Melinda J. Irvine

Last November I posted to the Philippines two boxes of relief goods (clothes, swimwear, craft materials, jewellery making equipment). They also included Christmas gifts. Due to some weird miscommunication they sat in the Estancia Post Office for nearly four months (not their fault), and boy were the staff happy to see me turn up to receive them at last.

My luggage was filled to capacity with more donated goods to add to the distribution. Nearly everything was donated by my mother, her friends and also my Aunt Rosemary.

The ladies of Botongon were so thrilled  (and from the photos and videos, you can see the men were pretty happy too). All of these goods will be sold and the money shared amongst a co-operative of women.

The ladies are also meeting next week to learn the craft of jewellery making using the earrings, necklaces and bracelets sent by my mother and her friends as patterns.

Initially the money will be reinvested as capital for more materials.