Making a Difference: Bansaleños Give Back

Bansalan is a second class municipality located some 72 kilometers south of Davao City. The most recent statistics pegged the population at 51,781 with 11,073 households. Aside from the stay-at-home population, Bansalan also has its share of residents who have moved out of the community. There are no data on the exact number of Bansaleños who migrated and the amount of remittances they send back home. Thus, it is not possible to measure the impact of their contributions to the development of Bansalan. Recently, Bansaleños from different parts of the globe and the Philippines formed the Association of Bansaleños Worldwide (ABW) to give something back to the hometown that nurtured us in our formative years.

The ABW is a virtual community composed of former residents of Bansalan, Davao del Sur now living in other countries or in other parts of the Philippines. ABW started in cyberspace with a simple website (http://www.bansalan.com), created by Edwin Bibera, a Bansaleño based in Fullerton, California. Little did he know that the site, which was created as an Internet class project, would attract the attention of Bansaleños worldwide. Word-of-mouth about the website's existence triggered a snowball effect, connecting Bansaleños based in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and Asia. Classmates were reconnected, friends were reacquainted, and Bansaleños who used to be strangers to each other were introduced. These connections paved the way to rekindle kinship and camaraderie, which materialized into various reunions held in the US and Europe.

The Challenge of Community Building

Out of this loosely-knit bunch of Bansaleños scattered all over the world, the ABW was born. Through e-mail exchanges, they mapped-out their mission and vision, formulated strategies and activities, and set the association's vision, hopes, and dreams for a better Bansalan. ABW aims to unite Bansaleños around the world and support the advancement of the quality of lives of the people of Bansalan by initiating and supporting sustainable projects intended to spur a vibrant economy, to promote a healthy environment and ultimately, to foster social equity.

The ABW members have different professional backgrounds and are engaged in different types of jobs. ABW has about ninety members – http://www.bansalan.com/members.htm - who presently reside in different states in USA, Canada, Germany, UK, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Australia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Singapore, and different cities in the Philippines. The Board is composed of 6 people and 10 others representing geographical locations (Europe, USA, Canada, Australia, Asia, Philippines, USA (East Coast, West Coast, Midwest, and Southwest). In the process of planning and implementing projects, they were able to discover untapped talents, hobbies and interests. They found out that they have excellent fund raisers and event organizers in their midst. All these skills proved to be useful in their campaigns.

Being a virtual community, coordinating with members residing in four continents is not easy, especially when projects are implemented from a distance. Face-to-face meetings are not possible, therefore all communications are done through e-mail messages. The elected officers, acting as a virtual team, are based in different countries and in different time zones. It was extremely difficult for them to decide where to register ABW as a foundation or a non-governmental organization. One solution was to add a discussion forum in the ABW website, where members can post messages and interact with each other. The group also realized that there was a need to have a local counterpart, which will manage their various projects and to have its own bank account where they can send their contributions to.

Faced with these constraints, ABW International decided in 2006 to register ABW Bansalan Chapter with the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission. The local chapter, thus, acts as the implementing arm of ABW International. The officers of ABW Bansalan identify and recommend poor but deserving pupils who will receive the educational fund, monitor the progress of the children, and send a report at every end of the school year to ABW International. After the report has been approved by the board, it is posted on the website to inform the general membership on how the funds were allocated.

The website and the Internet are extremely important for ABW to maintain close contacts with the members and to assume accountability for the projects. They do not only discuss about projects but they also share news they receive from home, and announce social events and life cycle transitions, such as births, weddings and deaths of family members. The website became the hub where transnational networks like ABW bridge distances to generate new ideas, support each other and strengthen their ties.


Helping the Local Economy

Long before the ABW launched its various "Give Back Campaigns," several members were already involved in various family and community projects. Through regular e-mail contacts, more stories about examples of migrant giving were gathered.

Those working abroad have been known to use a portion of their remittances to improve the economic condition of their families. Thanks to the "start-up capital" from relatives abroad, new small businesses (restaurants, photo services, small printing shops, bakeries, grocery stores, and transportations, among others) have been set up, which stimulated local economic activities and created jobs in the town. A case in point is a small enclave in Bansalan, where row of well-appointed houses was built from the money sent to their families by Bansaleños working in Japan. In building the houses, temporary jobs were created for local carpenters and laborers.

