IMAGINE fruit, jellies, shaved ice, coconut, evaporated milk and a serve of ice cream on top.
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Halo-halo is a famous Philippines dessert being served at a Filipino Fiesta at Hargreaves Mall from 10am to 3pm this Saturday.
The Bendigo Filipino Foundation is running its first fiesta in Bendigo and treasurer Maria Gillies said everyone’s invited.
“We’re famous for hospitality and happy people,” Ms Gillies said. “We would like to showcase those aspects of Filipino culture.”
Among the festivities will be native Filipino dancing and music. There will also be sack races, eggs relays and trivia about the Philippines.
One dance on show will be the Bulaklak, a traditional flower dance.
While the fiesta is a celebration of Filipino culture, above all it is a fundraiser for people impacted by a typhoon in the Philippines three years ago.
On November 8, 2013, the strongest typhoon ever recorded made its landfall in the Visayas region of central Philippines. In just hours, thousands died and there was massive infrastructure damage.
One area affected was the Doong-Bantayan group of islands on the northern tip of Cebu Island.
The foundation’s aim is to help rebuild the livelihood of the people of Doong-Bantayan and that is where the funds raised from the fiesta will go.
In collaboration with Caritas Cebu Philippines, the foundation wants to provide scholarships for university education.
Ms Gilles said most of the families that live in Doong-Bantayan cannot afford to pay for their children to go to university.
Previous fundraisers by the foundation have resulted in the construction of 40 houses and the repair of 20 houses in Doong-Bantayan.
Ms Gilles explained that in 2014 they sent builders from Australia to the Doong-Bantayan to help teach the locals to build houses.
She said approximately 500 to 1000 make up the Philippines community in the Bendigo area.
The foundation will have a booth set up at the fiesta where they will provide information and answer questions about Doong-Bantayan. The fiesta will be held in Hargreaves Mall from 10am to 3pm on Saturday.
