More CSR

The need for the more corporate expressions of social responsibility has never been more felt than now.  After months of Yolanda relief operations and the post-earthquake rebuilding of Bohol, the work to be done seems never ending, and the resources, considering the extent of rehabilitation needed, will have to be drawn from all possible contributors.

Before I add to the burden of your donor-fatigued hearts, resources doesn’t mean money alone.  It can be a skills donation through more volunteers who have special skills that are needed to rebuild the  disaster-stricken areas in Cebu, Bohol and Eastern Visayas.

A chance to mainstream the affected families can come in form of skills training, livelihood activities, and enterprise development that will not be so far off from the present competencies of the affected individuals.

Take the farmers for instance, companies may be able to help them by supporting their farming needs through soft loans for farming inputs and contract growing.  The womenfolk may be taught supplemental livelihood skills that would add food to the family’s table for a longer period of time.

Product development could be an area both corporations and the local government can partner in, where they can collaborate to restore the old industry of delicacies in a place or innovate other products.  I recall Pinatubo locals made use of the ash from the volcano to create items out of the material.  Perhaps, it is time to scan the environment again to find out what can be used in a certain locality to create a new enterprise.

Business can help spur economic activities that will provide for more cash movement in an area by investing on small cooperatives and community organizations that may be created once again to help the citizens back to their feet.

A businessman friend asked me once, “How can we help when we too have been affected?”  They can help by trying to shake off the chains of defeat and apathy that have beset some of them and strive to do business again, seeking help from their contacts and suppliers who have not been hit by the tragedy.  And in the same token, other business groups are urged to help, still further, to allow longer terms for credits or perhaps lesser interest rates just within the frame of helping others gain back their footing.

In my recent reviews of the affected areas, I have seen the need for more schools.  School buildings  have been greatly damaged by both the earthquake and the typhoon..  There is also a need for more healthcare and health services especially in Tacloban and storm-surged areas in Eastern Visayas as some of the hospitals have been shaken as well.

If you are a quiet businessman, wanting to help, and not knowing how to, you can check on the legitimate non-government organizations within the areas of Bohol, Cebu and Eastern Visayas.  You can verify their legitimacy through the local DSWDs, the Security and Exchange Commission and the Philippine Information Agency, as well as the local government in the area, by checking on the background of your chosen partner.

And try not to be a passive partner.  Instead, be involved by planning with them, monitor their results and see the communities you intend to reach.  If you do this, you will not just secure that your money and other resources are well-utilized, but you will also expand your perspectives and gain deeper networks with those whom you have reached.

When you see  even just one family gain back their confidence to face life once again, because you have helped, you will realize that you may want to help one more, and then another one…more.