I used to think that Hawkeye was a terrible Avenger. How is this guy with no superpowers going to last one minute against a villain with super human abilities, let alone help fight. Thanks to the new series, he has come to be my favorite because I can relate to him. No flying, no super speed, and no super strength. He's simply a guy who mastered skills to solve the world’s problems (yes, and he has a few cool trick arrows).
As we close 2021, I'd love to share with you a story from an investor that gives a wonderful picture of the change we are seeing in our community.
"On my first visit to Dignity in 2014, I was amazed by the unchanged beauty and lifestyle of the remote coastline and villages. Everywhere I looked was either coconut trees or rice paddies.
Most coconut companies contract only with big plantations in order to reduce costs. This leaves owners of small farms at the mercy of middlemen who consolidate these smaller harvests while taking a large cut for themselves.
This year, your purchase of coconut oil or lip balm sent a kid to school, fed a family, provided clean water, and most importantly, transformed a community with dignity.
Globally, women are undervalued and marginalized at best and abused physically or sexually at worst. So many women find themselves enslaved in the sex industry. Others are trapped in the cycle of poverty. In both cases, there seems little hope of breaking out of their present circumstances.
Through training, our business will be a catalyst to improve issues like unemployment rates, cycles of sickness, personal finances, education, environment, business development, leadership and water sanitation.
Modern-day slavery is a 43 billion dollar industry and growing, with millions of women and children being treated like property. One-third of the world lives on less than $2/day, driving them to despair, desperation and hopelessness. The heavy weight of these chains of poverty and slavery are too much to bear.
When the water in your village makes your kids sick, where do you turn? If you can't get clean and safe water, how do you thrive? Our baseline survey found that clean water is a huge need in Bicol.
Our company exists to restore the God-given dignity in each person. Every person you lock eyes with has dignity in them. When your gaze meets theirs, can you see it? If you look hard enough or long enough, you will be able to see the beauty that is dignity in a person.
Giving someone a job extends them dignity. By bringing more jobs to an area with high rates of unemployment, we start to see transformation. We see families reunite. We see children have the chance to be educated. We see disease rates lower.
From the beginning, Dignity has been clear that we want to see lives changed. This is so important to us that we have made it a bottom line - a measurement to our investors and staff that is right next to profit in our reports. It's the way we do business. It is integrated into the fabric of who we are.
The hard to reach places. The places with high unemployment and disease rates. The logistically messy places. The places most businesses won't go. The places where education is substandard.
Filipinos and Americans. We share ownership. We are committed to profitability for every stakeholder in Dignity - from investors to employees. This is not top-down or bottom-up. This is together.
First, the typhoon hit the Philippines. Next, covid-19 and lockdowns started. Our workers, team, & community have taken on too much in the past 3 mths. Learn what we can all do to protect the vulnerable!
Major Typhoon Kammuri made a direct hit over our Community Transformation Plant last month with winds clocked at 130 mph. As the most sound structure in the area, we make it available as a safe haven during dangerous storms as part of our emergency plan.
When we say we are out there, we mean it. Many times we have heard from Filipinos, "You're building way out there in the villages of Bicol? Why?" From a business perspective, the logistics are tough.
Our survey is complete! We finished our baseline survey for two villages in
Bicol (pop. 3,108 and 2,411) and now have hundreds of stats that give us
insight into the needs of the community. Here are a few that stood out to
us:
Health:
94% experience food shortages for at least 1 month/year
49% for 3 months or more
31% of children have had diarrhea in last 2 weeks
"Doing good" has become a business strategy.
Buy Tom's shoes and they will give a pair of shoes to someone in need. Buy
bottled water, gum, mints or coffee from Project 7, and much of the profits
help meet seven areas of fundamental needs around the globe.
See how we are doing good...
