Sustainability

Looking back at 2017, focussing on the positive. I have been asked to talk, and sometimes even as a Keynote Speaker on Conferences.

My talks are about Sustainability (which is the key of Social Impact) and about Social Impact. I did some research and taught myself all about Sustainability. It was a journey and I would like to share that with you in parts. Why am I thinking about that now? Because one of our interns, who was with us 2 years ago, visited us all the way from Belgium to the Philippines. She graduated Tourism and decided because of her Internship with World Experience Philippines to study more about Sustainability. 

Today she helped me, what is Sustainability and what are the Measurement Tools? For me Sustainability is if you like to make the world a better place and you dont only think about yourself. The official description is: it has to do with lagom (yes the "trendy" word from Sweden) balance, to sustain the world that generaties after us, who will follow us, have gain. Wow. So how do we do that? I am studying again, check out: The Feeling Responsible Platform of Koning Aap, Joker Reizen, check the trends on the newsletter of Travel360. I was inspired today. I wish you too.

What is Social Impact?

‘A significant, positive change that addresses a pressing social challenge.Having a social impact is the result of a deliberate set of activities with a goal around this definition.’(Center for Social Impact, University of Michigan, n.d.)

Social impact can be defined by the net results of the effects of activities on a community and the well-being of individuals and families. Sustainability is key in reaching social impact. The aim is to create positive, meaningful and long-term change for the benefit of the community.

We focussed on the following log frame: input – output – outcome – impact. Via activities, community work for example, you inject input which causes direct output. The outcome is the longer-term effect or change in broader context which hopefully turns into social impact; the sustainable effect or change on the community.

Smokey Tours and Social Impact. When we started doing projects in the slums and giving donations, our goal as to give all to the community. We would give all our income to the Foundation active in the Slum, so it could be directly put in projects. At one point we decided to go on with our tours in a professional way. Thus we had income, expenses, payment of tour leaders, transportation, meetings, a bookkeeper, business registration and “profit”. At that point, also due to transferring to another area where we did our Slum Tour, we started with Quarterly Events together with Crest. The goal was to organize an event with an educational twist, so all people would learn and most people on our route would benefit of the tour.

In the past we have organized: giving out Raincoats to children, giving out Christmas packages, Disaster training, Haircuts, Nutritional Education, Tooth brushing events, a Faucet was built in the Daycare in Happy Land.

More and more we feel like that it is good that the community is trained and organized, so they can be empowered and get more easily a job. We started in Happy Land with the Buddy system. We had 4 extra buddies from the community, as paid tour leaders in training at the back of the tour. After 2 months pilot, we had to wait too long for the buddies, they were late. They were fighting over schedules, and we decided, together with them to stop. Due to our many visits to Happy Land and our close working relationship with Crest, we discovered there was a need for a Basic Health Center. Setting it up, took a lot of time. Last moment the community has backed out and we decided due to the War on Drugs and relocation of the community to other areas to transfer our Slum Tour to Baseco with the help of Crest.

In 2017 we started with Quarterly Events, and more and more the wish of the community came forward to open a Health Center in Baseco. The local Health workers were already trained, but out of a job! It was too good to be true. We found a place, we helped 737 people in our pilot time. The Health Workers were trained by the hospital and trained by MCC of the Netherlands. We wanted more information and data of the needs of the people in Baseco in Aplaya, in the poorest area in Baseco. After 6 months, we became more and more like a Pharmacy. So we are back on track helping malnourished children (Vitameal), pregnant mothers with vitamins and education. As well as Holiday English classes, by one of our tour leaders. That is real empowerment.

We are in the middle of setting up projects sponsored by one of our former guests. With an extra new partner, besides Crest, PRRC, the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission. Our focus has always been, and will always be, to help the people, who want to be helped and to empower people with knowledge and training.

During our tours, our guests are shown the other side of Manila, and we are so thank full of so many donations in cash and in kind. Our key focus is still that we can connect organizations and groups to the Baseco Community and we can do projects together, we had Rotary events, Events with a cruise line, Food packages of individuals, Art classes, Janice slipper and dancing event. Francis Anderson School supplies bag event, Typhoon relief.

A special thanks to: JoHo, Paswerk, Co van der Hoek, Marrigje Pieters, Jenneke, Harry en Eldrid, Fenna, Yvonne S.E van Eck- Remmers van de Diaken Remonstrantse Gemeente Den Haag, Martina Locher, Lucylle, Zoe, Tessa Diamse, Yew Chie, Burn, Mowen, Jos Pepping, Leon Harbers, Daniel Frances. And all the people who are not mentioned and/or don’t want to be mentioned.