Beyond helping their families, there are also many examples of Bansaleños contributing to uplift the well-being of their townmates. Member Jean Metilla from Germany built from her own money a kindergarten school for poor children located in a piece of land she donated. She sends money regularly to pay for the salaries of the teachers and for the maintenance of the school. The pupils attend classes without paying any school fees. She also spearheads the ABW annual free clinic consultations and distributes medicines which she and her cousin Cherfield Metilla (now living in Australia) collect from various donors. Jean is also an investor. She just opened a store in Bansalan. Others like the Niques (Jane, Ann, and Jeffrey) and Florence Dacanay, all based in New York, pooled their resources together to support 20 pupils in their own barangay (village). Tune Sonza Inumerable made a yearly pledge to help the education of 15 pupils in the barangay where she came from. Migrants have also contributed to some renovation projects of community facilities. For instance, the list of donors who contributed to the renovation of the church in the capital includes many names of families who have relatives overseas.

The aforementioned examples suggest that Bansaleños are not different from African, Latino and other Asian migrants who form hometown associations to help their communities of origin. Although they have left, they are still very much part of the community. They also want to share the blessings they enjoy with those whom they left behind. Perhaps, some unconsciously give back because they might return to the place one day. Whatever their motives, Bansaleños are making a difference but not without reason. The formation of ABW was instrumental in moving towards more collective giving and more concerted efforts in supporting community projects.

The first ABW project was the "Give Back Campaign: Renovate ABC Gym Project" which was initiated in 2006. In less than a month, the group raised PHP155,212.00, which was almost eight times more than the amount originally proposed. The members agreed to embark on this project because the ABC Gym has a sentimental value for them. Before the project was implemented, ABW sought the cooperation of the municipal government unit by asking them to provide the labor while ABW members would provide the materials needed. A memorandum of agreement was signed and the project was successfully implemented.

Aside from renovating the gym, the ABW also decided to conduct an annual fund-raising drive to support the education of poor but deserving children in Bansalan. In 2007, its "Give Back: Literacy Project" raised almost PHP200,000, which supported the education of 73 elementary school pupils for school year 2007-2008. The ABW also succeeded in partnering with Damayan, a Filipino migrant organization based in the Netherlands, and together they raised funds for the literacy project which enabled them to secure matching funds from Wilde Ganzen, a Dutch development agency. Wilde Ganzen (Wild Geese Foundation) gives premium equivalent to 70% of the money raised by ABW after deducting 9 per cent of the gross amount raised as administration cost. This program started since last year. In school year 2008-2009, ABW was able to raise Euro 4,964.34 including the 70 per cent premium from the Wilde Ganzen.

Some Milestones and Future Plans

In December 2007, ABW organized its first Grand Reunion attended by about 50 Bansaleños and their families and friends from various countries. Aside from the reunion, they also organized free medical and dental clinics, distributed books, conducted ikebana and bonsai workshops, and sponsored Cebuano Christmas carols contest (to revive the traditional practice in Bansalan).

To raise funds for the literacy project, members sold raffle tickets, with the prizes donated by the ABW members. Suggestions on what activities would be conducted during the reunion were discussed through e-mail exchanges, but the actual work was only done two weeks before the event. Despite the short preparation, all of the activities were successfully conducted. This positive experience encouraged and motivated ABW members to continue with their work.

The reunion and other activities were fully supported by the town mayor, the members of Sangguniang Panglungsod (City Advisory Council), and the local volunteers. Edwin Reyes, the new town mayor, was quick to realize the vast potentials of Bansaleños in supporting the development of the town. He presented the development plan of Bansalan which includes the development and promotion of eco-tourism and marketing of locally-based products like organic coconut sugar. He believes that the Bansaleños can play an important role particularly in promoting Bansalan as an eco-tourism destination and as a center for marketing products. He also noted that during the brief period in December, revenues in the town noticeably increased and this contributed hugely to the town's economy.

