They have to move their house 5 meters!
Donation protected
Please feel free to share this link with your personal contacts who might be interested in helping, but we're all leery about using social media these days and we would rather not do that. ______
Many years ago I started sending $21 a month through the Christian Children's Fund to a little girl in the Philippines to help support her and get her through school. Eventually Lorena aged out of the CCF Program but we kept in touch privately for several years through letters and photos back and forth. Lorena finished school and got a job in a small retail store.
She met Jose and they got married in 1999. A year later, I read that she was expecting a baby. I continued to send letters but the letters she sent back to me stopped coming and we finally lost track of each other for many years. This was before everyone around the world started using the Internet and social media. I had no way to find Lorena - until 2 years ago, when her daughter, Kryzia, contacted my daughter on Facebook and introduced herself. She calls me Mommy Jean, the way her mother did. Come to find out, her mother and I lost touch because it was just too expensive for Lorena to send mail to the US and she couldn't afford the postage. Now, Kryzia and I correspond on Facebook Messenger and she sends me photos when she can use her friend's newer phones.
About this Go Fund Me page ........ Lorena tells me that her family has been living at this location for all of her 48 years. It was always thought that this piece of property had belonged to Lorena's mother. As you can see, this is barely what we would call a house, but Kryzia says that they are just grateful that they have a roof over their heads when so many others don't have even that. They do have electricity - but that refrigerator doesn't work and there is no running water.
Recently however, it was found during a survey that this little piece of property actually belongs to another land owner who is presently planning to sell her property and has told Lorena and her family that they have to move and tear down this house by May 15th. Lorena's family does own that small piece of property that belonged to her mother, but that property is actually 5 meters away. THAT'S RIGHT. THEY HAVE TO TEAR DOWN THIS HOUSE AND BUILD A NEW HOUSE ABOUT 16 FEET AWAY.
Lorena's husband works morning to night driving a tricycle and brings home 200-300 pesos per day. That works out to be +/- $5.00 US a day. With this income he pays for the 3 children's school fees, their food and clothing and the upkeep on his tricycle. There simply isn't any money left to build another house. I've been helping them with school expenses lately but now there is more need than I can cover.
Back to the house .....
I asked Lorena for an idea of how much it might cost to build a new house and she said that she thought that it would take about $1500 US dollars. They are going to reuse the pieces of roof from the old house in order to save money because building materials are very expensive, even for the most basic structure. Most likely, they will still be using a lot of bamboo.
I sent them $200 yesterday through Western Union to get them started. The old landowner only gave them a month's notice to make this move and I didn't want to wait to see if Go Fund Me would actually work. They have to tear down the old house by May 15th. Today, Lorena's husband was able to start buying some of the concrete, sand, reinforcing rods and cinder blocks needed for the new foundation and they are cutting down 2 large trees on the little piece of property so that there is room to put up a structure. Kryzia tells me that the first order of business is to build the Comfort Room. I am assuming that this is a bathroom but I haven't had a chance to ask her yet. My money was enough to get them started but they still need many more building materials.
I am setting my Go Fund Me goal at $2000 because if I can raise that much, maybe they could afford a really good roof that doesn't shower on them when it rains. If they are able to build their new house and still have any money left over, I know that it will go toward the children's education. Kryzia just graduated high school with honors and wanted to go into Architecture but she says that the course is too expensive. So, she's going for Mechanical Engineering or Electrical at the local College. Then of course, there are 2 more children with more school fees coming up. Any extra funds would certainly be put to good use. If we don't reach that goal - so be it. Anything will be a huge help!
I'm leery about putting their Go Fund Me story on Facebook or any of the other social media platforms **AND they have asked me not to**. So, I am only sending this to people on my private contact list. I have never fund-raised before (I take that back - I did raise $200 for the Cancer Society on Facebook - Thank You, my friends) and I feel odd asking my friends and family to chip in now, but if any of you can afford to donate $5 or $10 or whatever you feel you can give to a good family who would certainly benefit greatly from your help, Please do. I would really appreciate it and I know they would be so grateful! Kryzia keeps me posted with photographs, so I can keep you posted on the progress, if you are interested.
(Feel free to forward this to any of your friends or family who might be interested in donating to a worthy cause - but NO SOCIAL MEDIA, Please.
