RUBBER TREES ARE GROWING

The rubber trees that were planted earlier this year are now beginning to sprout up.
The rainy season plus the fertilizer and insecticide treatment has paid dividends and progress is being made. It is hoped that we can persuade our friends and new donors to help us achieve our goal of planting 10 Hectares / 25 Acres which will go a long way in helping Bethany achieve its desire of being self sustaining in years to come.

Additionally Bethany has planted corn and also vegetables to help in ensuring the kitchen needs are supplemented. With the little funding currently available the staff are making good use of every peso given to them.

BETHANY BOARD ELECTS A NEW CHAIRPERSON

Bethany’s Board of Trustees has recently installed a new Chairperson in the form of Attorney Chemene Nacua. Ms Nacua is employed by the Department of Justice (Republic of the Philippines) as an Investigating Agent.
Ms Nacua is a graduate of Lourdes College as well as Xavier University and resides in Cagayan de Oro. The Bethany Board of Trustees has been reforming over the last two years and Ms Nacua’s appointment shows how serious the board is taking the task of reorganisation to address the main problem of under funding, that it has faced over the last few years. There will be more additions to the board as new skills and expertise are required in Bethany’s ongoing transformation.
I wish Ms Nacua and the Board of Trustees every success in their future endeavours.

BETHANY APPEALS FOR NEW DONORS

Since the passing of its founder Ms Louise Lynip in July 2006 its no secret that Bethany has struggled financially. In order to support the current 28 children in residence at the Home along with the necessary support staff and management Bethany needs a steady income from its donors on a regularly basis.
Additionally Bethany runs an Elementary School Grades 1 to 6 as well as a High School Years 1 to 4 which supports the educational requirements of the Home as well as the Town and Barrios of Talakag. The Bethany Christian School was founded originally to educate the Home’s children when the number of children being cared for at the Home exceeded one hundred. Since those days of course the number of children from the Home attending the School has dwindled to currently around 10 but the need for the School with a pupil population of in excess of 320 justifies its continuation, particularly with education been seen as the number one way to ease the acute poverty in the provinces. Not only does education ease poverty it greatly helps in establishing a sound platform for nationalism and patriotism and schooling goes a long way to prevent children being fragmentised.
Bethany is trying to establish a sustainable income programme with the planting of a rubber plantation which is being initially funded by private donation primarily from donors in the United Kingdom. When complete the rubber plantation will comprise of approximately 25 acres and should yield between 60,000/ 90,000 pesos per month depending on latex production and market price. This is equivalent to £830.00- £1,244.00 or $1,250.00-$1,875.00. Along with other such sustainable projects like the current handicraft training initiative for the older Bethany children whereby products can be made and customised to suit occasions like weddings, birthdays and anniversaries etc this project is ongoing and funded by Mr Terry & Mrs Lynn Habeck and the training is being carried out at Bethany by Mr Jojo Rivera.
The Farm that Bethany once had to grow cash crops for additional income has largely been neglected over the last few years due to lack of capital as well as knowledgeable management. This is about to change with a new member of the Board of Trustees being an agriculturalist and plans are being drawn up to revive the poultry houses as well as the piggery along with establishing cottage gardening in order to help supplement the feeding requirements of the Home.
The afore mentioned cannot be established to the point of sustainability unless donors donate on a regular basis. I appeal to all those past, present and future donors to dig deep and make a commitment to a worthy cause that will make you proud to be part of irrespective of your nationality or domain. Bethany was established through devotion to ensure that the needy children of Bukidnon and beyond were cared for in a Godly manner, please help us to continue the good work for as long as there is children in need.

Mrs Lorna Wishart's visit to Bethany.

Mrs Wishart with little Ian at Bethany.

On the 21st March Mrs Lorna Wishart a close family friend of Marilou and I paid a visit to Talakag from her Philippine holiday house in Davao. Lorna was on holiday in the Philippines from her family home in Hartburn near Stockton on Tees in the North East of England.
Lorna has been a donor of Bethany for sometime now and had recently contributed a large Trampoline for the play area along with a cash donation to the Rubber Plantation.
During her visit to Bethany Lorna was able to see and play with the children and meet the House Parents and carers. She was particularly interested in the Rubber Plantation project and how it was progressing as well as knowing that her Trampoline was being well used by the children.
I know she left with a heavy heart and a pledge to do even more for Bethany in the future.
Thank you Lorna for taking the time out to visit us here in Talakag and especially for your visit to Bethany which was very much appreciated.

