Rice Distribution
The main food people have in their meals in Baseco is rice. This is often because it is cheap and contains no form of bacteria because it is boiled and so kills all the bacteria. We brought along some of the money we raised and did some shopping in the last couple of days, We bought 12 bags x 25kg rice which is 300kg of rice! All of this was distributed as part of the church's feeding program. We bought the rice at the market and rented the motorised vehicles to take them back to the church where they were divided into 5kg portions and handed out to women.
The market smelled like rotten fish and rotten chicken.
There were many stores at the market which sold everything from dishwashing liquid and soap to rice and chicken. Everything was sold in small packets and small plastic bags. This is because people cannot afford to buy big bulks like we do. Instead they buy in small packets so they can spend the money they have earned that week as most people won't have any savings and live day-by-day. This means people use a lot of plastic which we all know is bad for the environment.
In the past, the rice was weighed and then distributed in plastic bags (see photo below). This time, during the meeting to discuss the rice distribution, I asked that we please don't use plastic bags. We're very happy that as a result of our suggestion, this time the ladies who came to get the rice brought their own containers and bags. We asked Pastor Allan if there was any complaints about this but he said the ladies didn't mind. We hope in the future they will also use less plastic bags.
Feeding Program
The church rented hall space in a different part of Baseco and distributed "tickets" only to children as part of a Feeding Program. A hot food pack consisting of rice and chicken adobo (traditional Filipino dish) and a packet of drink were handed out to one hundred kids. The food was lovingly cooked and prepared by several church volunteers.
Of course, wherever we go, we also take the Combantrin de-worming chocolate squares to distribute!
Henny's Note:
This is only a minor observation in the grand scheme of the situation in Baseco.... but food were distributed in styrofoam containers which of course is extremely environmentally un-friendly. But we understand that the low cost and practicality of the containers outweigh any environmental considerations at this time. We hope that one day, we can come up with a better solution that meets the needs of the people without harming the environment at the same time. Any ideas on how we can achieve this would be most welcome!!!!
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