Mayor Reyes encouraged the ABW to support the plans of the town and the ABW agreed to help spur development in the community. However, the ABW expects the local government will take the lead and show commitment to realize the goals. The ABW members are willing to support but they still believe that it is the primary task of the local government to initiate any development plan. Gradually, the ABW is starting to influence policy in the town, though not yet in a systematic manner nor targeting larger issues. Political discussions, such as during election time, are more limited to knowing who the candidates are, but campaigning openly for particular candidates has yet to happen. Bansalan is a small town and everybody knows everyone. The ABW members tend to be on the neutral side. Whether this position will change in due time remains to be seen.

Compared to Mexican hometown associations like the Federacion Zacatecanos del Sur de California, the ABW is relatively new. Due to diverse locations of its members and limitations to conduct face-to-face meetings, organizational issues and concerns are not thoroughly and openly discussed. Making choices of what project to support is not easy either and this often leads to choosing the easiest project to manage, like the financial literacy project. Embarking on larger projects such as income-generating projects are more complex and still need confidence-building among the members. There is also a lack of available responsible and qualified people on the ground who can manage these projects. Since all members of the ABW – both international and local – work on a voluntary basis, the idea of launching larger productive projects is not easy and will not be feasible on a short term basis.

However, it is possible to encourage individual enterprising Bansaleños to invest in Bansalan and to let these investments be managed by their families or other reliable and qualified people. Some have actually tried to support their families by financing livelihood activities, but not all became successful. The lack of skills and knowledge in managing business is the main cause of the failure. For instance, the ABW members have already discussed the possibility of pooling their resources to invest in Bansalan, such as building a lodging house since there is no hotel in the area, but it is difficult to reach into consensus. They also cannot find people who are qualified and capable to manage the project on their behalf. Moreover, the lodging house project is only viable if the identified eco-tourism destination is already developed and infrastructures are in place to ensure the success of the project. The mayor of the town is looking into opening a new trail to Mt. Apo - Bansalan is located at the rolling foothills of the country's highest peak.

The questions that the association are now grappling with touch on the challenges of how local, regional and national governments, as well as development organizations can help create an enabling environment for migrants and hometown associations to maximize the benefits of their remittances and philanthropic activities.

Harnessing the Development Potentials of Hometown Associations

Like millions of Filipinos in diaspora, Bansaleños also regularly send money to their families. According to the report, Migration and Remittances Factbook 2008 (World Bank, 2008), remittance flows to developing countries in 2007 were estimated at US$318 billion, of which US$240 billion went to developing countries. These flows, which do not include money sent through informal channels, are now estimated as twice as the foreign direct investment (FDI) and three times the official development aid (ODA), which stood at US$104 billion in 2006. The World Bank (2008) estimates that in 2007, remittances from overseas Filipinos to the Philippines reached about US$17 billion, making the Philippines the fourth top recipient of migrant remittances after India ($27 billion), China ($25.7 billion), and Mexico ($25 billion). Migrant remittances are now considered as a new form of development aid and the lifeline of millions of poor families, most of them living in the rural areas. However, despite the enormous potentials for development, remittances should not be taken as substitute to development aid.

Critics argue that 80 percent of the money sent by migrants to their families are spent on consumption such as food, clothing, and housing and therefore, they are unproductive. Furthermore, remittances do not contribute to the economy at the macro level. Critics also say that remittances hardly contribute to sustainable development. Again, this conclusion is based on a myopic analysis. Remittances are small amounts of money ranging from US$200-300 sent by migrants to their families every month. Considering the high costs of commodities and expensive education and the appreciation of the Philippine peso, surely it is not realistic to expect that families will still have money left over for direct large investments and productive activities.

However, since the money is spent on food, clothing, shelter and education, they contribute to the local and national economy. Food and garment industries thrive because migrants' families continue to buy their products. Building houses creates jobs for carpenters and provide business for construction companies. Schools continue to operate because children of overseas Filipinos can go to school.

These critics fail to see beyond the statistics to appreciate the considerable impact of remittances in improving the quality of life of the poor. There is also evidence to show that aside from direct financial support to their families, migrants also send remittances to support projects that fall into four main categories: charity, infrastructure, human development and investment.