Thank You so much for any help you can give ..... Jean
Many years ago I started sending $21 a month through the Christian Children's Fund to a little girl in the Philippines to help support her and get her through school. Eventually Lorena aged out of the CCF Program but we kept in touch privately for several years through letters and photos back and forth. Lorena finished school and got a job in a small retail store.
She met Jose and they got married in 1999. A year later, I read that she was expecting a baby. I continued to send letters but the letters she sent back to me stopped coming and we finally lost track of each other for many years. This was before everyone around the world started using the Internet and social media. I had no way to find Lorena - until 2 years ago, when her daughter, Kryzia, contacted my daughter on Facebook and introduced herself. She calls me Mommy Jean, the way her mother did. Come to find out, her mother and I lost touch because it was just too expensive for Lorena to send mail to the US and she couldn't afford the postage. Now, Kryzia and I correspond on Facebook Messenger and she sends me photos when she can use her friend's newer phones.
About this Go Fund Me page ........ Lorena tells me that her family has been living at this location for all of her 48 years. It was always thought that this piece of property had belonged to Lorena's mother. As you can see, this is barely what we would call a house, but Kryzia says that they are just grateful that they have a roof over their heads when so many others don't have even that. They do have electricity - but that refrigerator doesn't work and there is no running water.
Recently however, it was found during a survey that this little piece of property actually belongs to another land owner who is presently planning to sell her property and has told Lorena and her family that they have to move and tear down this house by May 15th. Lorena's family does own that small piece of property that belonged to her mother, but that property is actually 5 meters away. THAT'S RIGHT. THEY HAVE TO TEAR DOWN THIS HOUSE AND BUILD A NEW HOUSE ABOUT 16 FEET AWAY.
Lorena's husband works morning to night driving a tricycle and brings home 200-300 pesos per day. That works out to be +/- $5.00 US a day. With this income he pays for the 3 children's school fees, their food and clothing and the upkeep on his tricycle. There simply isn't any money left to build another house. I've been helping them with school expenses lately but now there is more need than I can cover.
Back to the house .....
I asked Lorena for an idea of how much it might cost to build a new house and she said that she thought that it would take about $1500 US dollars. They are going to reuse the pieces of roof from the old house in order to save money because building materials are very expensive, even for the most basic structure. Most likely, they will still be using a lot of bamboo.
I sent them $200 yesterday through Western Union to get them started. The old landowner only gave them a month's notice to make this move and I didn't want to wait to see if Go Fund Me would actually work. They have to tear down the old house by May 15th. Today, Lorena's husband was able to start buying some of the concrete, sand, reinforcing rods and cinder blocks needed for the new foundation and they are cutting down 2 large trees on the little piece of property so that there is room to put up a structure. Kryzia tells me that the first order of business is to build the Comfort Room. I am assuming that this is a bathroom but I haven't had a chance to ask her yet. My money was enough to get them started but they still need many more building materials.
I am setting my Go Fund Me goal at $2000 because if I can raise that much, maybe they could afford a really good roof that doesn't shower on them when it rains. If they are able to build their new house and still have any money left over, I know that it will go toward the children's education. Kryzia just graduated high school with honors and wanted to go into Architecture but she says that the course is too expensive. So, she's going for Mechanical Engineering or Electrical at the local College. Then of course, there are 2 more children with more school fees coming up. Any extra funds would certainly be put to good use. If we don't reach that goal - so be it. Anything will be a huge help!
I'm leery about putting their Go Fund Me story on Facebook or any of the other social media platforms **AND they have asked me not to**. So, I am only sending this to people on my private contact list. I have never fund-raised before (I take that back - I did raise $200 for the Cancer Society on Facebook - Thank You, my friends) and I feel odd asking my friends and family to chip in now, but if any of you can afford to donate $5 or $10 or whatever you feel you can give to a good family who would certainly benefit greatly from your help, Please do. I would really appreciate it and I know they would be so grateful! Kryzia keeps me posted with photographs, so I can keep you posted on the progress, if you are interested.
(Feel free to forward this to any of your friends or family who might be interested in donating to a worthy cause - but NO SOCIAL MEDIA, Please.
Thank You so much for any help you can give ..... Jean
Organizer
Jean Penrod
Organizer
Hartsdale, NY