Harvard Philippine Forum To Coordinate Fundraisers

As survivors wade through waist-deep floodwaters in the aftermath of Typhoon Ketsana, students of the Harvard Philippine Forum (HPF) have begun raising funds and awareness to help its victims.

HPF is collaborating with the Student Calamity Fund, an organization launched by Harvard Business School students in response to the typhoon, which has left 295 dead.

Co-president of HPF Edmund G. Soriano ’11 said he anticipates “putting up a unified front to raise awareness.”

The relief effort includes a clothing drive, a possible raffle fundraiser, and a benefit performance co-sponsored by the Harvard Vietnamese Association (HVA). HVA’s vice-president Huy V. Nguyen ’10 said the show will involve “diverse groups to get a diverse audience to raise as much awareness as possible.” The benefit show will also include pictures and video clips to show the extent of devastation in the Philippines.

David N. Campbell, executive director of the Hands on Disaster Response, an organization that has already sent a team to assess the situation in the Philippines, said he was skeptical about the success of groups working from afar.

However, he said that “it’s great to have students connected to people in need.”

Michael J. VanRooyen, co-director of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, said he was more optimistic that “student efforts play a positive role in generating a bigger buzz of activity.”

Raising awareness has been the main achievable objective of many Harvard student groups spearheading disaster relief efforts in the past.

In response to last year’s earthquake in China’s Sichuan province, the Harvard-Radcliffe Chinese Students Association collaborated with other Chinese student groups to host a candlelight vigil and a donation collection event, in which the money raised was matched by Johnson & Johnson. Janet He ’10, former co-president of CSA, also emphasized the effectiveness of raising awareness over raising funds on the undergraduate level.

While HPF lacks an official sponsor, the group’s Education and Finance Director and relief effort organizer John P. Gobok ’12 said, “Our niche is creating awareness on campus.”

Andrew R. Marks, director of communications for Paul Farmer’s famed Partners in Health lauded HPF’s efforts in aiding the victims of Typhoon Ketsana by garnering “support to help people get back on their feet.”