A little help from my friends
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Bev is a friend of mine. She's kind of like a little sister. I care a lot about her. She lives in Pangasinan in the Philippines. Two years ago she lost her job and got very sick. I helped her with money to see a doctor and get the medicines that she needed so badly. In the Philippines, if you don't work, you get nothing ; no free doctor, no cheaper medicines, no unemployment benefit, no cheap public transport, you get nothing and you have nothing. I've learned so much about the country and the lifestyle over the past two years. It's tough, Filipino tough, not our idea of tough ; making ends meet for a couple of days, trying to get through to the next dole cheque or making-do until payday. There is no small light at the end of the tunnel. If you don't work in the Philippines you literally have nothing.
Bev is lucky, she lives with an aunt and uncle and a number of young cousins. Bev doesn't pay for water or gas or food, in some ways she has it easy ; Filipino easy, not our version of easy. She has no walk around money, no cash to go and grab a beer or a coke or buy toiletries, she is grateful for the help she gets from her aunt and uncle but also feels guilt, that she is a burden. It's very hard to get work at 30 years of age. She dreams of doing a course and becoming a Call Centre Worker. She wants to contribute to the family that provides for her. She wants a future and every time she tries a new hurdle appears. I help her as best I can with some cash every time I get paid. It's not much but she looks forward to a sit down lunch at Jolibee and two beers to drink while watching a movie I've sent her ; that's her fortnightly treat.
At the moment she's trying to get enough money to pay people to read sermons for her recently deceased father. Her father died because he had bills to pay that took precedence over his need to get a puffer that an asthmatic needs and so he choked to death. Bev's mother left when she was four. There are typhoons every second week, a President who kills people forced into lives of addiction and drugs and petty crime, Islamic State types a few hundred miles away and militants in her area just two days ago shot dead a police officer and injured three civilians and Bev's family is currently concerned that martial law may be implemented and the stores will close and ....it goes on and on. It's tough ; Filipino tough.
What I want to do is to ask my friends to offer the sort of help that I am unable to offer myself ; quite frankly, I just don't have the cash, or access to enough credit to help Bev in a way that would make an impact. I would like to, with your help, change her life. To allow her to pay for tuition fees to complete a course that should guarantee her work of some kind. Or to give her an alternative option, like a food van ; a little business she could run to give her some independence and give her a future and feelings of worth. Her most likely recourse without this chance is to work as a maid in the United Arab Emirates. It’s an option I would really like to spare her from.
I have 293 facebook friends, if half of you are able to help out with $10, that's an absolute fortune to someone like Bev. She's a lovely person and deserves a chance to try and to give herself a better future.
Why help? Why not? Your donation, whatever you can afford, will make a massive difference to a really lovely person who hasn't had the opportunities that you have had in life. There are millions of other people in similar and far, far worse circumstances than my friend Bev but I don't know them. I'm just trying to help one because I know her and care about her. That's it. Thanks for reading and any support would be greatly appreciated.
Bev is lucky, she lives with an aunt and uncle and a number of young cousins. Bev doesn't pay for water or gas or food, in some ways she has it easy ; Filipino easy, not our version of easy. She has no walk around money, no cash to go and grab a beer or a coke or buy toiletries, she is grateful for the help she gets from her aunt and uncle but also feels guilt, that she is a burden. It's very hard to get work at 30 years of age. She dreams of doing a course and becoming a Call Centre Worker. She wants to contribute to the family that provides for her. She wants a future and every time she tries a new hurdle appears. I help her as best I can with some cash every time I get paid. It's not much but she looks forward to a sit down lunch at Jolibee and two beers to drink while watching a movie I've sent her ; that's her fortnightly treat.
At the moment she's trying to get enough money to pay people to read sermons for her recently deceased father. Her father died because he had bills to pay that took precedence over his need to get a puffer that an asthmatic needs and so he choked to death. Bev's mother left when she was four. There are typhoons every second week, a President who kills people forced into lives of addiction and drugs and petty crime, Islamic State types a few hundred miles away and militants in her area just two days ago shot dead a police officer and injured three civilians and Bev's family is currently concerned that martial law may be implemented and the stores will close and ....it goes on and on. It's tough ; Filipino tough.
What I want to do is to ask my friends to offer the sort of help that I am unable to offer myself ; quite frankly, I just don't have the cash, or access to enough credit to help Bev in a way that would make an impact. I would like to, with your help, change her life. To allow her to pay for tuition fees to complete a course that should guarantee her work of some kind. Or to give her an alternative option, like a food van ; a little business she could run to give her some independence and give her a future and feelings of worth. Her most likely recourse without this chance is to work as a maid in the United Arab Emirates. It’s an option I would really like to spare her from.
I have 293 facebook friends, if half of you are able to help out with $10, that's an absolute fortune to someone like Bev. She's a lovely person and deserves a chance to try and to give herself a better future.
Why help? Why not? Your donation, whatever you can afford, will make a massive difference to a really lovely person who hasn't had the opportunities that you have had in life. There are millions of other people in similar and far, far worse circumstances than my friend Bev but I don't know them. I'm just trying to help one because I know her and care about her. That's it. Thanks for reading and any support would be greatly appreciated.
Organizer
Kevin Smith
Organizer
Palmyra WA
