The ADRA Deutschland (Germany) through its Programs Director, Lucas Driedger and Project Coordinator, Joseph Rao had a meaningful encounter with the RISE Benguet Project Stakeholders during their two-day monitoring visit last February 19-20, 2024 in BLISTT area within the Province of Benguet.
On the first day of their monitoring visit, the ADRA Deutschland Programs Team participated in the 1st Project Management Team (PMT) Meeting of the RISE Benguet. They were able to meet the 21 CSO and BLISTT LGU Partners as represented by their respective Planning and Development Officers, CSO Focal Desk Officers and Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officers.
The 2023 Project Accomplishment were shared among the stakeholders, and on the other hand, CSOs were given the chance to give their individual organizational progress reports as a result of the project activities. Likewise, the LGU representatives from BLISTT expressed their continuous support to the CSOs as they embark in a journey of promoting disaster and climate resilient communities.
In the afternoon on the same day, Mr. Driedger and Mr. Rao visited the Municipality of Itogon, one of the RISE Benguet project sites. They passed through the slopy terrains of Barangay Loacan going to Barangay Ucab – both home to small scale mining communities. The community visit served as an opportunity to further understand the vulnerabilities and capacities of the service communities affecting their overall resilience from the impacts of disasters and climate risks.
They capped off the day through a site visit and conversations with the United Mothers Livelihood Association in Ucab (UMLAU) – one of the CSO Champions of the RISE Benguet Project. The exchanges highlighted the roles of women in promoting resilience especially, during disasters, starting at the household level and moving towards building resilience of the entire community. This was based upon the experience of UMLAU members, where women took over the role of an economic provider, when their husbands had no other source of livelihood due to the moratorium on small scale mining operations, triggered by the massive landslide in Ucab, due to Typhoon Ompong in 2018.
Joining them were Ms. Analynn Bruce, ADRA Canada Programs Director, Dr. Hope Aperocho, ADRA Philippines Country Director, Ms. Levy Gutierrez, ADRA Philippines Program Manager, Ms. Rose Ann Paragas, RISE Benguet Project Manager, and Mr. Santos Mero, RISE Benguet Field Coordinator for Itogon.
On the last day of the visit, ADRA Deutschland and the RISE Benguet team also paid a courtesy visit to the office of the Municipal Mayor of Tuba as part of its ongoing efforts to foster collaboration and support for community development initiatives in the area. During the visit, ADRA Germany and the project team had the opportunity to discuss the objectives and the ongoing initiatives of the project in Tuba. Afterwards, they joined the Organizational Strengthening Planning Session of Aduyon Organic Farmers Association in Tabaan Norte,Tuba – a 40 minute drive away from the center.
The two-day field visit is part of the monitoring activities of ADRA Deutschland as the head of the Project Consortium. The ADRA Deutschland co-funded the RISE Benguet Project together with the European Union.
RISE Benguet is a consortium project of ADRA Philippines, Jaime V. Ongpin Foundation, Inc., and Center for Development Programs in the Cordillera – CDPC This project is funded by the European Union.
