Community Library For Samar, Philippines

The objective of Building Futures Together is to eradicate poverty one community at a time. With no funding or funds, I began this journey. I chose to begin in the Island of Samar* one of the poorest provinces in the Philippines and one I was familiar with (I was from there originally). I went into communities and met with anyone and everyone who had a story to tell and an opinion to share. And it was through the poor themselves that I learned the fight against poverty is not and cannot be a fly over or a drive by. The fight is and must be a deliberate, purposeful, and committed effort and must be over the long haul!!! And while the approach must be multi dimensional since poverty is very complex, one cannot apply one salve for all the poor either (this is where we differ from the rest). Join us in this very challenging but satisfying journey. Our three prong programs of help and hope: livelihood, education and health management, simultaneously applied one community at a time over a long haul, do alter lives while maintaining the dignity, self respect and more importantly, the independence and freedom of those we help.