In my view, remittances have a direct impact on the lives of Filipino families. For example, if the 8 million overseas Filipinos were to use part of their remittances to send children to school, at one each child, this translates to 8 million children attending school without relying on the government or development aid. Even if we cut the figure into half, at least 4 million children or young people are able to go to school in the Philippines with the help of remittances. Migrants' families spend a large chunk of the money they receive for food. Millions of families including those in rural areas have food on the table because of remittances. These examples are evidence that migration can contribute to the development of their countries of origin and in achieving the targets of Millennium Development Goals.

To maximize the benefits of remittances and to involve hometown associations in development, there is a need to reduce the high cost of remittance transfer, promote financial literacy, link remittances with microfinance, promote the capacity building of hometown associations, and encourage more productive or developmental uses of remittances such as partnering with microfinance institutions. Likewise, hometown associations must work in tandem with international organizations, governments and the private sector to increase the worth value of their development projects, and forge strategic trade alliances. These are recommendations which policy makers in the Philippines should seriously address with sound policy interventions.

Capturing a share of remittances for development needs transparent and coherent policies, relevant enabling environment, and full recognition and appreciation of the positive contributions of migrants to the development of their countries of origin. Non-government organizations, other development-oriented institutions and the Philippine government should act as environment enablers and should broaden their interest in emigrants beyond remittances by tapping the skills and knowledge of migrants in the field of development and treating them as equal partners. Donor organizations should consider providing seed money, technological assistance and logistical support to build and strengthen diaspora networks that have strong developmental potentials. Equally important is addressing the social costs of migration.

There is a need for hometown associations like the ABW to translate their genuine concern to strategic plans. Capacity building, awareness raising, financial literacy and financial inclusion of migrants and their families are needed. For the time being, raising the organizational capacities to a higher level will be a great challenge. How can the organization be strengthened with membership scattered in different continents and the only medium of communication is through the Internet?

Finally, I would like to conclude that looking back to one’s roots runs deep among overseas Filipinos. Bibera, who maintains the website of ABW during his free time, wrote: "So many memories and some of them pass to oblivion. But in retrospect, I didn't really regret living in Bansalan. In fact, I love it there. Like a tree which roots are firmly grounded in that old town, my travels were like branching out to reach new heights: to see more of the world. But it seems like I never left at all. I am always home." It is a sentiment that is shared by other Bansaleños; more importantly, it is a sentiment that has motivated them to give back. Some questions, however, are worth considering, especially if we think over the long term. How do we transform (and sustain) nostalgic sentiments into strategic development plans? How do we transform dreams into concrete actions? ABW has a long way to go in understanding that, in order to contribute to the development of their hometown, they need to broaden their development goals and collaborative support from other stakeholders.

----------

Leila Rispens-Noel is the president of the Association of Bansaleños Worldwide. Her services to the association are on a voluntary basis. She is based in the Netherlands and works as a program officer of Oxfam Novib, a Dutch development agency. Her interests are in the areas of microfinance, remittances, migration and development.


Reference

World Bank
2008 Migration and Remittances Factbook 2008. Compiled by Dilip Ratha and Zhimei
Xu. Washington, DC: World Bank Publications. Available also in http://www.worldbank.org /prospects/Migrationandremittances.
2007 Sending Money Home: Worldwide Remittance Flows to Developing Countries.
IFAD, 2007. Available also in http://www.ifad.org/events/remittances/maps/index.htm

Mindanawon's Transnational Engagement

Ever heard of diaspora philanthropy? This collective donation by migrant communities to their homeland is increasingly becoming part of the global philanthropic landscape. Sometimes called “transnationalism,” diaspora philanthropy is defined as the process by which immigrants from the same region form a group and pool their resources together to help their hometown as their way of maintaining links with their place of origin.

There are also groups which do not necessarily help communities where they come from but according to where they think their contribution is needed most. This happens especially when natural calamities occur and during economic crisis.

Today, some of the donations and development projects initiated by migrant Filipinos have begun to make a difference in small towns and cities in the Philippines.

In 2006, overseas Filipinos sent through official channel a total amount of US$12.8 billion in the form of remittances to support their nuclear and extended families. These remittances, equivalent to 10-percent of the gross national product, became the top source of foreign exchange for the country. In fact, the amount dwarfed the total foreign development investments (reported at US$2 billion for the same period) and official development aid (an annual average of US$1.5 billion).

