Programs and Projects

All APPEND programs and projects are provided through Append and/or member organizations, head quarters and branch offices. 

Rebuild

On December 16, 2021,  super typhoon Odette (Rai) devastated the houses and businesses of more than 7.7 million poor in 11 regions of the Philippines11 regions MIMAROPA (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon & Palawan), Region 5, Region 6, Region 7, Region 8, Region 9, Region 10,  Region 11, Region 12, CARAGA (Agusan del Norte, Agusan Del Sur, Dinagat Islands, Surigao Del Norte & Surigao Del Sur)  and BARMM (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao).  And more than 50,000 of those who were affected are our poor members.

The goal of the Project “Rebuild, Strengthen and Transform family enterprises towards climate adaptive and resilient communities” is to provide support and capacity building actions to thousands of our member-entrepreneurs like Vilma. The Project stems from directly listening to the needs of our clients-members that we have been helping for many years. 

Actions

1. Rebuild the micro-enterprises of our 51,811 members with capital, insurance, savings facilities and skills training
2. Strengthen the micro-enterprise sector with digitization – providing digital finance ecosystem and e-commerce platforms
3. Transform the enterprising families towards adaptive and resilient communitieswith nature-based solutions for disaster and climate resilience courses

How Can I Help?

A one-time gift or on-going support of PhP500 or USD10 for 10 months can help restore the enterprise of one poor family, www. append.org.ph/give

Financial Inclusion with Community Services

Financial inclusion is providing financial (microfinance, remittance, micro-insurance and savings and community development services to the poor, marginalized and the unbanked through the fully-manned head offices and branch offices of our partners and members.  We as APPEND are expanding strategies that help start and grow successful microenterprises.  

• Microenterprises contribute significantly to a country's economic growth, social stability and equity.
• The micro-enterprise sector is one of the most important vehicles through which low-income people can escape poverty.
• Individuals who are unable to compete for formal sector jobs—due to limited skills or education—find economic opportunities in microenterprise as business owners and employees.
• Women-owned businesses make up one of the fastest growing segments of microenterprises.
• Increased income in the hands of women is invested in health, education and housing for their families.
• As micro-entrepreneurs, women not only make a huge contribution to national income, but they also create reliable social safety nets for their families and communities.

Our Program Components:

a. Social preparation (community organization & training). The field personnel organize and train clients-members on our programs and services. We group our clients-members into centers composed of 15-30 women and each center has to elect their Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer and other officers. 

b. Enterprise Development with Microfinance services.  We provide them with microfinance services (livelihood loans, savings facilities, micro-insurance) to capitalize their new and existing businesses. We provide free business skills training – like hablon weaving, crafts and skills training on running a business. We create markets for our members’ products.  We purchase and use our clients’ products to ensure that our poor members that we serve generate income and grow their businesses.

c. Community Development Services and community infrastructures. We provide our members and their children with educational assistance, scholarships, school supplies, community health and sanitation training, and relief after any calamity. We also provide leadership  training and facilitate establishments of community infrastructures such as but not limited to toilets and bridges.

Our micro-entrepreneurs, staff, their families, the children and youth are very important to us. We take great joy in seeing how they transform their lives. We seek partners who share our passion in empowering hard working entrepreneurs, the children and youth to escape the oppressive cycle of chronic poverty and experience the grace of transformation God provides.

“If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.” –Isaiah 58:9-11

 “So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.” –Galatians 6:9

 

Educate A Child

Of the 430 graduates from high school, only 230 enter college but only 120 will get a degree (12% of the total number who started), all because of poverty. The APPEND KILOS- Educate a Child is a great equalizer and can break the cycle of poverty. 

APPEND provides scholarships and educational assistance to children of our client-members. The maiden program called KILOS (Knowledge for Inspiring Leadership, Opportunities and Spirituality) started in 2006 when a generous couple from Opportunity International-USA, Mr. Gordon and Helen Smith, had the burden to provide full financial scholarship to deserving children of our client-members. Since then, the KILOS Program gave birth to other variations such as school supplies distribution to kids, teaching kids biblical values using the LIFE Series Books, gift giving during Christmas and provision of gadgets for college students. We have already helped more than 3, 400 students. 

 

Plant & Nurture Million Trees

#habangmaypunomaybuhay (in English “while there are trees, there is life!”)

Because of the prior events of devastation on the lives and livelihoods of thousands of our members caused by typhoons and flooding,  APPEND embraces environmental stewardship and pledges to protect ecological diversity.  When we protect the environment, we protect ourselves. 

We continue to train our people on the importance of tree planting and climate change adaptation and in building resilience. Tree planting in the uplands, lowlands and mangroves are being implemented nationwide through our head offices and branch offices, always emphasizing the great benefits of trees:

 

1. Trees provide oxygen, support and sustain life throughout our existence. They have a wide variety of practical and commercial uses.
2. They conserve water, improve quality of air and preserve soil. Trees, shrubs and turf (grasslands) filter air by removing dust,  absorbing other pollutants like carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. 
3. They lower the air temperature and reduce the heat intensity of the greenhouse effect by maintaining low levels of carbon dioxide. Trees properly placed around buildings and homes reduce air conditioning needs by 30% and save 20-50 percent in energy used for heating.
4. They give fuel, firewood for cooking, heating, timber for building construction, furniture manufacture, tools, sporting equipment, and thousands of household items, for making paper and even for coffins.
5. The mangrove forests shield the communities from rogue waves and tsunamis and they serve as breeding ground for fish and other sea creatures.

 

Digitization of the Microfinance and micro-enterprise sector

In partnership with AppendPay, we provide training on the power and potentials of digitization of the micro-enterprise and the microfinance sector. AppendPay provides a digital finance ecosystem and e-commerce platforms that streamlines the financial and business operations  of the MFIs making them more effective and efficient in delivering their development services to our client-members.   The e-commerce platforms that go with AppendPay app also provide a wide array of financial and e-commerce services that could boost the incomes of our client-members. 

The decision to establish AppendPay was motivated by the very essence of APPEND which is to facilitate the growth and viability of its member organizations, as well as the continuing development and promotion of the social welfare of its urban and rural poor members using the platforms of micro and social enterprise development, microfinance (micro-loans, micro-insurance, capital build/savings) micro-health, agriculture value chains, leadership training, financial literacy and environment protection, pursuant to RA 8425 Poverty Alleviation Act and RA 10693 An Act Strengthening the Non-Government Organizations Engaged in Microfinance Operations for the Poor.

 

Leadership Development

Everyone wins when leaders get better.

 The goal is to refresh, build and produce leaders amongst our development workers, board and executives, and member-micro-entrepreneurs. Since our inception, Append trained thousands of staff, micro-entrepreneurs, church and marketplace leaders through our leadership training, seminars and conferences.  The training is in the area of transformational leadership, corporate governance, microfinance, micro-enterprise development, marketing, digitalization, consumer protection, financial education, and literacy, climate change adaptation and resilience and agriculture.