World Street Children News :: Philippines Streetkid News

POLITICAL TIDBITS
By Belinda Olivares-Cunanan
Inquirer
Last updated 02:18am (Mla time) 11/06/2007

Last Oct. 29, I attended the ceremony where French Ambassador Gerard Chesnel presented the formal document from French President Nikolas Sarkozy to 49-year-old French Jesuit Fr. Jean-Francois Thomas, electing him as knight in the Legion of Honor, France’s highest award founded by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802.

Father Thomas, who has been living here since 1996, was recognized for founding in 1998 Tulay ng Kabataan Foundation (TNK — Bridge of Youth), which rescues the neediest children from Metro Manila’s streets and slums and seeks to transform them into productive citizens. The ascetic-looking priest holds a doctorate in philosophy from the Sorbonne University in Paris and a master’s degree in theology from Cambridge. He chose to leave his teaching at the Ateneo de Manila University to push three projects for the city’s poorest children.

An interesting footnote is Chesnel’s disclosure that Thomas’ father was also awarded the Legion of Honor with rank of knight 55 years ago when he was 32 years old, for his military service during World War II and in the French resistance. Chesnel said it’s very rare for a parent and child to both be so decorated. The elder Thomas, who was later promoted to Commander, bequeathed to his son his knight’s decoration, and the latter proudly wore it last Oct. 29 over his cassock.

* * *

Cecile Alvarez and I invited Father Thomas to our dzRH radio program, on which he spoke about the TNK programs. One seeks to rescue street kids who fall victim to violence, drugs and prostitution and rehabilitate them in residential centers that offer a family atmosphere, while preparing those of school age to return to school through “bridge classes” and giving older ones vocational training.

A second program works with families in Metro Manila’s slums, where he seeks to feed 800 “dangerously malnourished children,” provide them medical care with the help of volunteer doctors from the EDSA Shrine Parish and access to pre-school education. It also trains mothers on better nutrition and recruits them to teach other mothers in this vital concern, and adults to become teachers in his schools. A third program works with scavenger families in the “new Smokey Mountain” in Vitas, Tondo, where 200 children are provided balanced meals and schooling in two centers.

* * *

He notes that poverty seems to be getting worse in the areas where TNK works and that street children seem to be getting younger (as young as four years old). To service TNK’s many centers, he spends about P30 million a year and employs about 100 people. How does he raise the funds? Largely through “Divine Providence,” he said with a grin, and the help of many kind souls and volunteers.

Father Thomas needs donations in cash or in kind, such as rice, “new clothes” for kids ages 4 to 18, “unexpired” medicines and “recent computers.” He also noted that more middle and upper class Filipinos are getting involved in helping the very poor, “but much more help is needed.” He ended our interview by citing lines from French poet Charles Peguy, which translates roughly thus: “One can avoid looking at poverty, but poverty will look at you anyway.” We Pinoys should come to the assistance of this foreign priest regarding our streetchildren. He can be reached at 108 Kalayaan Ave., Quezon City. (beside Eunilane Supermarket), Tel. No. +632 9222745, or at www.tnkfoundation.org.

 

Street children find safe haven at United Methodist center

Oct. 15, 2007

NOTE: First in a series; photographs and video available at http://umns.umc.org.

By Kathy L. Gilbert*

MANILA, Philippines (UMNS)-It’s nearly noon. More than 100 hungry children struggle to stay still in their small, green plastic chairs.

When someone walks within range, they pop up and race for a hug, grab a hand and press it to their foreheads or do elaborate jigs to gain attention.

It is safe here. Everyone who walks in is a friend. For an afternoon, the harsh realities of life on the streets are forgotten as the children eat, sing, draw, play and learn about Jesus Christ.

Pag-aruga (which means "to care" in the Filipino language of Tagalog) is a ministry for street families run by The United Methodist Church in the Philippines. The ministry takes place in the back parking lot of the church’s conference office. Bishop Solito Toquero can hear the children laughing from his upstairs office.

Representatives from the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries and United Methodist Communications traveled to Manila last July to visit ministries that care for street children and the poor.

