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An update from
November, 2014
I.
They come from various fields: Agriculture, Veterinary, Medicine, Construction, Business,
Science, Media and Missions. They were prepared for any dire situations. Within a few days, residents
in rural communities were treated medically, farmers received training on natural farming and goatraising, and a church building was constructed.
From L to R: Celeste Horein (Business) from Michigan; David Horein (Construction) from Michigan; Charlita Rosal-Kwasniowski
(Science) from Nevada; Sarah Rutchik (Nursing) from Michigan; Dr. Helen Noble (Veterinary) from Massachusetts; Caleb
Noble (Media) from Massachusetts. Not in the picture are: Bing Brackeen (Agriculture) from Arizona, and Cora Carter
(Missions) from Georgia.
From L to R: Celeste Horein, Flor Magsalay, Dr. Helen Noble, Charlita Rosal-Kwasniowski, Cora Carter, Bing Brackeen, David
Horein, Jun Magsalay, and Caleb Noble. Jun and Flor Magsalay are retired civil engineer and teacher who are devoted to
working with the rural poor. They founded a church years ago and they have started several rural satellite churches.
a.
Lives of mother and child saved as medical treatments were administered from one community to the next.
b.
Cora Carter coordinated the unloading and distribution of 44 huge boxes of relief goods.
c.
Rebuilding:
The men looked on with amazement as David Horein opened his suitcase full of building tools from the US. Without
these tools it would have taken three to four months to build the same structure that David and
Caleb along with local volunteers built in a week.
A few days after the construction started, the people were together again under one roof.
Residents patiently waited for seed ration so they can start planting again.
Dr. Helen Noble taught the local people how to milk and properly care for the goat. Many were surprised to know that
they can drink milk freshly extracted from the goat. Several tasted the fresh milk.
Caleb Noble rendered songs and gave encouragement to the typhoon victims.
II.
Progress since the team left: relief work created a domino effect
a. The establishment of the pilot farm:
Few weeks after the team left, fermented products from the natural farming demos were used in the pilot farm.
Tropical long beans and bitter gourds are bigger and healthier even without the use of conventional fertilizers,
pesticides and/or insecticides.
L: A farmer pumped water from the well to water the plants in the pilot farm. R: A buck and a doe were acquired
to start breeding in the pilot farm. They were named after the team members: Davca after David and Caleb; Celen after
Celeste and Helen.
First goat house built with indigenous materials: Nipa leaves for roofing, bamboo tree for posts and roof support,
milled fallen coconut tree for flooring and ladder. Goats cannot survive without their own shelter. RPRCC bought a
huge chainsaw to mill lumber.
Less than two months after the team left, momentum continued. The floors were cemented, two bathrooms were
built, a water well was dug, and bamboo wallings were installed. The building became a favorite place for meetings,
trainings, church services, social functions, and seminars conducted by several local groups and even speakers from
abroad.
L: Several volunteers from New Life Community Church and from Ipswich Country Club in Massachusetts collected,
packed, and shipped these boxes. There are many more volunteers who are not in this photo. R: Volunteers in Ormoc,
Leyte posed after a busy and fun day of sorting books and actually reading at the same time as sixteen (16) huge boxes
of books arrived from Massachusetts. The books are temporarily displayed on the shelves inside the same building
that the relief team built.
e.
In June, 2014, Engineer Jun Magsalay broke the ground for the site of the library. The site is at the back of the
church building constructed by the relief team.
III.
Typhoon-damaged trees need to be cut, gathered and burned to prevent long term damage of agricultural lands.
Majority of the local people do not have chainsaws nor the know-how to use them.
These are the farm tools that local farmers use in the rural communities. Nobody uses tractors or other more
sophisticated tools. They can be trained to use chainsaws and other appropriate tools.
Crossbreeds and native goats in the pilot farm. We plan to add several more.
There used to be a building on this site used for church services, meetings and social gathering. The
typhoon completely wiped it out. Our goal is to rebuild so that there will be a venue for medical outreaches,
trainings, church services, and storage for pilot farm supplies and tools.