“Over a 13-year period,” said Jeremaiah Opiniano of the Manila-based Institute for Migration and Development Issues (IMDI), “the Link to the Philippine Development of the government-run Commission on Filipinos Overseas has received about 1.3 billion pesos from overseas Filipinos to underwrite projects in education, disaster relief, health, infrastructure, and livelihood generation.”

Not included are those undocumented initiatives, in which the collective remittances go straight from the donors to their local partners. “There are 46 countries around the world we have identified as sources of Filipino diaspora philanthropy,” Opiniano reported. “This includes the Faroe Islands which is located just above Scotland and in between Iceland and Norway.”

Like many other Filipinos in diaspora, Mindanawons – or those coming from Mindanao -- also remain connected with their homelands despite the distance and long absence.

For instance, the Damayang Pilipino sa Nederland (DAMAYAN) and Association of Bansaleňos Worldwide (ABW) launched a joint-fund raising drive in the Netherlands to assist poor children in the provinces of Davao del Sur, North and South Cotabato. DAMAYAN was established in 1986 to collectively respond to countrymen in distress both here and back home and ABW is a virtual hometown association of former Bansalan residents who now live abroad and other parts of the Philippines. Some members of Damayan originally came from different provinces of Mindanao.
The project, dubbed as “Gintong Aral,” aims to support poor elementary school children. It also encourages children to get involve in environmental program by maintaining school vegetable backyard through EcoKids Club.
Most of the recipients are children from the indigenous, Christian and Moslem communities in the area. These children come from poverty-stricken families who, despite free elementary education in the Philippines, could not afford to buy uniforms, books, and school supplies and pay some contributions to the school.
This school year 2007-08, DAMAYAN and ABW (through its own “Give Back Campaign”) are sending a total of 140 poor but deserving children in four villages in Bansalan (Davao del Sur), Paquibato (Davao City), Lake Sebu (South Cotabato), and Dugong (Matalam, North Cotabato). In Bansalan alone, ABW supports 84 children including two high school students.

DAMAYAN and ABW work in tandem with teachers and parents in implementing the projects with support from the local governments. Take the case in Dugong Elementary School. The barangay council agreed to match the 56 children supported by DAMAYAN by supporting another 56 pupils. All in all, there are already 112 poor children in this school alone supported by this initiative.

DAMAYAN calls it “1x1 program.” This means that for every one child sponsored by DAMAYAN, the barangay will also sponsor another one. The name is patterned after Mexico’s “Tres por Uno program” where every dollar invested by Mexican migrant for development project in their hometown, the local, state and the federal government matches another dollar each.

The program started in 1986 when newly elected governor of the Mexican State Zacatecas decided to travel to Los Angeles to meet the migrant workers from Zacatecas living in California. This invitation gave rise to a programme with two objectives: Supporting associations of Zacatecanos (natives of Zacatecas) living in California and the funding of local development projects in Zacatecas in the regions of origin of those concerned. The program later developed into 3 x 1 program when the local and the federal governments joined the program.

Aside from tapping support from the Filipino community, DAMAYAN and ABW also work hard to find sponsors from various Dutch schools, friends, and other sponsors. Locally, the management of the project has always been in the hands of the school principals. There are also focal persons for every school whose primarily role is to liaise with the school principals. A project coordinator oversees the proper implementation of the project and maintains good contacts with the school and various focal persons.

“The financial support to poor students has great impact on the children and motivates teachers to work harder,” says the project coordinator. In fact, inspired by the program, some teachers also decided to adopt and support some pupils not covered by “Gintong Aral”. Last school year, Dugong Elementary School topped the different Achievement Tests (NAT) in the division with 100% of the graduates passing the NAT. Some of the scholars received high honors.

The scholars become automatically members of EcoKids Club. In Dugong, the school set aside a portion of the land at the back of the school for vegetable gardens. Children are taught how to plant different kinds of vegetables. Tree planting is also part of the program.
“We have just an election and we now have new sets of officers of our EcoKids Club,” informed Cyrel Defensor, principal of Dugong Elementary School. He also said that different activities of the EcoKids Club will be given top priority and will be integrated in the environmental awareness program in the teaching of Health and Science. DAMAYAN and ABW hopes that this laudable program can be replicated in other schools.

