so to produce the harvest improvements, so better have it where there are much farmland, so can get use of it more often. (The transports are a problem if far, because the need for each hectare is heavy, so if far will the transport costs be high. I mean if do whole I have found. Some have low weight, but if doing all, then it's heavy.)

[Curley]

At least with my charity, I take no salary and take no money out of the donations. Other than paypal's 2.5%

If you use Paypals gift tab then you do not pay any fees for the transaction.

[Bruce]

Curley... I do not know how to use or what a gift tab is. Since my charity paypal account is set up in the name of the charity and they verified it as such, all donations are 'gifts' so how would paypal make any money if by using the gift tab it bypasses their accounting program which is set to deducat. 2.5% of any income into the charity account?

Paypal is in business to make money and if every charity was able to basically use their services for free, I do not think they would tolerate it. While I am a small fish in the charity world, there are some big fellas out there that generate thousands of $$$ a day in donations using paypal services. That adds up to a good bit of lost income for them. So what am I missing?

[Bruce]

Thomas... If the GF has been a bad bad girl (coal for xmas) then I would not expect her to do any better when you are there. But never fear!... There are a 'few more' who would love to discus the situation with you.

Just do nothing permanently when you arrive. Take a month or so to travel Bohol if you like before you spend any real money to settle in a place.

Samar is very hilly and few highways except along the coast and 1 across the island up where I am. Some NPA activity in the south end (Basey) and north end of the island. No foreigner issues I am aware of. Use google eath or google maps to see the general area. Lower on the poverty scale than Bohol which gets tourist $$ off Cebu. Different local language. Waray vs Cebuano.

For security, the woman I travel with is licensed to own and carry a gun. I have a small high output NEBO flashlight with a red laser in it (Ebay). That laser causes no attraction with any law enforcement, but will blind anyone's eyes that it is on the receiving end of the beam. Better safe than sorry and until you get known locally, you will be the new Kano. Once you are known there will not be any issues. Around town when I go walking at night, the local pedicab drivers are always watching me so I know the word is out that I am a good guy and and the robber boys should stay away from me.

[Curley]

Curley... I do not know how to use or what a gift tab is. Since my charity paypal account is set up in the name of the charity and they verified it as such, all donations are 'gifts' so how would paypal make any money if by using the gift tab it bypasses their accounting program which is set to deducat. 2.5% of any income into the charity account?

I'm not absolutely certain that it applies to all countries but I have 3 business Paypal accounts and if I want to send any non business money then when you open the "Send money" page and in the box there is an e-mail box........under that ....... the amount box.....NEXT it says Purchase as a default setting BUT next to that is the personal tab....... click on that and you'll find the "gift" tab. For me that generates no charge either for me or the receiver.

Edit.... For this to operate the donor will need to know the e-mail address associated with the charity account. If you like to Pm me that e-mail address I will make a small trial donation and lets see what happens.

Edited December 10, 2012 by Curley

[Bruce]

That sounds more like something for the sender to do when making a donation. I am not sure how to get people to do that without becoming too burdensome. The more difficult you make it to donate (too many steps) the more people shy away from it.

[Thomas]

so how would paypal make any money if by using the gift tab it bypasses their accounting program which is set to deducat. 2.5% of any income into the charity account?

I suppose they don't bother to earn money on charity organisations :) Several companies even GIVE money, so it isn't odd PayPal don't take any fee.

Just do nothing permanently when you arrive. Take a month or so to travel Bohol if you like before you spend any real money to settle in a place.

Samar is very hilly and few highways except along the coast and 1 across the island up where I am. Some NPA activity in the south end (Basey) and north end of the island. No foreigner issues I am aware of.

I will travel the island some for developing research, but not other than close to Filipin family concerning where to live, and not start any develop project, except perhaps some tests, within 4 months or so.

Is Samar less poor than Bohol?? I haven't been at Samar, but a website about East Samar said it's among least changed and most poor regions.

Yes, it's a big advantage with Bohol ="guerilla free zone" (but I don't know if NPA too or only muslims declared that 2010.) I have heared different concerning NPA. From - besides attacking government - "only attack big companies as mining companies" (East Mindanao) to "demands fees even from small farmers" but the later was told by a Manila middle class, so perhaps just listening to some government propaganda. Other in north said "bother seldom anyone, just check travellers, I have travelled in the mountains they control". But they are all Filipins. But it would be a bad guerilla for the poor, if they will bother me after the partly aid project have started... :)

I'm more worried for criminals. Have you been attacked/confronted anything in "your aid province" Catbalogan?