What your support makes possible

Dear Champion,

Happy New Year!

Joy and focus: these are the two energies our Wave 11 partners are embracing as they start the year 2026. Joy for barangays graduating this January; focus for those restructuring and extending the program, giving more families a chance to join our Exchanges despite back-to-back typhoons and intervening rains.

Over the weekend, we held our very first Wave 11 barangay graduation! Barangay Bagtic in La Libertad, Negros Oriental celebrated with a bang—as they should—for 85% of all families in their community joined Feed Back. The gathering was made even more enjoyable by a cooking contest, a Miss Gulay pageant, and, since they achieved more than 80% of total families, McDonald’s gifted them meals!

Barangay Bigtac, the first graduate community of the 11th Wave of Feed Back

Kap Roland of Bagtic shared his heart that day, and I wanted to pass it on to you:

"Akala ko sa inuman lang tayo tatawa, o kaya sa mga comedies. Pero dahil sa Feed Back, dito ko naranasan na masaya kung magmeet tayo. Akala ko din mga bata lang ang mahilig maglaro, pero dahil sa Feed Back nakita ko na mahilig din pala maglaro ang mga matatanda. Kung may programa na parehas sa Feed Back, susuporta rin kami at tatanggapin namin. Dahil marami din akong appointed officials na tumutulong kaya malaki ang pasasalamat ko sa inyo. Makikita natin na kung magtanim tayo ng ilang klase ng gulay, pag nag-Exchange tayo tuwing Sabado, makakatikim tayo ng marami.

“I used to think we only laughed together during drinking sessions or while watching comedies. But because of Feed Back, I experienced that we can be happy when we meet regularly. I also thought it was only children who enjoyed playing, but because of Feed Back, I saw that even the elders like to play too. If there are programs similar to Feed Back, we will support them and welcome them. I also have many appointed officials who stepped up to help, and for that I am deeply thankful. We can see that when we plant a few kinds of vegetables and go to the Exchange every Saturday, we get to enjoy much more than what we planted.”

Meanwhile, other partners in Sorsogon and Reina Mercedes are set to graduate in February. Still others want to extend for more weeks, which would allow additional families to join until March.

We made sure to revisit Ma’am Ana Marie of Bagtic (you may recall her from the story I shared with you last November). We learned that she has continued earning from her excess vegetables. With these earnings, her family enjoyed their first Christmas vacation! More importantly, her child, previously listed as malnourished in their barangay, is now showing great improvement, from 10.5 kg to 11.2 kg, signaling better nutrition. From a place of struggle, her garden has brought income, health, and dignity.

Another major milestone for our partners is their production of natural compost. We've equipped the families to create natural compost through our PlayShops, in partnership with the municipal agriculture teams in the LGUs, supported by our PlaySheet. With this new skill set, we've given them the opportunity to become suppliers to their respective LGUs. Our LGU partners are procuring compost from them with a minimum order of 2,500 kg per barangay—another huge win for our Wave 11 Feed Back families!

To end this update, I want to leave you with what our Bayan Patroller from Bagtic, Almalyn, shared as they graduate from Feed Back:

"Kapakanan ng lahat, ang pagkakaisa at pagtitiwala ng bawat isa, at ang tunay na pamilya ang totoong bida. Baon natin ito habang buhay."

“The welfare of everyone, the unity and trust among each other, and true family are the real stars. Let us carry these with us for life.”

Thank you, Champions, for giving them a path to seize their greatness—a path where they truly embrace that they are in charge of their futures as the real bidas and stars! Thank you for fueling something so big that they want to carry it for the rest of their lives.

Sincerely,

Yang