Aside from these initiatives, DAMAYAN and ABW are joining efforts to address poverty of the parents. In separate programs, DAMAYAN members also support the construction of a market place and the renovation of a school in Misamis Oriental. The idea is to provide mothers with start-up capitals so they can set up small micro-enterprises. In doing so, families could little by little build up their household income and eventually be able to send their children to school. Meanwhile, ABW is planning to explore cooperation with the municipal government for future projects.

The literacy project is also part of the over-all goal of DAMAYAN and ABW to assist in building empowered and sustainable local communities in Mindanao.

The combined efforts of the Mindanaoans enabled them to raise a total amount of Euro 3,510 (Ph 210,000) which was matched by The Wild Geese Foundation in the Netherlands. This enable Damayan to and ABW to increase the number of scholars.

“It is heartening to see that we can support some pupils but at the same time I feel so sad to note that there are more children who need our help but we simply can’t do so because of our limited resources,” said Doris Alfafara, a former Davao City resident and DAMAYAN member and now based in the Netherlands. She made the observation after her recent field visit in Dugong and Paquibato.

The help maybe small but, as one Spanish adage puts it, “whatever we do, no matter how small, it will always be more than nothing.”

Remittances and diaspora philanthropy are the human side of migration. But then, both are among the main reasons why Filipinos still dream to work abroad despite the negative consequences such as family separation, danger, abuse and exploitation.

Making a Difference: Bansaleño Expats Give Back

GOUDA, The Netherlands – My present job provides me with rare opportunities to work with African, Asian and Latin migrant organizations which actively support small development projects in their countries of origin. Watching them how they help their own communities made me wonder whether my fellow Bansaleño expats have also inclinations to help our hometown. Beyond sending money to their direct families, are they also willing to contribute to the development of our hometown?

For several years now, I was mulling over linking Bansaleño expats with Kapatiran Philippines, Inc (KPI), a small non-governmental organization which I helped set up in Bansalan a few years ago. However, it was a daunting task to get their addresses until I came across the Bansalan website, which was constructed by Edwin Bibera, a fellow Bansaleño now living in Fullerton, California. After giving some comments about the website, I tried to ask him if he was willing to maintain – on a voluntary basis – the website of KPI. “No problem,” Edwin assured. “At least I can do something for our hometown.”

Great! Now, there were two of us doing something for our hometown. But the question is: Where are the rest?

Unknowingly, on the first week of November 2005, Edwin’s website was noticed by some Bansaleños and even those now living in other parts of the world. This was when Edwin posted new articles and pictures of popular places of our town. One particular picture – that of the ABC Gym – caught the attention of Imee Mabandos-Schneider of Frankfurt, Germany. Her compelling message urging Bansaleños to help renovate the dilapidated gym triggered off a series of e-mail exchanges.

In her e-mail message, Imee warm-heartedly recalled various events – such as basketball tournaments, dances, and large official functions and other activities of the various schools and community, among others – were held in the gym. “ABC had been a great part of our growing up years in Bansalan,” she wrote. “In the spirit of (forthcoming) Christmas, we can give back to our hometown by raising the amount of Ph20,000 to at least repaint the façade of the gym.”

The snowball effect of Imee’s initial posting was overwhelming. In no time, Bansaleños residing abroad – Toronto in Canada; Alaska, New York, California, Ohio, and Virginia in the United States; Rotterdam and Gouda in the Netherlands; and Frankfurt in Germany – and even those in Manila and Davao started sending their pledges.

The awe-inspiring response of the Bansaleños resulted to the formation of the virtual community called the Association of Bansaleños or www.Bansaleños.com with “Give Back Campaign: ABC Gym Project” as its initial project. In less than a month, our group raised the amount of Php155,212.00 - almost 8 times more than Imee’s original request.

Curiously enough, the members of Association of Bansaleños have different professional backgrounds and they are doing different types of jobs. While implementing the project, we were discovering our untapped talents, hobbies and interests. We found out we have excellent fund raisers and event organizers in our midst. All these proved to be useful in our campaign.

Aside from renovating the gym, some Bansaleños also decided to raise funds to support the education of poor children our hometown. As of this writing, the “Give Back: Literacy Project” received pledges amounting to Ph 50,000 – enough to support the education of 30-35 poor pupils next school year. In fact, some even committed themselves to support the children until they finish their elementary education.