Lunch and skill training

On Wednesdays, Thursday and Fridays, Pag-aruga serves lunch to street families. Most of the diners are children. However, parents who attend can learn skills to help them obtain a sustainable livelihood. A micro-lending program also allows them to borrow money to start or expand a small business such as selling candy or other small items.

All the families involved in Pag-aruga are homeless. They make their living by begging. Some make a few pesos by coaxing pedestrians to hop on a jeepney, the Philippines’ cheapest taxi service, or by scavenging for recyclable items. At night they sleep under trees, in doorways or any available space.

Angelito B. Meneses gets an especially warm welcome when the children see him. In a matter of seconds he is surrounded by laughing, squirming children. They know love when they see it.

Meneses is the director of the Asuncion A. Perez Memorial Center, the social service arm of The United Methodist Church in the Philippines, which includes Pag-uaruga.

"I am here because personally this is my passion-a passion to serve the least of my brothers and sisters," he explains. "So I am here actually not here for work. I am here for responsibility and accountability serving these people-these marginalized people."

Begun by United Methodist Women

The Asuncion A. Perez Memorial Center was started in 1969 by United Methodist Women. It was formally organized as a center in 1970 and was incorporated as a nonprofit charitable organization in 1972. The center was named after a renowned United Methodist social worker.

Asuncion A. Perez was the first social service worker to be appointed to the Philippines cabinet in 1948 under President Elpidio Quirino. Perez went on to serve four Filipino presidents. She was known for her unselfish devotion to others.

In addition to the program for street families, the center offers disaster response training; a comprehensive health project; women, youth and children’s ministry; women’s empowerment; and KaBahagika, a youth ministry.

Each of the programs is designed to teach participants that they are children who are loved by God, according to Meneses. He says his Christian faith challenged him to do something for the families living on the streets.

"It took spiritual courage to identify myself with the kind of misery they are experiencing," he adds. "It took a righteous courage to accept them without prejudiced judgment and distrust."

Children are able to attend both formal and informal classes. Most of the more than 100 street children learn basic skills such as cooking, hygiene and grooming, as well as study the Bible. The 53 children attending formal classes are taught skills that will help them get into a school.

Seven children from the program have been referred to the Gilead Center, another United Methodist ministry that houses children from 7 to 13 years of age. The center also pays for their primary education in area schools.

"They want to finish schooling and someday they want to get their family out of the streets," Meneses says.

"They have taught me to love life, to live love and to celebrate hope."

*Gilbert is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn. She compiled this series based on her visit to the Philippines in July.

News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

Temporary home provides shelter to street children
By DJ Yap
Inquirer
Last updated 09:47pm (Mla time) 09/29/2007

MANILA, Philippines–KAREN NEVER KNEW THE meaning of home until she set foot in the Open Day Center (ODC) run by the Virlanie Foundation.

Having known only life in the streets and under the bridges of Manila, the strong willed 5-year-old girl was unprepared for this welcome environment in the heart of Quiapo and unwilling to leave the sanctuary it suddenly offered her.

But the center is open only from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., after which the center’s staff of six retires from the task of providing street children like Karen a place to eat, bathe, and perhaps escape momentarily, the scary world outside.

Thus when the clock struck five, Karen would not budge from her seat.

She shook her head twice and squared her shoulders, determined not to leave what had served as her home for eight hours that day. “Can I stay?” she asked, leaving the social worker on duty not a little heartbroken.

Finally, her big brother grabbed Karen’s arm and together, as the sun set, they strolled toward whatever nook or cranny of Quezon Bridge was available to spend the night. We can always come back tomorrow, he told her.

A project of Virlanie Foundation and funded by Amade, the ODC is a unique facility where young persons living in the streets may take refuge during the day but must leave at night.

The rationale behind it, said Virlanie’s deputy executive director, Arlyne Fernandez, is to provide street children with a comforting environment away from vice and crime, and to prepare them for the time when they find a home and have a family of their own.

“The truth is we hope we don’t have centers like this because that would mean no more street children. But as things stand, it seems impossible,” she added.

In an interview at the Virlanie head office in Makati City, Fernandez made clear that the institution does not condone children allowed to roam the streets. “But the children are out there anyway. This is our first step to let them experience a home atmosphere,” she said.

