12 Reasons To Join The Kapit Bisig Kabataan Network

A national Filipino youth and student led relief network built in response to Typhoon Haiyan ("kapit bisig" means link arms, "kabataan" means youth)

1. THIS happened:

On November 8, 2013, Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) hit the Philippines, a Category 5 Storm. Nearly 14.1 million have been affected across the Visayas region. May 8, 2014 is the six month anniversary of the super typhoon. Despite the time that has passed, thousands of survivors are still in need of help.

2. You or a family member are from one of THESE islands:

In the United Nations OCHA Report, as of Jan. 10th, 6,190 people have been reported dead, 1,785 have been reported missing, 4.1 million have been displaced, 204,131 are living in evacuation centers, and 1.1 million houses have been damaged. Click here for the full reports. The hardest hit areas are the islands of Samar and Leyte in the Visayas region.

3. You go to one of THESE schools:

Many students from UCLA, UC Davis, Stanford, De Anza College, Oberlin College, Stonybrook University, Hunter College, Fordham University, and Columbia University are already plugged into the network. However, you don’t need to be a college student in order to join. All youth and students who support genuine typhoon relief and rehabilitation for the Philippines can participate!

4. ...Or belong to one of THESE Pilipino organizations:

Shout out to these Pilipino organizations (or p-orgs) who have already joined the network!

Liga Filipina at Columbia University

Samahang Pilipino at UCLA

Kaibigan at Portland State University

Filipino American Student Association at Oberlin College

Pilipinos of Hunter at CUNY Hunter College

Kasama at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Filipinos Uniting Students In Other Nations (FUSION) at CUNY Baruch

Pilipino United Student Organization (PUSO) at SUNY Stony Brook

You also don’t need to be part of a p-org, or even be Filipino, in order to join. The focus of KBKN’s efforts are towards typhoon-devastated areas in the Philippines but any youth and students who support the work and are willing to contribute to the cause are welcome!

5. You’re familiar with THIS organization...

Anakbayan-USA is a comprehensive national democratic mass organization of Filipino youth. As an overseas alliance, we unite youth from all walks of life in one struggle for national democracy and genuine social change in the Philippines, while fighting for the rights and welfare of Filipinos in the US. We work to build international solidarity with all oppressed people against imperialism. One of our main campaigns this year is to promote relief and rehabilitation for victims and survivors of Typhoon Haiyan. We are also a member organization participating in KBKN.

Chapters and chapter organizing committees in AB-USA include: AB-Seattle, AB-East Bay, AB-Silicon Valley, League of Filipino Students at San Francisco State University, AB-Los Angeles, AB-San Diego, AB-Chicago, AB-New York, and AB-New Jersey.

6. ...Which is a part of THIS broad alliance...

NAFCON is a national multi-issue alliance of Filipino organizations and individuals in the U.S. serving to protect the rights and welfare of Filipinos by fighting for social, economic, and racial justice and equality. At present, NAFCON members encompass over 23 cities in the United States.

On Earth Day 2014, NAFCON released a Thunderclap to launch its new Environmental Justice Campaign. The alliance is committed to working towards environmental justice and sustainability in the Philippines by helping rebuild communities and assist in rehabilitating the environment affected by climate-change disasters, contributing to greater people’s access to livelihood and sustainable agriculture, and protecting communities against further destruction of natural resources. Both NAFCON and KBKN are fighting for the same cause by recruiting members, holding events, conducting solidarity missions to the Philippines, and collecting donations for the ongoing relief efforts.

7. ...And works with THIS organization in the Philippines:

BALSA Mindanao (Bulig alang sa Mindanao/Help for Mindanao) is a citizen-led response to humanitarian and environmental crises brought about by natural and human-made disasters and calamities. Alongside emergency response efforts, Balsa Mindanao employs long-term strategies and solutions to environmental plunder and climate change, mitigation, and adaptation.

Through the help of donations from NAFCON, BALSA has already contributed to the immediate relief and early rebuilding of more than 50,000 families by distributing several thousand relief packs. Many of the full-time volunteers of this grassroots organization were also survivors of the typhoon but in working together, 100% of the collected proceeds went directly toward providing relief. By joining KBKN, you can help further the efforts of organizations like BALSA who understand the conditions on-the-ground and are directly providing relief to the people.

8. You’ve always wanted to put your community building skills to action...

One of KBKN’s objectives is to organize and mobilize youth and students to take part in ongoing relief efforts in the Philippines. If you’re a hands-on type of person and love to learn by doing, join us this summer for our first ever relief mission! The dates are from July 23 to August 12, 2014 and we will help rebuild the communities in Samar and Leyte, especially in Tacloban City, which was the hardest hit.

9. ...Or you’ve donated and you want to see where your money goes.

There are several ways your money can be used when you donate to any relief organization. When you donate to NAFCON, 85% of your money goes into creating a relief pack, 13% is used to transport the relief packs, and the final 2% goes to funding two generators, fuel and communications. By going on the KBKN relief mission this summer, you’ll see firsthand how the money that is collected directly helps typhoon victims and survivors, and that we as Filipinos in the U.S. have a major role to play in making this happen.

10. You’re angered by the negligence of the corrupt Philippine government…

In a recent article, Philippine President Benigno “Noy Noy” Aquino denied giving P40,000 in aid for each household of typhoon survivors. Instead, Aquino said the survivors should focus their attention on building homes or shelters that are not on the path of storm surges or other natural disasters. However, the President fails to address the fact that most of the typhoon survivors do not have the economic capacity to build new homes when they haven’t even received proper relief yet from their elected officials. In this article, 12,000 typhoon survivors rallied in Tacloban City to demand justice and call attention to the atrocity of a government that waited FOUR DAYS after the storm to deliver any assistance.

11. ...But you know that things really CAN change one day!

All it takes is PEOPLE POWER!

12. You and your organization have already committed to helping out as much as you can - so the next step is joining the network!

It's easy - all you have to do is fill out this form!

For more information, check out the KBKN Facebook page and our mission presentation! Contact us at [e-mail]