Malaya and Tala Visit Maribi Elementary School, Philippines

This is a story of children helping other children in their time of need.
In 2013, super Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines. Finishing our family's Thanksgiving Day dinner we watched in shock the news coverage of the tragic loss of life and destruction. Over 8K people died as a result of Haiyan and many were children. One scene reported on the destruction of elementary grade schools. At the time Malaya 10-years-old and Tala 13 were very moved by the images of the children. Malaya's hobby was making rubber band bracelets and she decided to help the children rebuild their school by selling her bracelets. Within hours Malaya created a list of friends to help her and a plan to sell the bracelets to other children and relatives. It became a community effort as Malaya asked family and friends to join her to support the children of Tanauan.
In the end, Malaya & Tala raised over $106,000 in about a month. Contributions came from family, friends, and the public. In addition, contributions came from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and Friends of Akbayan USA. The construction fund was administered by the Active Citizenship Foundation. A heartfelt thank you to all involved in supporting this project.
On December 8, 2024, ten years after Typhoon Haiyan, Malaya & Tala visited the school they built. It was a heart moving reception as the children welcomed them to the "Tala & Malaya Building" of the Maribi Elementary School.
The children knew their names and the story of their help and were in awe. It was as if the images they saw everyday of two girls making bracelets in the murals on the walls of their school had come to life. Malaya & Tala were real and the children greeted them with smiles, laughter, and sheer joy.
Malaya's message to the children was simple. "This is a project of the youth and many people of very young ages were able to accomplish so much. I just wanted to say that I hope that the youth continue to support and help the youth in the same way me and my sister were able to."
Follow this link to watch Malay's & Tala's 2013 appeal for support of their school building project. • The Malaya and Tala Fu...