Overview summary
Mission: Raise awareness of and help solve the problematic situations involving children, women, indigenous people and other marginalized members of a community, especially problems concerning health, education, and the environment; and address these problems through the mobilization of people, social institutions, and social entities of the community. Vision: Through inter-community development, I CAN make a difference envisions to facilitate the creation of a more sensitive and more responsive network of communities with a deeper experience of nation-building. Core Values:
• problems that prevail in the community are too big for any single organization, the government, or the community, solving them needs the participation and contribution of EVERYONE.
• community democratic reform- the people and the social agents existing in the community must be continually engaged in consultation and dialogue to readily identify emerging problems and to be able to address them accordingly.
• Respect for the poor- we celebrate the noble intention of charity however, such must be used as a facility to build social and political impetus among the poor through initiatives intended to nurture the momentum to capacity building, to redirect behavior to social and economic independence.
2 Organizational background
History:
Piped and shallow-well water in Poblacion Lakewood Zamboanga del Sur tested positive for E. Thus the team, in partnership with the Schools and Universities in Zamboanga City, has ventured in an advocacy entitled: I CAN Make a Difference. The program was intended to gather empty aluminium soda cans that were converted into solar reflectors to aid in Solar Disinfection of water (SODIS) which is recommended by WHO as a simple, non-costly, sustainable means of water disinfection. SODIS is done by filling clear PET bottles with raw water then exposing these bottles to direct unimpeded sunlight for 6-8 hours. Our solar reflector reduces exposure time to only 2-3 hours for sunny weather and 4-5 hours for cloudy weather; thus extending the convenient applicability of SODIS even to communities with naturally erratic weather. The response of the people was phenomenal which inspired us to do more for the community of Lakewood. We started with the soda cans thus the group was decidedly named: “I CAN make a difference”. Current status:
The organization has successfully built the Halfway House, a lying-in center made out of PET bottles to be constructed in the Municipality of Lakewood, Zamboanga del Sur and is now working on installing the mechanism to establish its functionality. Recently, the Team has organized the BottleRUN, a charity run for the benefit of the Halfway House. The team successfully developed the solar reflectors, made from empty aluminum cans, are used to amplify radiation and heat energy from the sun to disinfect water, distributed in (Lakewood) the pilot community, where drinking water is contaminated with f***l coliform
Also, in partnership with Philippines Funds for Little Kids and as chief implementor of the Zamsur Funds for Little Kids, the organizationhas built 44 bankas (small boats)given to the many children who have to go across the Lakewood Lake just to go to school. Thru the same partnership, the team have built the Floating Ambulance, a pumpboat to bring patients across the lake where the Rural Health Unit (RHU) is located. Now, the organization is involved in developing the Passion Wearthy Project which involves working on a new technology of reusing non recyclable plastic bags and converting them into a durable material that can be converted into school bags. We have tapped a group of physically challenged workers to form the production arm, providing them with a source of livelihood. The bags will be sold as twins whereas when one buys a bag, another bag will be given to a child who doesn’t have one in the underserved areas, incentivising education. This project injects the right ideas of environmental protection, social welfare and financial security of the physically challenged, and promotion by incentivizing education as a right of every child. The Team has also ventured into pediatric cancer support thru the creation of its first subsidiary: UpLift- An organization that helps fund medications of pediatric cancer patients. It is an organization created through the partnership of the Zamboanga City Medical Center Pediatrics Department, BY-GEMS Party Kingdom, and I CAN make a difference Inc. https://www.facebook.com/UpLift.Life
In the belief education is a fundamental right of any child, the Team is now contemplating on developing an educational program tailored for indigenous and marginalized children to help them transition or served as a link within gaps created by a primary educational system not streamlined to the socio-cultural realities of these children. The team plans to rehabilitate a day care center and convert it into a multimedia learning center for this purpose and also train the facilitators who will over-look the program and who will serve as the teachers of the children as well. I CAN make a difference Team
Founder: John Michael F. Dellariarte
Executive Director: Meryl Grace Agudelo
Members of the Board:
Ronald Cszar Fabian Villano
Grachelle Andrea Bello Guevara
Zah Ditti
Ma. Lucsan Dellariarte
Mark Anthony Lagnason