Jim and Jean Kirchner visit Bethany.

Jim & Jean receive a farewell present from Rachel a House Parent.

Jim and Jean Kirchner recently left their home in Smith Centre Kansas to spend six weeks doing voluntary work at Bethany.
Jim until his retrial was involved in managing his business interests namely furniture retail outlets as well as funeral direction companies.
Jean until her retirement worked in the banking industry for 42 years and became VP of her branch.
Jim and Jean had previously done voluntary work in Belize prior to visiting Bethany so were well equipped for their stay.
Jim had a project in mind before coming which was to uplift the wooden floor in one of the children’s cottages and replace it with ceramic tiles as termites had started to destroy the wood. Like all projects when you begin you find other things that need fixing like the window screens and the kitchen fabric and the toilets and showers and on and on and on!!!!!!! Jim found a friend in Jojo who hails from Luzon and is a talented artist who was funded by Lynn and Terry Habeck (see previous post) and together they transformed a functional cottage to a very desirable residence for the children.
In between looking after the toddlers and infants Jean also assisted in the above project but her heart lay in caring for the children who miss her daily visits to them.
I must confess I witnessed two very happy retired Americans during the six weeks they spent at Bethany without serious complaint.
Before Jim and Jean left a farewell party was provided by the Bethany staff for them in order to say a big thank you for all they had done during their visit.
Once again a “BIG THANK YOU” from all at Bethany and we hope to see you back again some day.

The Nicest Part about Being Connected With Bethany

The children and staff and Bambi the pup say a big thank you to Lynn, Terry and Anthony on their recent visit to Bethany.

Keith shows Lynn his favourite kid at the H.E.L.P. Foundation Goat House.

This is how its done says Terry; I wonder who is enjoying it most?

Lynn assisted by Terry and Anthony distribute goodies and gifts to the children.

The nice thing about being part of Bethany is the fact that one has the opportunity to meet genuine amazing people.
On Valentines Day I had another such experience when Terry and Lynn Habeck along with Lynn’s son Anthony Decoste took some time off from their very busy work schedule to come down and visit us here at Bethany.
Terry and Lynn run their aviation logistics business http://www.aviationconcepts.aero/ based in Guam whilst their son Anthony looks after the Manila side of the operation based in Makati. Lynn and Terry had contacted Keith Hooper a fellow board member at Bethany and said they would like to visit Bethany whenever their time allowed them to do so. That time was Saturday and after spending the Friday night at a hotel in Cagayan de Oro city Keith and I drove down early morning to collect them as they had to depart later that afternoon to return to Manila.
On arrival in Talakag we stopped by Keith’s house briefly to say hello to Keith’s wife Pat and my wife Marilou along with members of Keith’s H.E.L.P. Foundation staff.
Next it was off to Bethany were Lynn, Terry and Anthony met Rose and Greg Longcob and had an opportunity to go into the infants cottage and meet the children there as well as ask numerous questions about Bethany. Then it was off to the toddler’s cottage where after meeting the children Lynn terry and Anthony distributed numerous candy treats to the children as well as toys and educational gifts galore. The children were overwhelmed as they thought Christmas had arrived either again or early with so many goodies being handed around. I have never seen so many smiling faces at one time, as I witnessed then.
We had to drag Lynn, Tom and Anthony away from the children to the Guest House for refreshments as time was passing so quickly and we were mindful of their tight schedule.
The next port of call was back to Keith’s house following a brief tour of Talakag for lunch where everyone had an opportunity to ask questions of each other which was very enlightening as it’s at this time one gets to know other people. On the conclusion of lunch and our hosts Pat and Keith were duly thanked for their excellent fare we then moved of to the H.E.L.P. Foundations Goat Farm to enable Tom, Lynn and Anthony to observe the formal handing over of goats to three participants in the goat give away scheme for needy families. More information on this project can be obtained by clicking on the H.E.L.P. link on this site.
At this juncture I has to reluctantly say farewell to our very kind and gracious visitors for visiting Bethany as they were going to see how rubber was produced and collected on the conclusion of their visit whilst en-route to the airport to catch their return flight to Manila.
Once again a big thank you Lynn, Terry and Anthony for visiting us here at Bethany, and as we say in Scotland now Talakag “Haste ye back”.