“They need to be in a safe place. The street is not a good place for children, and they have to experience home life so they’ll get used to it when we find a home for them,” Fernandez stressed.

The center, housed in a two-story building on Arlegui Street not too far away from Malacañang, does not provide free food, but instead encourages the families of the children to cook their own food in the kitchen.

The staff is composed of three social workers, a teacher, a nurse and a “house parent,” who oversees the children’s activities. Fernandez said an authority figure is important for kids in the center.

Volunteers are welcome, said May Laurent, who works as a team leader in the facility. “We’re looking for those who can train the kids in carpentry, sports, arts and crafts, etc.”

In the facility, there is a television set, an activity area for tutorials and workshops, and a toilet and bath where the young visitors may wash themselves.

“At first no soap was provided, so we asked them to bring their own. But no one did and many of them had skin diseases or wounds, so we decided to make soap available,” said Lauren.

The rest of the time is devoted to tutorials on various topics from the 3Rs to personal hygiene, and learning sessions on arts and crafts, or for older teens, adolescent sexuality and reproductive health.

Laurent said hygiene is usually the first thing their young wards learn in the center.

With a pained laugh, she recalled one little boy, who, not knowing how to use the toilet, did his thing right on the floor of the activity area. “He and his sibling live under the bridge where they do their toilet activities anywhere. These little things, we have to teach them,” she said.

Apart from the ODC, Virlanie actually operates 12 residential homes providing food, shelter and education for more than 1,000 disadvantaged children in the cities of Makati and Manila and in Batangas and Cavite provinces.

Since the inauguration of the facility in June, Fernandez said an average of 70 to 100 street children have begun to frequent the place every day, though not all of them at the same time.

Often coming in groups of five to eight, more boys than girls visit, Laurent said. They come from Manila’s depressed communities in Divisoria, Avenida, Carriedo, Basan, Paco, Carriedo, P. Casal and Plaza Miranda.

Laurent said working in Virlanie for four years did not prepare her for the images of extreme poverty and squalor that the center’s visitors face every day of their lives.

She remembered three siblings: Anna, 10; Michael, 6; and Gabriel, 3; whose parents are both in jail for petty offenses.

“I visited them once in their shanty under the bridge. The roof was so low you could hardly stand inside the shanty. There were overhanging electric wires, so any wrong move was dangerous,” she said.

Laurent continued: “I felt so scared, but of course I did not show them I was. Yet they were so happy to see me. It seemed as though living there had become so natural for them.”

After seeing their situation, Virlanie took in the siblings and arranged for their accommodation to the temporary homes.

Anna was sent to the Drop-In Center, Michael to the Marco Polo Home, while Gabriel was taken in by an aunt, The three are now doing fine, Laurent added.

“I remember the first time they visited the center. They are good, well-behaved kids. But they were obviously very hungry. They were always hungry,” she noted.

Which is why, despite the policy of not giving the street children food so they do not become dependent on the center, Laurent made an exception for the three. “I served them the food we had left over. In secret, of course.”

“As a social worker, I’m supposed to have an air of detachment dealing with these children. But every now and then, you can’t help but feel for them,” she confessed.

(The children’s names were changed to protect their identities.)

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Loren urges establishment of street children crisis centers

Senator Loren Legarda is seeking the passage of a law that would establish welfare and crisis centers for street children all over the country, citing the lack of laws that look after their welfare and well-being.

"It is lamentable that while there are several laws that protect the rights and welfare of Filipino children in general, there is practically no piece of legislation addressing the special needs of street children," said Loren in filing Senate Bill No. 230.

Loren explained that under her proposed law, crisis centers will be established in every city or municipality that will provide various assistance to street children like temporary shelter, emergency medical and feeding programs, as well as basic education.

She said the crisis centers will be implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development, in close coordination with local government units (LGUs).

"This measure will assist in providing street children the means to uplift their conditions and take them out of the streets through programs that will equip them with livelihood, technical and social skills," Loren said in the explanatory note of her bill.

According to the Council for the Welfare of Children, there were 45,000 street children nationwide in the year 2000 alone. Seventy-five percent of the children stayed on the street most of the time, while 20 percent practically lived on the street, it said.

