The Diplomat
Representatives of the Embassies of the five member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Spain visited Fundación Madrina’s Baby Bank in Madrid this past Wednesday to show their support and solidarity with all vulnerable families affected by COVID.
The Ambassador of Vietnam, Hoang Xuan Hai; the Ambassador and Minister of the Embassy of Thailand, Phantipha Iamsudha Ekarohit and Pongprach Makchang, respectively; the Consul General of Philippines, Adrian S. Cruz; Chargé d’Affaires of Malaysia, Muhammad Azfar Abdullah; and Chargé d’Affaires of Indonesia, Bayu Hari Saktiawan, attended the delivery of a food donation, in response to an emergency appeal by the Fundación Madrina against the growing “mother and child poverty” and to help all families who have lost everything during the pandemic.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Fundación Madrina has been distributing more than 20 tons of food and baby hygiene products to nearly 4,000 families every day. It also welcomes in its centers and services people of more than 78 different nationalities, mostly from Latin America, but also from Asian countries, “all with a common denominator, vulnerability and dependent children, which has led them during the pandemic to a situation of extreme poverty,” according to the Foundation in a press release.
During the event, the Thai ambassador praised “the heroic work of the Fundación Madrina and its volunteers during the pandemic to alleviate the situation of poverty of these families, and giving encouragement to all mothers and children who have lost everything in this pandemic and are still condemned to the queues of hunger”.
For his part, the president of the Fundación Madrina, Conrado Giménez, thanked “this gesture of ASEAN” and assured that “the real heroes are all the mothers and children who have been sheltered during this year in the hunger queues, together with the volunteers”. He also asked that this event “is not just a gesture” and that “the aid continues over time because Madrid is hungry, the capitals are hungry and Spain is still hungry”.
