Fil-Am kid to build schools in Tanauan with bracelets project

At age 10, most children are barely aware of the larger world, often taking news at face value and not knowing the stories behind the pictures they see on TV.

Some, however, take the extra step and compare what they see to how they live. In the process they notice the differences between their way of life and those they can only experience through television or the internet.

This is exactly what happened to Malaya David, the Filipino-American child behind the Haiyan Bracelets project.

“It feels unfair that my sister, friends, and I have schools to go to, but others don't,” Malaya told GMA News Online via email, referring to the young victims of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in central Philippines. “If we have a school, all kids should have a school.”

Armed with this thought, Malaya came up with the Haiyan Bracelets project, a fundraiser for children who lost their schools to the super typhoon last November.

School project

Since she started churning out the red, yellow, and blue bracelets with her friends and family, Malaya has gathered enough donations to build schools in Tanauan, Leyte, a seaside community hit hard by Yolanda

An anonymous donation of $100,000 made their goal possible in the span of two months. The amount put them in touch with Feed the Hungry Philippines, a non-profit organization that helped them make all donations to the project tax deductible and added support to the project.

Through an email interview with GMA News Online, Amihan David, mother of Malaya, explained that Tanauan was chosen because they have contacts in place to ensure transparency and accountability in how their funds are spent.

“We plan to be involved every step of the way, both in designing the structure of the schools by working with engineers and the transparency of the expenditure of funds,” said Amihan.

Two lifelong friends, Geline Avila, a political observer, and her daughter Isa, will help monitor how the funds are used in Tanauan, as well as the purchasing of tents to be used as temporary classrooms for school children.

According to them, Tanauan Mayor Pel Tecson estimated one school to cost P1.8 million, meaning the Project's current funds can generate at least two schools.

In the genes

Malaya's strong desire for justice was bred into her by her grandfather, Amado David, a union organizer, and her family's strong sense of social justice.

“I would like to think that all of this has something to do with their desire to help the children in Tanauan rebuild their schools. Our family supports their efforts and we are all very proud of them,” said Amihan.

Amihan said children in other states have already started to take notice of Malaya's initiative, with inquiries from Seattle, Washington, and Maryland asking if they could start their own chapter of Haiyan Bracelets.

“The idea is to create a circle of kids throughout the US to get involved. It doesn’t have to be bracelets. [They could help through] bake sales, jewelry making... and turn it into a fundraising effort for these children,” said Amihan.

She said they are hoping that other businesses and organizations will match the donation made by what Malaya and other volunteers are making with their bracelets.

“It will take years to rebuild what Haiyan destroyed. While $102,000 is a large amount, we want this effort [to be sustainable] because the need is so great. Malaya and Tala are not done yet and they look forward to making lots of friends in the Philippines,” said Amihan. — KBK, GMA News