JEDDAH, 27 November 2005 — Filipinos and friends in the Western Region of the Kingdom who wish to help build homes for poor communities in the Philippines are invited to the formal launch of the Gawad Kalinga movement in Jeddah.
Rico Dungo, the coordinator of Ancop/Gawad Kalinga in the region, said the event begins at 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 1 at the Al-Harithy Hotel.
Among those expected to lead the launching ceremony are Ambassador Bahnarim A. Guinomla, who is also the guest of honor, and Manny Lector, the director of Ancop/Gawad Kalinga in the Kingdom.
GK-777, as the movement is also known, aims to build 700,000 homes in 7,000 communities in 7 seven years, “in line with the vision of a new Philippines with no more slums.”
Lector, who is based in Riyadh, earlier explained that the project was initiated in Manila to build homes “for the poorest of the poor.”
“We are giving them hope, that there is something to really look up to, because a house is a basic necessity in our life,” he explained. He said the launching of the project in Jeddah will complete the third leg of the movement in the Kingdom.
Donations collected by the movement in Riyadh and Alkhobar have already have helped build at least 50 homes in a village devastated by floods last December in the town of Real in Quezon province, east of Manila. In honor of those who donated the funds, the village is called KSA OFW GK Village.
Ric Dungo appealed to the various organizations and individuals in Jeddah and other parts of the Western region to attend and help launch the project.
Dungo can be reached at mobile No. 05015-20710 or telephone No. 664-5782.
Since its launch in 2002, GK-777 has so far funded the building of communities in Payatas, Quezon City and Smokey Mountain in Manila; Bacolod City, Talisay and Escalante in Negros Occidental and Cebu City in the Visayas; and in Sultan Kudarat, Cotabato, Cagayan de Oro and Zamboanga in Mindanao.
The movement earned international exposure when young British millionaire Dylan Wilkes sold his BMW and donated the proceeds to Gawad Kalinga.
The money from the sale was good enough for a village that was called BMW village, in honor of Wilkes. Wilkes now acts as the international spokesman of Gawad Kalinga.
To spice up the Dec. 1 occasion at Al-Harithy Hotel, a presentation of Gawad Kalinga projects will be followed by an entertainment performance from selected Filipino students, said Joey Villanueva, the incumbent deputy governor of the Toastmasters Division G based in Jeddah.
Villanueva said there will also be a raffle of valuable prizes and gifts from sponsors and partners, The major sponsors include Abdul Moshen Al Swailem Est., Al Harity Hotel, Key Rent A Car and the Jeddah Filipino Families.
