Last AAI scholar can finish her second to last semester! Almost there!

Thanks to an outpouring of assistance from AAI supporters, we have gathered enough funds for Ms. Henelize Ancheta to stay in school for her second to last semester at Notre Dame University-Jolo!

However, we still need $600 for her to finish her last year of college and for her to take her tests to become a certified nurse. We would like to call for your help once more to help Henelize fulfill her dreams and lift her family out of poverty. She is the last of the AAI Community College Scholars to graduate, and we need your support to ensure the completion of a successful program, so that we can send a new batch of deserving but underprivileged students to a higher education. The youth are the future of this community, and without their prosperity we cannot hope to elevate Mindanao from its status as one of the least developed areas of Southeast Asia.

Please help Henelize and click the Donate button below. We remain truly grateful for all of your support.

AAI Scholar in Need of Your Help

Ms. Heneliza Ancheta, a fourth-year nursing student at Notre Dame of Jolo College, needs emergency funds to ensure she can finish her education. She needs $500.00 for her penultimate semester, and $600.00 for her final semester and exams. Heneliza is the last of AAI's Community Service Scholars, and she needs you to help her achieve her dreams, just like 17 of her predecessors who have already graduated from college as part of AAI's program. Please find below Heneliza's personal statement to AAI:

Who I am

May peace be with you…

I am Henelize Ancheta, 20 years old and a senior in the nursing program at Notre Dame College of Jolo. I live in Habena Scoto Road Jolo, Sulu. I have seven members in the family. My father is a carpenter and my mother is a housekeeper [combined income is less than $2 per day]. I have three brothers and one sister. It is sad that I belong to a poor family as an eldest, because I take the most responsibility at home.

Since I was in elementary school, I have been dreaming becoming a successful nurse someday. However, my parents could not afford to send me to school because of the high tuition fee. That is why AAI helping me with the scholarship to overcome my poor situation serves as my inspiration to give all my best in my study. There is no reason for me to give up because I know God has plans for me and my family are here by my side to give all their full support and love. I am not hopeless and always pray to out to the Almighty to help me to achieve all my dreams and ambition in life.

I am very thankful and happy for this opportunity AAI has given to me. I am also thankful to my beloved principal and teachers who help me and most especially you sir, whom had given his/her wisdom to support me in my study.

I am always praying that in the future I can give a better life to myself and to my family and community. In behalf of my family we really appreciate for everything, the opportunity for education, you brought to us. I can not explain the happiness.

Thank you very much and God bless you.

If you would like to help Heneliza, please support AAI's Community Service Scholars program here, or at AAI's Universal Giving website.

Typhoon Ondoy

On Sep. 26, 2009, Typhoon Ondoy (international codename: Ketsana), smashed into Metro Manila and 25 surrounding provinces, forcing Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to declare a state of calamity in all of these areas. Typhoon Ondoy dumped a month's worth of rain on the capital and the outlying provinces in just over 6 hours. To put things into perspective, Typhoon Ondoy brought 455 milimeters of rain in 24 hours, while Hurricane Katrina brought 250.

Stranded residents in Cainta, Rizal. Photo from the Washington Post

As of today, the typhoon has claimed 277 lives in the Philippines. 2.5 million are affected, and 700,000 people have been forced into overcrowded, under-supplied evacuation centers. Even five days after Ondoy's arrival, many parts of the Philippines still remain underwater. Commuting and transportation of relief goods are made difficult to impossible due to flooded and muddied roads and stalled cars blocking the way. To make matters worst, a second typhoon is on its way to the northern provinces of the Philippines, provinces still reeling from the effects of Ondoy. A preemptive evacuation has been called for, which means more refugees seeking shelter from harried government agencies.

Typhoon victims reach out for donations at a relief center in the badly hit Marikina City, Metro Manila. Photo from the Washington Post

Thankfully, the world has not left the Filipino people to suffer on their own. The international community has been quick to respond with millions of dollars of aid in cash, relief goods and technical assistance. International groups have mobilized operations in the Philippines, responding to the Philippine government's appeal for help.

AAI, along with partner organizations World Vision and AmeriCares, donated a shipment of more than 450,000 water purification sachets, each capable of purifying 10 liters of contaminated water. The shipment was delivered to the relief center at the Malacacanang Presidential Palace on Sep. 30, 2009. AAI and its partners remain involved in humanitarian relief operations in Metro Manila and the outlying provinces, including donations of high priority medicines to relief centers.

Boxes of water purifiers from AAI and its partners are unpacked for repackaging at the Malacanang relief center.

Though the storm has passed, the fight for the lives and homes of the millions of Filipinos affected is not over. Evacuees, particularly children, are vulnerable to diseases such as dengue fever, leptospirosis, and cholera. Medical equipment has been destroyed, leaving patients with chronic conditions at the mercy of their illnesses. There still exists a desperate need for clean water. The Philippine National Red Cross is the main aid agency working in the area, and AAI is continuing its programs there, as well as existing ones in southern Philippines.

We can all do our part.