Friday, September 22, 2006

Muslims Appeal For Help In Maguindanao

(A Mindanao Examiner Video)
MAGUINDANAO (Juan Magtanggol / 22 Sept) Salamona Hakim, a grade school principal in Camp Abubakre as-Siddique, a former base of the Muslim rebel group, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, appeals for book donations and humanitarian assistance for some 300 Muslim children in Tugaig town in the southern Philippine province of Maguindanao, torn by wars in the past.

The area was bombed in 2000 by government forces during one of the bloodiest war against the MILF in the restive region. Hundreds were killed and wounded and tens of thousands of Muslims, women and children, had fled their villages. Their homes were destroyed and only in recent years that most of them returned, but without shelters and livelihood, many until now live in poverty.

Some families were given housing units donated by different non-government and private organizations around the Philippines and abroad, but help is not enough and thousands more are without homes.

Smart Communications, the cellular phone giant, donated 100 housing units just this year in the towns of Tugaig and Barira, also in Maguindanao, to help the poor.

Now called, Smart’s Gawad Kalinga Villages, some 700 people now have a descent place to live and thanks to Smart, but more is needed to help the many who are still begging for help – from shelters to clothing, books and other things for the children, and medical care and potable water system and electricity.(Salamona Hakim has four volunteer teachers helping provide education to poor children in GK Villages. She can be reached at this number +63921 6306433)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Why only appeal to Muslim brothers and sisters? She needs all the help that she can have.