The 1980s up to the early 1990s witnessed the unprecedented increase in the number of Filipino and Filipino-German associations in Germany. While most of these early associations were organized to bring together Filipinos during their annual social gatherings, a group of civic-minded Filipinos sought to direct their efforts and financial gains for a better purpose. Thus was born the Association Lending Assistance in Exigencies at Home, gem e.V. (ALA EH).
Knowing about the lack of school infrastructure, health and sanitary facilities in poor provinces of the Philippines where some of them in fact trace their humble beginnings, members of ALA EH sought to uplift the lives of their fellowmen by financing development projects and relief assistance to needy communities in the country.
Since inception in 1994, ALA EH has financed the construction of urgently needed infrastructure projects. In its commitment to address the health and sanitation needs of the community, the association built health centers and caused the renovation of existing ones; provided sanitation systems and public toilets; and built artesian wells where there is lack of safe and sustainable sources of clean water. In areas where children had to bear with dilapidated school buildings and congested school facilities, ALA EH funded the construction of several classrooms and Day Care centers.
Differing from many associations with similar objectives, ALA EH is dedicated to the principle of helping the needy and poor help themselves. Recipient communities are required to provide labor to complement the amount allocated by the association. The recipient community is likewise engaged by the association in identifying projects that are most urgently needed.
Besides funding several infrastructure projects in the Philippines, the association provides assistance to immediate victims of exigencies at home such as grave calamities and natural disasters. In 1995, when President Fidel Ramos appealed for help on behalf of the victims of the Mt. Pinatubo eruption, ALA EH rallied the help of Filipino-led associations in the North Rhine Westphalia to make a united response and successfully shipped a 20 x 20 foot container of used garments to the Bigay Puso Foundation which was tasked with distributing the relief goods.
While it is true that most of its founding members are Batangueños or those who trace their roots in this Southern Luzon province, ALA EH has carried out several projects outside the province of Batangas. Among the province-beneficiaries of this German-based organization are Cavite, Bataan, Pampanga, Quezon, Aklan, Negros Occidental, and Davao. To date, ALA EH has completed 21 projects throughout the country amounting to P4,000,000.
ALA EH’s exemplary support of social projects in the Philippines has earned for its members the admiration and respect of foreign friends and fellow Filipinos residing abroad. Their zeal and dedication for each and every project they have undertaken is a testament of their commitment and dedication to the upliftment of the lives of their compatriots back home. Today, numerous projects are in the pipeline as the association shows no sign of slowing down in its commitment to serve their countrymen.
In conferring the Lingkod sa Kapwa Pilipino Award to Association Lending Assistance in Exigencies at Home, gem e.V., the President recognizes its continued praiseworthy support to infrastructure projects, health care and relief programs to help the needy in remote provinces of the Philippines.
