in Victoria, Australia was created to bring the Davawenyo community migrants together as ONE, respecting our heritage, recognising our history and embracing our culture. It is only a matter of time before we can communicate and share our thoughts and ideas, and how we can fully improve and build a cohesive community, to make life beautiful for others and restoring humanity. When you open your hear
t to give, the grace of the Divine invariably seeps into it. As someone famously said, Ubi caritas et amor Deus ibi est meaning, Where there are charity and love there is God. Purpose
In these extraordinary times, the kids were preparing to welcome the new year with hope, but the children saw none of these because they were all blind. The Davao School for the Blind will became the first beneficiary of our Davawenyo Victoria Inc. charity drive on Friday the 12th March 2021. It was highly recommended by the majority of our members. The Davao School for the Blind was established 35 years ago. Its main funder was the Hildesheim Blinden Mission in Germany until three years ago when funding was cut by 50 percent. Today the funds from Hildesheim is only enough to pay for the salaries of the teachers and staff. The school is undergoing a transition phase due to reduced foreign funding, a new Board of Directors and a dismissed executive director. For now, the school is in good hands with principal Lo**ta Inocentes and Dr. Meg Antonio, a leading ophthalmologist in Davao. Surprisingly, many prominent residents of Davao are not even familiar with the school. There are 50 students in Davao School for the Blind ranging from 7 to 22 years old, from prep to Grade 9, and it is the only facility for blind children in the whole of the Mindanao region. Most of the children have been abandoned by their parents for being blind. The leading causes of blindness are poor nutrition (lack of Vitamin A due to poverty), measles, premature births and cataract (which is largely a preventable condition but due to poverty, is not treated until it is too late). The school hopes the blind students will be better prepared to stand on their own rather than be dependent on society. A few of them have gone on to pursue college and master’s degrees. Some are gainfully employed as teachers, transcriptionists and computer technicians. Those who do not go to college become massage therapists. The students at Davao School for the Blind expresses that since they cannot see, they hope that you can speak up for them. So that their hands may learn to see. In this sense we the Davawenyo Victoria Inc., migrants from the city of smile Davao City, Philippines is requesting your kind assistance to sponsor the less fortunate blind students, we are aiming to distribute and donate the following for the less fortunate blind students who are incapable of providing the necessaries of life unless aided by a cheerful and sincere assistance
1) $10,000 or the equivalent of 50 pieces of iPads to be donated for charity to the Davao School for the Blind. As you are doubtless the value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving. We are doing this with no other compelling reasons but to help, served and give back to the country and community that shaped us. Lastly, we are looking forward to seeing you again at any time soon during our Dabawenyos homecoming reunion. May God bless you and your family and have a safe and prosperous new year. Sincerely yours,
Davawenyo Victoria Inc. RN: A0047892D
ABN: 96 078 150 282
