On Dec. 16, 2011, the Philippine island of Mindanao was devastated by Severe Tropical Storm Washi, whose 10 hours of torrential rains triggered flash floods that killed at least 1,268 people and destroyed roads and bridges, causing about $48.4 million in damage.
In the aftermath of the storm, members of the Higa-onon Ha Migsabuwa Ta Lanao CC in the Philippine city of Iligan sought assistance for the indigenous peoples of northern Mindanao.
Their request was answered by the Australia-based Bumblebee Global Renewal Projects CC, which agreed to fill and send a shipping container loaded with food to the beleaguered island. The container is scheduled to depart Australia on April 25, celebrated locally as ANZAC Day.
“Over Easter, we connected with members of many faiths in Melbourne and invited their participation in the selfless giving of food and the means to create food, in order that we may fill and ship a container to be sent to the Philippines and the dying indigenous peoples,” said Pauline Crosbie, who convened the donation program for the Bumblebee CC.
Based in Melbourne, the Bumblebee Global Renewal Projects CC pairs Australian communities with those in other parts of the world, helping them raise funds and mobilize volunteers.
The shipping containers Bumblebee sends to those in need are regularly repurposed by the community that receives them: a container sent to Monrovia, Liberia following that country’s civil war in 2006 was later used as an education unit, commercial kitchen and tourist center to support local wildlife.
“Each shipment is really a vehicle to build community, to bring people of different faiths together and to create the opportunity for people to align, grow and collaborate,” Crosbie said.
The group is currently involved in agricultural education in Nepal, design and product development in Kenya and sending medical supplies to East Africa. For more information about Bumblebee, visit http://www.uri.org/cooperation_circles/detail/bgrp.