While older folks are very much willing to help, younger generation is also involved. Jane Nique, who now lives in New York, related her conversation with her 17-year-old daughter Nikki: “Nikki shed a tear when she heard the story about the poor children in Bansalan. She offered to sponsor one child. I asked her how she would do it since she’s still a student and without an income. She replied that she can set aside some money from her weekly allowance. She also want to write to a child to encourage him or her to study hard because by the time the child would graduate from elementary, she would already be a nurse. By then, she could support the child’s college education.”

Nikki, however, is not alone. During our visit in Bansalan five years ago, my two sons – Michael and Richard – asked their uncle Joselito why there so many out-of school children in the neighborhood. My brother, a barangay captain, told my two sons that the parents of these children are too poor to send them to school. In fact, he was supporting some of them but had a hard time sustaining the support due to lack of funds.

My two sons offered to help and came up with an idea on where to get the money. “Richard and I just won’t go to McDonalds four times a year Mamma and the money we would save would be given to some children to help them go to school,” Michael volunteered. I told them that if they would do that, I would match what they would have saved. They did – and their initial donation actually started the basic literacy program of Bansalan’s KPI.

I am aware that my fellow Bansaleños have bigger plans for our hometown but they know their contribution is limited. They are willing to support any worthy community projects but they would like also to see local government officials to match what they would do. Hence, taking advantage of her recent Christmas vacation in Bansalan, Imee together with some Davao and Bansalan-based residents presented the plan to the town mayor and his council. Mayor Melchor Arches warmly welcomed the proposed initiative. Today, the renovation of the ABC Gym has become a joint project of the local government unit and the Bansaleño expats.

Through regular e-mail contacts, I learned several stories about their gift-giving practices. I heard that long before the “Give Back Campaign” was launched, a few were already involved in various family and community projects. For instance, the list of donors who contributed to the renovation of our church included many names of families who have relatives overseas. Thanks to the “start-up capital” from relatives abroad, new small businesses (restaurants, photo services, bakeries, grocery stores, transports, etc) have been set up which stimulate local economic activities and create jobs in the town.

Fact: Those who are working abroad are spending their remittances for the improvement of the economic condition of their families. A case in point is the “Japayuki village,” a small enclave in Bansalan where nice and well-appointed row of houses were built from the money sent to their families by Bansaleños working in Japan. In building the houses, temporary jobs are created for local carpenters and laborers.

Another example is the Nique family – with three siblings now living in New
York – who distributes Christmas gifts (cash money, rice, canned goods, T-shirts, bicycles) every year to indigent children and parents in their barangay.

More recently, I learned that a fellow Bansaleña, who married a German, is now busy developing her small farming village. After building her own house and that of her family, she also purchased a land and subdivided it into small parcels, which she sold to homeless families in our hometown at very low price. Likewise, she opened a grocery store and a bakery in her village and hired local people.

With the aforementioned examples, it finally dawned on me that the Bansaleños are not different from the African, Latinos and Asian migrants whom I worked with. They give back because they feel they still feel they are very much part of the community. They also want to share the blessings they enjoy with those whom they left behind. Perhaps, some unconsciously give back because one day they might return. Whatever their motives are, the Bansaleños are making a difference but not without reason.

In his recollection, Edwin wrote: “So many memories and some of them pass to oblivion. But in retrospect, I didn't really regret living in Bansalan. In fact, I love it there. Like a tree which roots are firmly grounded in that old town, my travels were like branching out to reach new heights: to see more of the world. But it seems like I never left at all. I am always home.”

Daday Amor-Cintron of New Jersey summed up the sentiments of most Bansaleño expats when she wrote: “Seriously, because of the choices we made (and choices we did not make) some of us have ‘wow’ lives and some just plain ‘blah’ lives. Some of our lives are glorious, and others not so glorious. But no matter where in the world we are, we have these experiences and all of God’s graciousness to be thankful for. When I am overwhelmed with the routine drudgery of the fast lane we call life, I think of all the simple things of our past, the humble beginnings of Bansalan. It is safe there.”

Note: The Give Back Campaign is an on-going project of Bansaleños. For more information, please visit: www.bansalan.com. -- ***

January 2006