Loren said that specially worrisome was the finding of the council that five percent of the street children in its study suffered abuse or were engaged in illegal activities.

"National and local government agencies work hand in hand in order to uplift the situation of Filipino street children, but they have numerous needs that have yet to be made," she said.

Loren said that since the council’s study, the number of street children must have tripled or quadrupled, judging on their number seen in the streets of Metro Manila asking for alms or selling cigarettes and the like.

The proposed measure authorizes the acceptance of donations and grants from local and international organization by the implementing agency to supplement the appropriated funds for the establishment, maintenance and operation of the street children crisis centers.

These funds will be distributed accordingly to the various crisis centers within the city or municipality, Loren explained.

Social workers trained to handle rugby-sniffing street children

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in the region has recently concluded the three-day training of social workers and house-parents managing the local government’s Social Development Center (SDC), a facility that caters to street children in this city.

The SDC has been established to respond to the need of providing temporary shelter and rehabilitation to street children in this city.

DSWD Assistant Regional Director Zenaida Arevalo said the three-day training held from August 22 to 24 at the DSWD Conference Room is one of the series of activities lined up for the operationalization of the program.

The training was focused on understanding oneself as service provider; situationer and dynamics of street children in Zamboanga City; theories on personality; the Filipino child under stress; handling basic medical and health needs of street children/rugby-sniffing children; substance abuse and its effects; trauma and recovery; basic principles and techniques in case management & group work; task and responsibilities of service providers; accreditation guidelines; and work-planning.

"Other capability building activities have already been programmed to enhance the knowledge, skills and attitude of the SDC staff in effectively handling the rugby-sniffing street children, like training on counseling and case management, demonstration of caseload inventory/reviews, and conduct of case conferences," Arevalo said.

The program is a pilot test for social technology developed by the DSWD in Region 9. It was approved for implementation in coordination with the local government.

However, despite its presence, as well as of other non-government organization (NGO) centers, street children still abound in this city’s streets.

While some of these children try to fend for themselves through vending, helping park vehicles, or as baggage carriers, others are led to substance abuse through rugby sniffing.

Statistics shows there are more children who are into substance abuse in this city as shown by the reports of the Task Force for Street Children.

As a response, a Comprehensive Program for Rugby-Sniffing Street Children was developed by the DSWD in Region 9, since there is no specialized program addressing this problem, although it’s classified with the regular street children programs and services.

This comprehensive program seeks to address the rising incidence of rugby-sniffing children, mitigate its negative effects, and to restore normal and healthy life for the rugby-sniffing children.

The technology involves the following components: physical rehabilitation (medical, detoxification, nutrition); psychological services (counseling, psycho-therapy, trauma management); social services (sports and recreation, education); spiritual (value formation, spiritual development).

The SDC is the implementing arm of this comprehensive program, with the DSWD providing technical inputs. (PNA)

Philippines Street Children
From: mtsunews
For more than 15 years Dr. Chuck Frost, MTSU professor of Social Work, has regularly visited the Philippines. Throughout that time he has painfully noticed street children who are in desperate need. As he delved into the problem he found out that millions of children are living on the streets throughout the world.

Virlanie foundation
From: kuyalouvfi
Virlanie Foundation Based in Manila Philippines
www.virlanie.org

Taking care of the disadvantaged with help of technology
By Tina Arceo-Dumlao
Inquirer
Last updated 03:32am (Mla time) 08/14/2007

MANILA, Philippines — Taiwan-based computer manufacturer Acer says its vision is to enable people to do more by harnessing the benefits of information and communication technology.

It is for this reason that Acer Philippines Inc. has made it its mission to provide computers to organizations helping the disadvantaged sectors, such as street children and the disabled.

For instance, two brand-new Acer desktops went to the office of Childhope Asia Philippines in Manila’s Paco district to improve office administration and processes.

By spending less time on administrative jobs, such as encoding and filing, it is hoped that Childhope staff will be able to spend more time for the many street children under the organization’s care.

Childhope Asia Philippines is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization, which strives to rescue children from the dangers of living and working in the streets.

The state-run National Vocational Rehabilitation Center (NVRC) also received computers from Acer, through the help of the Rotary Club of Manila Metro.

