Fighting hunger

FIVE-YEAR-OLD BHARANG WAKES UP EARLY AND WALKS TO SCHOOL in the Tbaung Khmum district of Kampong Cham province in Cambodia. She wears the same clothes day after day, but it is not a school uniform. In class, she is listless and distracted from her lessons, unable to concentrate as her stomach churns and growls from hunger.

Cambodia is home to almost 14 million people, nearly half of them living in rural areas below poverty level. The malnutrition rate in Cambodia is among Southeast Asia’s worst, and children under five are at the greatest risk, with 45 percent of them underweight and 65 percent anemic.

An international humanitarian organization is helping change that, and has chosen a Filipino to join them in looking for long-term answers and solutions to the problems that Cambodian children face.

There are approximately 300 million chronically hungry children in the world," says the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations’ lead agency in the fight against world hunger. "It is estimated that one hundred million of them do not attend school, and two thirds of those not attending school are girls."

WFP contracts partners to carry out sustained feeding programs in schools across the globe. On the average, it has provided food to 90 million people, including 56 million hungry children, in more than 80 countries. 

Through the WFP School Feeding Program, "we encourage hungry children to attend school and help them concentrate on their studies," says Kannitaba Kong, WFP School Feeding Officer in Cambodia. Earlier this year, WFP chose Donald Ordiales, 27, for the task of getting children to 147 schools in 12 provinces of Cambodia and providing them with at least one nutritious meal a day.

Ordiales, with his partner Wang Chin Loh of TNT Express Singapore, woke up as early as one o’clock in the morning to prepare a can of sardines with kangkong (morning glory) for 20 students.  Today, aside from portable blackboard and chalk, students’ bags now contain plates and tablespoons.

"For WFP, educating these children and helping them work their way out of poverty means giving them nutritious meals," says Ordiales, who works as a debt collector of TNT Express Philippines, which is one of the contracted private organizations of WFP.  Currently, the company operates the program in Nicaragua, Malawi, Gambia, Tanzania, and Cambodia.

"Since 2002, TNT has committed its knowledge, skills and resources to help WFP tackle the greatest logistics challenge of all: fighting world hunger," says Jose Luis Romero-Salas, president and general manager of TNT Express Philippines.

In Cambodia, we assessed the need of a school in a community and submitted the results to WFP," Ordiales explains, "and they gave us the budget."  

WFP roughly spends US$14 per child per year. Any person or organization can, he underscores, extend their help in feeding the children, educating them, and helping them work their way out of poverty.

Through the program, Ordiales and Chin have encouraged the children and their families to participate in school. They distributed school materials and taught lessons on social awareness. They also distributed toys, shoes, and clothes donated by volunteers in China, Singapore, and Australia.

Further, rations of 15 kilos of rice and one bottle of vegetable oil a day are distributed to female students in grades 4 to 6. Ordiales explains that the program especially focus on increasing girls’ educational attendance.

Ordiales explains: "Kaya mga babae lang ang binibigyan...para ma-encourage sila na makatapos at yung mga magulang na pag-aralin ang mga babae."

In the past, boys were sent to school, while girls are forced to leave school or are not sent at all to help their parents with housework, farm duties, and taking care of their siblings.

  One family that Ordiales has influenced was that of Kouv. Ducking into the classroom window of a school in Sras Korkoh district of Bratheay province, Kouv did not understand the reason other kids had to go to a place called school, a concept that was totally alien to him.

Initially, "his parents rebuked me for encouraging Kouv to attend school," recalls Ordiales, "but after telling them what our program does and gives, they have been encouraged and enlightened."

Ordiales and Chin also identified the need for clean water and proper sanitation. Generally, the people do not take a bath for two to three weeks because they have no money to buy soap.

The lack of clean water and proper sanitation facilities in schools and nearby places forces students to drop out of school. "The kids oftentimes do not return if they have to go home to use the toilet," he explains. "There are no CRs (comfort rooms) in schools , wala ding CR sa kabayanan, madalas sa mga bushes na lang nagbabawas ang mga tao.

"Minsan nga nakita nung mga bata na parang nauuhaw ako. Ang ginawa nila, dumampot sila ng bao ng niyog tapos sinalok nila doon sa naipong tubig ulan sa lupa," he recalls. "Siyempre, ayoko naman tumanggi kasi sila nga iniinom nila, kaya ininom ko din. Kinagabihan nag-LBM ako," he laughs.

Ordiales enjoyed a close relationship with the poor Cambodians, especially the kids. "Madalas nila akong sundan kahit saan ako pupunta. Kaya nalungkot talaga ako nang paalis na ko," he points out.

"Orkuntsaran Choey Kampuchea." With these words of thanks, teary-eyed Maliss, a member of a local nongovernmental organization, embraced Ordiales on the last night of their stay in Cambodia.

"The experience I had will never be erased from my memory," says Ordiales. "Sulit ang pagod mo, pag nakita mo kung gaano kalaki yung naitulong mo sa kanila."

But more than helping the children of Cambodia, it has been Ordiales’ wish to duplicate the effort here in the Philippines. An active member of TNT Express Philippines’ volunteer pool, Donald is a teacher for the TNT Supplemental Learning Program (SLP) for the students of Alabang Elementary School. A typical session is usually comprised of basic lessons on good manners, social conduct and even basic hygiene. A library was also built for the children’s use.

"Sabi ko nga sa mga bata dun, masuwerte sila at kahit papaano ay may tulong silang natatanggap," relates Ordiales. "Dahil dito nga sa Pilipinas, marami ding nangangailangang mga bata. Kaya nga isa sa mga wish namin bilang volunteers ng TNT ay magkaroon ng  sapat pang budget para madugtungan pa namin yung mga proyekto namin para sa kanila."

Annette Antolin, TNT Express Philippines Vice President for Human Resources and head of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility program, has stated the company’s desire to allocate funds from its Walk the World fund-raising programs to child-centric projects here in the country. In coordination with the WFP’s newly-established Philippine office, TNT hopes to launch several fund-raising programs for its CSR projects, and work together to free the children not only of Cambodia but also of the world from poverty and hunger.