Filipina family Desperately Needs Boat to Fish

This is a summation of the fund raising campaign.

A friend of mine met a Filipino family online.  He is a philanthropist and has donated to many families in need over the past 45 years. 

He focused on this particular family because he saw a clear path to improve their lives forever, rather than just temporarily.   

The family lives in a fishing village.  It is a remote region of the Filipinas, there is no other work besides fishing.  The problem is there are few boats and many fishermen.  He doesn’t own his own boat and relies on renting one. 

There is a great demand for the boats, so he can only rent a boat for a few hours a day, three times a week.  Sometimes there are no boats available to rent for an entire month.  In these cases, the family gets desperate for money and food. 

The solution is simple… but a seemingly impossible dream.  They would like to own their own boat.  This dream will never happen in their lifetimes without outside help.  Yes, your help.

Personal note:  Although I’m only helping with this campaign, I have chatted with the family and my perception is that they are a religious, loving, dedicated and hardworking family.  I hope that I can make a difference in their lives by contributing to this.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. 

God bless you and your families.      

 Now I will let Charity (yes, her real name) speak to you on behalf of her family. 

(I included the text of what she said below.  In case you prefer to read rather than watch the video)   

 

You can see the video or read the text.  This is what she said.

 

 

Hi, I’m Charity.    

 

I’m sure you are already smiling at the irony of the name on a Go Fund Me campaign.  But yes, that is really my name.

 

No, I’m not the fisherman, actually it is my father.   I’m making this video because he does not speak English. 

 

And this is the rest of the family behind me.  

I’m Charity, I’m 15 years old.  (Then she introduces the rest of the family.)

 

We live in a remote and poor region of the Philippines called Pitogo Zamboanga del Sur.   If you have never heard of it, that’s ok.  99 percent of the world doesn’t know where it is either.  

 

My family has a problem.  My father does not have his own boat.  So to fish he must rent a boat for 50 Pesos per day.  That is $2.50 U.S. dollars a day (she means per time…the “day” may only be a couple of hours).   That may seem cheap to you, but trust me, for us it is a lot of money.  

 

But the main problem is the availability of the boat.  In a good week he can rent the boat for a few hours a day, three times a week.  There have been entire months where the boat is not available.  Our monthly income is about $150 U.S. per month.  After we pay the boat rental we have only about $70 dollars remaining.     

 

To buy a boat it costs about $3,500 U.S. dollars. 

 

So, if you could help us to raise the money to buy the boat.

 

(she shows their house)

 

Thank you for taking the time to watch this video. 

 

Good bye and God bless you.