On helping others
“And some seed fell on good soil, and when it grew, it produced fruit a hundredfold.”
Luke 8:8
In 2023, AWB reached out to Asaffi to be one of their local agencies that would execute their projects in the country, particularly in central Philippines.
To date, the partnership has brought four projects to fruition:
- potable water powered by solar energy in Victorias City;
- two carabaos for small farmers in Negros Occidental;
- a donation to the Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul in Cagayan de Oro for the maintenance of their swine-raising project;
- and Tulunghaan sa Dalan in Cebu City, a school for street children.
Photos on this page copyright ©Aktion Wasserbüffel (private collection), used with permission.
AWB: Helping people help themselves
In stark contrast to the affluent urban centers in the country, remote municipalities struggle to acquire even the most basic necessities. Often, there is not even enough to send children to school, considered an expensive luxury.
This was the scene in 1992 that greeted Helga Range (+2014) from western Germany. She saw a community living on nothing. Farmlands were owned by just a handful of families. The government did nothing to change the balance, instead allowing the landed families to use the military and police to silence voices, permanently.
Frau Helga could not change the world, but she could get kind hearts to extend a helping hand. She formed Aktion Wasserbüffel in Jülich, a town in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) in western Germany. It would be a non-profit organization that received donations, organized fundraising activities, and established links with church institutions and other aid organizations.
The name Aktion Wasserbüffel was inspired by the first assistance Frau Helga helped organize, funds to buy a carabao. In the rural farmlands, carabaos are utilized for plowing and hauling, cheaper to purchase and maintain than tractors and trucks, but still too expensive for poor farmers. It is truly representative of the work AWB does, giving people opportunity to “haul their own weight,” to help themselves.
Since its founding in 1994, AWB has helped create self-sustaining communities, schools, and institutions. It has since been taken over by Frau Helga’s daughter-in-law, Katherina Range.
Read more about Aktion Wasserbüffel on their website.
POTABLE WATER CARABAOS FOR LIVELIHOOD SSVP SWINE RAISING TULUNGHAAN SA DALAN