BETHANY UPDATE

When we made our plans to retire to Talakag it was with the intention of doing just that, retiring after a very hectic but also fulfilling working life. As most readers know I was very heavily committed to both the local as well as business scene back in the North East of England during the 18 years that I lived and worked there. Retiral in the fullest sense has had to be postponed I’m afraid as at the last Bethany Board meeting I was proposed and seconded to become the new Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
To me this post to which I was very honoured to accept is something completely new to me as I have worked all my life in the private sector and never in an NGO/Charitable capacity.
Not one to pass up on a challenge I see this post as an opportunity to take Bethany to a new level and hopefully through a series of changes that will strengthen its foundation and secure its long term future amidst the current financial constraints it faces.
I’m sure those of you who read this will be heartened to know that the past of Bethany will not ever be forgotten but it’s the future now that counts both short and long term.
Bethany consists of several facets namely: The Orphanage, The School both Elementary/High and the Farm.
The Orphanage cares for children from new born to high school graduates or in some cases for children who go on to complete college or university.
Not all children are fortunate enough to be adopted and with the Bethany policy not to separate siblings those of larger families do indeed stay until their education is completed at least to high school graduation.
The Elementary/High School not only provides an education for the Bethany children but also children from the surrounding barangays as well as the town of Talakag itself. So as you can imagine it plays a large part in the community’s education and is an important part of the Bethany complex.
The Farm was established originally to supplement the food stock for the orphanage as well as utilise the land available for planting cash crops to help in the running of Bethany. So as you can see it’s important to ensure that all three facets function efficiently and cost effectively as would be expected in any normal business setup.
Its mine as well as the boards intention to carry out a S.W.O.T. analysis in order to determine the current situation and plan for the future needs of Bethany based on a comprehensive budget fit for purpose with full accountability and transparency for the many people to whom we are most grateful who contribute both regularly as well as occasionally to the funding of Bethany. The new Bethany Board of Trustees comprises of people with skills and knowledge that will be fully utilised in the shaping of the future of Bethany. The Bethany board has also decided to bring in outside help in the form of volunteers who will help in carrying out in-depth studies of both current and past practices in order to determine what is the best option for the future of Bethany. All staff members will be involved in this exercise and have an opportunity to input, drawing from their own experience and knowledge.
I will keep all our readers regularly updated on the progress as and when it happens.
God bless you all.
When we made our plans to retire to Talakag it was with the intention of doing just that, retiring after a very hectic but also fulfilling working life. As most readers know I was very heavily committed to both the local as well as business scene back in the North East of England during the 18 years that I lived and worked there. Retiral in the fullest sense has had to be postponed I’m afraid as at the last Bethany Board meeting I was proposed and seconded to become the new Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
To me this post to which I was very honoured to accept is something completely new to me as I have worked all my life in the private sector and never in an NGO/Charitable capacity.
Not one to pass up on a challenge I see this post as an opportunity to take Bethany to a new level and hopefully through a series of changes that will strengthen its foundation and secure its long term future amidst the current financial constraints it faces.
I’m sure those of you who read this will be heartened to know that the past of Bethany will not ever be forgotten but it’s the future now that counts both short and long term.
Bethany consists of several facets namely: The Orphanage, The School both Elementary/High and the Farm.
The Orphanage cares for children from new born to high school graduates or in some cases for children who go on to complete college or university.
Not all children are fortunate enough to be adopted and with the Bethany policy not to separate siblings those of larger families do indeed stay until their education is completed at least to high school graduation.
The Elementary/High School not only provides an education for the Bethany children but also children from the surrounding barangays as well as the town of Talakag itself. So as you can imagine it plays a large part in the community’s education and is an important part of the Bethany complex.
The Farm was established originally to supplement the food stock for the orphanage as well as utilise the land available for planting cash crops to help in the running of Bethany. So as you can see it’s important to ensure that all three facets function efficiently and cost effectively as would be expected in any normal business setup.
Its mine as well as the boards intention to carry out a S.W.O.T. analysis in order to determine the current situation and plan for the future needs of Bethany based on a comprehensive budget fit for purpose with full accountability and transparency for the many people to whom we are most grateful who contribute both regularly as well as occasionally to the funding of Bethany. The new Bethany Board of Trustees comprises of people with skills and knowledge that will be fully utilised in the shaping of the future of Bethany. The Bethany board has also decided to bring in outside help in the form of volunteers who will help in carrying out in-depth studies of both current and past practices in order to determine what is the best option for the future of Bethany. All staff members will be involved in this exercise and have an opportunity to input, drawing from their own experience and knowledge.
I will keep all our readers regularly updated on the progress as and when it happens.
God bless you all.