Fight Dengue, Fight Poverty, Build Peace

Rainy season is just around the corner.

And while the cool climes it brings are certainly welcome, still water is prime breeding ground for the season’s unwanted visitor: the dengue-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquito. The Philippines’ mosquito population spikes during the rainy months of June and July.

With Human Nature insect repellent, you can  protect your family from mosquito-borne diseases and harmful chemicals.

Human Nature’s Bug Shield products are DEET-free. DEET (N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide) is a pesticide commonly found in insect repellents. Developed by the US Army in the 1940s to protect soldiers during jungle combat, DEET’s chemical smell and its ability to melt plastic on contact has led consumers to seek natural alternatives.  

Bug Shield Oil and Bug Shield Lotion protect naturally with citronella oil. Both have been infused with soybean oil and eucalyptus oil, giving an added boost of protection and an even better scent. It also has sunflower oil that keeps skin soft and supple.

That’s not all—every purchase of Human Nature’s Bug Shield DEET-Free Oil (P99.75,50ml; P169.75, 100ml), Bug Shield DEET-Free Lotion (P99.75, 50ml) or Bug Shield G6PD-Friendly Oil (soybean-free, P169.75) helps build peace in Rajah Buayan, Maguindanao.

The families in Rajah Buayan, a sixth class municipality in Maguindanao, are a few of the 31,500 people that were displaced due to armed conflict according to a report by the  United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

In 2016, beauty brand Human Nature set out to build homes in Rajah Buayan through a bayanihan campaign dubbed ‘Goodness Rising’.

One hundred percent of the profits from the Bug Shield line funds community programs for Maguindanao: Kusina ng Kalinga, SIPAgasa and the construction of ‘Village of Peace’ in GK Rajah Buayan, Maguindanao.

End child hunger

Did you know that child hunger has long term effects on a child’s development? Apart from malnutrition and stunted growth, hunger can also hinder a child’s learning and development. ¹

Through Gawad Kalinga’s Kusina ng Kalinga, schoolchildren from Rajah Buayan are served healthy lunch meals every day.

Kusina ng Kalinga is not your ordinary feeding program.  These meals go beyond satiating hunger—each meal comes in a lunch box and has meat and vegetables, including malunggay, to ensure that they are getting the nutrients that they need.

Schoolchildren in Sitio Pajo, Quezon City enjoying their Kusina ng Kalinga lunches

Kusina ng Kalinga’s kitchen operations served healthy, dignified meals to 990 students last school year. With additional funding from Goodness Rising, Kusina ng Kalinga’s kitchen operations can reach more children next year.

Kickstart hope

Hope springs anew in a field where blood was once shed.

SIPAGasa, a grassroots football program by Gawad Kalinga, now brings joy and laughter in a football field that once wasa battlefield during armed encounters.

Over 500 kids from 11 schools participated in the program which taught the children how to play football while teaching them discipline, life skills, and building friendship among the children.

Children from different backgrounds—from the Teduray tribe of the Municipality of Esperanza, Maguindanao to children of former rebels—enjoy fun and games, giving them new hope.

Through Goodness Rising, SIPAgasa can open more slots to train children not just from Rajah Buayan, but from other municipalities as well.

New homes for 50 families

Goodness Rising aims to raise P7.5 million to build 50 homes in GK Rajah Buayan. While Human Nature continues to raise funds, initiatives to help commerce grow in the municipality are in the works. Gawad Kalinga closely works with the local government in helping community members.

Residents of Gawad Kalinga, Rajah Buayan

“Farming is the main source of income for the community. Corn is our main product but selling it as bird feeds has low value. We’re slowly working with the government to help them with the market trade. Corn is a very flexible crop—there’s a lot that we can do with it, not just feeds,” Jun Degayo, a Gawad Kalinga community worker, shared.

A market next to the Gawad Kalinga site will soon be opened as the center of trade for the people—a place where produce can be sold, helping trade and livelihood boom in the municipality. “We aim to uplift the people of Maguindanao, not just ones inside the GK communities,” Degayo added.

Build hope, one bottle at a time

As the rainy season draws near, protect yourself and your family from dengue while becoming a part of the bayanihan for Rajah Buayan.

Get all-natural protection from mosquito-borne diseases with Bug Shield DEET-Free Oil (P99.75, 50ml; P169.75, 100ml). The profits from every bottle of Bug Shield DEET-Free Oil that you buy will go to the Village of Peace and community work in GK Rajah Buayan.

Other variants from Human Nature’s genuinely natural line include Bug Shield DEET-Free Lotion (P99.75, 50ml) and Bug Shield DEET-Free Oil in a G6PD-Friendly, soybean-free formulation (P169.75, 100ml). For more information about Goodness Rising, log on to www.humanheartnature.com/goodnessrising.

Source:
¹ Effects of Poverty, Hunger and Homelessness on Children and Youth, American Psychological Association