Time to ReFocus

Over the last 10 years we have seen the ministry evolve from being an outreach ministry based in the cemetery ministering to all ages, to being more focused on young children and their families and supporting the children through their schooling to help break the cycle of poverty in their lives. They attend public school and receive extra help and support to ensure they complete their education. Due to the families we are working with being among the ultra poor and having extremely unstable life styles, at times we have had to adjust to their circumstances. When they were all evicted from the cemetery where they lived and where we held the programs we gathered them all at the church instead and then rented a building exclusively to minister to them. Over the years we have lost some who have moved away. This could have been due to dysfunctional family relationships or running away from debt or because they have found work in another area, but at times we have no idea why and have not been able to locate them and find out why. This is an unavoidable part of working with these ultra poor families but we now have a core group of stable families.

The latest development is that the squatter area where many of the families live has been reclaimed by the owners leaving the families with no home because they have been evicted so they have the choice of moving back to the cemetery, facing high rent because of the number of displaced families or looking for options outside the area. This change in the families circumstances and the general rise in rent in the area led us to a time of assessing our programme and seeking God for the future. One of the core values at the establishment of the Project was the importance of engaging with the local church but for a number of reasons there was a period where the local church, as a whole, wasn't very involved and also it relocated to a new premises further from the area of the families. We have now strengthened the relationship and cooperation of the Church Of God Malabon (The Church of God is a vibrant group of churches which can be found all over the Philippines) and believe it is now time to build a more direct link between the families and the church so the church as a whole can be a support to these families and children. This will give them an encouraging and supportive community they can be a part of even when they have finished their education.

So what will be changing in Manila?

• We will no longer rent a building for the project but will be based in the church building which is much bigger and more conducive for teaching the children. Our current centre is too small for the number of children we have
• One day a week the children will be brought to the church for more concentrated and effective extra teaching and personal tuition
• One day a week we have permission to use a public centre which includes a library so the children can use this facility for their school assignments as well as receive personal tuition from our teachers 
• One day a week the teachers will visit the children in their homes to increase the contact with the families and include them more in their development and education
• The children and their families will attend the church services on a Sunday instead of trying to squeeze them into the current Durian Centre on a Friday for their spiritual support
• Money saved on the rent will be used for the transportation of the children from their home area to the different activities

            

We are very happy that our children are progressing well in school and a number of them are now in high school. These changes reflect the support they need now as they move up in their education. From a group of young children needing encouragement and support to begin their schooling we also have children who are well on the way to graduating from high school and moving onto college. We believe that they have the potential to become the generation that breaks the cycle of poverty in their families. Those already in high school are already key in motivating and encouraging their younger brothers and sisters in their education.

Sponsorship and Support

There are 2 very positive facets to sponsorship. For the children, who are at the bottom of the social ladder and on the margins of society, it is a huge motivation to know they have someone who cares about them, is praying for them and is helping provide for them, it also creates a sense of belonging. For the sponsor, it gives them the opportunity to give in a focused way, pray for their child and hear how their support is helping their child.

In a programme like ours in an urban area with rising costs and a group of children who need a high level of input we cannot cover all our costs with sponsorship. Individual sponsorship covers most of the cost of giving that child a good meal when they attend weekly activities and the resources they need for schooling but we have overheads including transportation and teachers love gifts.
To cover the additional costs we have some amazing supporters who sponsor teachers or simply give generously into the general fund of the project. These great people together with those who sponsor children enable us to provide the activities and programmes needed to give these children a hope for the future.

Financial implications;
At the moment we are more than £300 short of what we need to cover our monthly expenses as well as extra costs needed at Christmas and at the end of the year so if anyone can help with this shortfall please contact us via email gilliansaunders2@msn.com