The NVRC helps persons with disabilities, including the elderly and their dependents, learn useful skills so they can fend for themselves.

The NVRC, located in Project 4, Quezon City under the Department of Social Welfare and Development-NCR, provides courses such as consumer electronics, garment trades, food management service, scientific massage and repair of watches and mobile phones.

Skills enhancement

NVRC also provides computer-related courses such as computer literacy, computer software application and computer technology (servicing), and this is where Acer will be of big help.

As Acer Philippines general manager Manuel Wong says, Acer does not stop at just donating hardware.

Wong says the computer package comes with training because Acer wants to make sure that the computers will actually be used by the organizations’ beneficiaries, and will not just be kept under lock and key in the supervisor’s office.

Acer, he says, wants to bring technology closer to those sectors that need it most.

Wong relates how by learning specialized software programs, the visually impaired students at the NVRC are trained to become call center agents.

“They already have people to train them on how to use the computers. They just need the computers and this is where we come in,” Wong says.

He says NVRC is an example of technology put to good use, as the visually impaired become productive citizens of society.

Acer has also reached out to the Second Infantry Division of the Philippine Army in Camp Capinpin, which covers the Southern Tagalog region, in the belief that technology also makes for a modern army.

Wong says the different institutions and organizations that receive Acer computers are not the only ones benefiting from the outreach program.

Acer’s 42 employees and their families gain from it, too.

He explains that because Acer encourages staff members to help train the beneficiaries on the basics of computer technology, they now have a better understanding of the needs of the many disadvantaged in society.

Getting involved

“We wanted the people to be involved, to care for others,” Wong says, “donation is easy for us, it is the volunteering of time and love to the community that is more difficult.”

Acer in the Philippines started lending a helping hand to different organizations last year with the donation of three computer sets to the IQRA Kiddie Learning Center on Arlegui St. in Manila’s Quiapo district.

IQRA, which literally means read in Arabic, is a non-stock, nonprofit institution that helps educate young Muslims in Quiapo. It was established by nine young Muslim women professionals who want to alleviate poverty among Muslims children through education.

Wong, himself an active Rotarian, initially feared that Acer employees would not be willing to volunteer their time and energy. He was wrong.

“The feedback was that everybody enjoyed the different activities,” Wong says, “I believe we were able to promote the idea that a person can contribute and do something meaningful even if he is alone.”

Aside from donating computers, Acer employees go around different communities to donate what they can, such as throwing kiddie parties for the orphans, finance a one-day feeding program for the underprivileged in Quiapo, buy giveaways for the sports activities of a deaf school, and, of course, teach basic computer skills to institutions receiving Acer computers.

Wong says Acer hopes to hold these activities at least twice every quarter, and on Saturdays so that the employees can participate.

“Everybody says that it has been a rewarding experience, and people realize that this is the society we are living in, and there are many people out there who need help,” Wong says.

Manila exec revives bill penalizing parents of street kids
By Allison Lopez
Inquirer
Last updated 10:21pm (Mla time) 08/07/2007

MANILA, Philippines — A Manila city councilor proposed on Tuesday penalties for parents and guardians of children who have resorted to begging, vending and prostitution.

Fourth district councilor Amalia Tolentino said it was the second time she was filing Ordinance No. 6930 to provide "special protection to children from all forms of abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation and discrimination."

"There are many kids walking the streets, at night, selling sampaguita or begging. Some say these are just fronts for some who engage in prostitution,” she told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net.

Tolentino said that whenever she asked the kids where their parents were, they replied that they were "at home" or were "sick." She said she wondered why they even allowed their children to work when they should be studying or resting at home at night.

"For me it (poverty) shouldn’t be an excuse. You should do everything to support your children. Why are they allowing them to sell sampaguita or to wipe windshields?" said the mother of three.

Curfews, she added, were usually relegated to the village officials while an ordinance that would penalize parents would make them responsible for raising their kids properly.

In Tolentino’s proposed ordinance, she said the "city government of Manila has a duty to protect and rehabilitate children gravely threatened or endangered by circumstances which affect or will affect their survival and normal development and over which they have no control."

She suggested a P5,000 fine or imprisonment of six months, upon discretion of the court, for those who would violate the ordinance.