PHILANTHROPY

Photography: Lionel Lai/Acepix; Art direction: Jana Tan; Hair and make-up: Amy Chow; Location: Enabling Village.

When Rachel Harrison relocated to Singapore eight years ago with her banker husband Keith and three sons, she struggled to create a comfortable routine for her second son Julyan, who is autistic. The wide nature spaces of Switzerland, where the family was previously based, contrasted starkly with the crowded urban ones here.

Rachel soon realised that they had to find a place where Julyan could live an independent and fulfilled life; even long after she and her husband have passed on. She says, “At some point, Julyan will grow up and what can he do besides staying at home? Nobody has the patience to nurture children like him.” 

Six years ago, Rachel decided to build a farm on her family land in Zambales, Philippines, where Julyan, who is at the lower end of the autism spectrum and cannot spontaneously communicate, can have a structured routine with regular activities—a calming factor for those with autism spectrum disorder. Julyan adapted well to the place, so his mother, a former flight attendant who is architecture-trained, added a five‑bedroom beach house and a cafe in 2012. Luxury resort Zambawood officially opened in 2014 as a social enterprise that would provide Julyan and others like him with a sustainable livelihood through vacationers who book the resort to enjoy its nature-infused surroundings of beaches, forestland and mountains. 

Today, 24-year-old Julyan feeds free-ranging chickens, grows and harvests organic vegetables for the in-house cafe, and mixes materials for compost on his Pine Beach Farm, located on the sprawling 26ha grounds of Zambawood. Under the supervision of trained staff, he also surfs in the sea, rides his all-terrain vehicle and helps with meal preparations. Gifted in art, he has created works with established abled artists and made his first bamboo bicycle in the resort’s latest initiative to promote ecotourism. The whole family, including the Harrisons’ two other sons, spends time together at Zambawood three times a year and Julyan sometimes comes back to Singapore where the family continues to be based.

Rachel is now expanding Zambawood’s outreach programmes with help from experts such as Chris Little and Belai Gruenberg who have spent years developing programmes for those with special needs. Little has worked in Camphill life-sharing communities, an international movement of communities located mostly in Europe, North America and South Africa, designed to meet the needs of those with developmental disabilities through a combination of community life, the arts and work on the land. Integrative psychologist Gruenberg specialises in developing holistic art and culinary programmes for people with disabilities using the Waldorf education method, which integrates art in all academic disciplines to enhance and enrich learning.

The farming and gardening aspects of Zambawood will be further developed to rehabilitate special needs residents and to provide a wider range of organic produce to be sold or used in daily meals. Cultural activities such as weekly art groups, music bands and calligraphy classes are also in the pipeline.

Little says, “These life-sharing communities are usually land-based, with farming and gardening being very important parts of their way of doing things. In the houses they live in, all the tasks are shared according to their individual abilities. While Zambawood would not be the first life‑sharing community in the Philippines, I believe it would be unique in combining life-sharing, organic farming and cultural life.”

Rachel is now targeting to raise £30,000 on the JustGiving crowdfunding platform to build an art and skills training centre to equip those with autism and other disabilities with employable skills and to create products that can be sold to generate sustainable income. She has already collaborated with three Filipino designers who have designed shoes and jewellery using drawings created by those with special needs.

Inspired by centres such as Singapore’s Enabling Village, which combines retail, lifestyle and training for people of diverse abilities, Rachel’s long-term goal is to bring Zambawood’s social enterprise model to countries all over Asia.

She says, “When Julyan was young, I used to ask, ‘Why did I get a kid like this?’ But now I realise that God has given him as a gift. Julyan has opened many people’s eyes to the possibilities that they can do in life, even though they may have disabilities.”