Philippines: Back to School Project

PDG John Van Laar brought us a wonderful message on the Philippines. His emphasis was on a group of children who basically live in the city waste facility.  One statement which really hit home was “Happiness [for these children] is finding food in the garbage”. John has dedicated the rest of his life to speaking for these children. His club (Rotary Club of Collingwood Sunrise) and others have helped the children in several ways.  First, they brought in food for the children; next, they established an educational program for the squatter children to help them get out of their current situation.  The implications of NOT having an education are severe and range from glue sniffing to begging to turning to terrorism and crime. John and his group have applied for Rotary Foundation matching grants over the past six years and have been very successful in bringing some needed change to the poor rural areas of the Philippines.  His closing statement was “What you do for yourself dies with you; what you do for others lives on.”  It is fairly obvious why John is a Rotarian.