Project Updates

Assistance and Support for Daycare Children and Empowerment of Women in

Highly Depressed Urban Poor Communities

Archdiocese of Manila

Proponent: Akap Bata sa mga Guro-Kalinga, Inc.

Sharlyn delos Santos (not her real name), 7 years old, is a daughter of a street vendor and construction worker. She works on the street to help her parents care and feed for her and her 11 other siblings in Paco, Manila. They live in a cramp 4 x 5 meter house in Paco, Manila. She is one of the millions of street children in the Philippines. Through the support of Akap Bata she was encouraged in her studies and is now a Grade 1 student in a public school.

Akap Bata’s support program for Day Care children targetted assistance for 185 children in four centers. At the end of the project, they reported assisting 76% or 141 children. The children’s centers are located in Tondo, Manila, Paco, Manila and in the Caritas compound. Teachers in the four care centers were equipped with the skills and experience to provide quality care and non formal education. They attended capability building seminars such as the reentry planning workshop for care teachers and the Revised Manual of Day Care Workers seminar. Another major program objective attained was the decrease by 90% of the rate of malnutrition of the children in the daycare centers. In its “socialized feeding program”, parents contribute three to five pesos daily and a committee of parents takes care of cooking for the children on a scheduled basis. Educational materials were also purchased for the children. The recommendation in their report included the plan to request for funds to open one or two more daycare centers to enable them to reach their target of 185 children.

Pondo ng Pinoy Lending Program

Diocese of Daet

Proponent: Diocesan Multi-Purpose Cooperative

Manay Remy, a fish vendor in the Public Market of Daet, recounted in a recent project visit: “Minsan paiba iba ang dating ng kita (income) ko sa pagtitinda ng isda, Minsan P300, minsan 200 lang, pag medyo siniswerte may P500 sa isang araw, pero ang mahalaga, nakakabayad ako ng regular sa utang ko sa kooperatiba”. Sa ngayon, nakatatlong beses na akong mangutang, dahil sa pautang na ito, tuloy tuloy ang aking pagtitinda.

The microfinance program of MSSD allows small entrepreneurs easy access to credit facilities with features not offered by the local usurers. The project initially started with four beneficiaries, to date the cooperative has 70 members with over P60,000 in savings deposits and share capital and a loan portfolio of over P400,000 in regular and salary loans. Businesses supported inlcude dry goods trading, sari-sari store operations, calamansi and vegetable trading, and fish vending.

Augmentation of the Ecological Waste Management Livelihood for the Scavenger’s Organization

Archdiocese of Manila

Proponent: Archdiocese of Manila Ecology Desk

Under the Ecology Desk is the Kabalikasang Samahan Inc., an organization that helps scavengers in their segregation, collection and marketing of wastes. The main goal of this project is to be able to help the scavengers in forming their own business as a group in five years time. The workers are given a daily allowance of P175 fo rthe work that they do. Pondo ng Pinoy funded the construction of the composting facility. they were able to produce a steel structure for storage and green house. Mang Danilo Estinor, president of the organization, says that this project has helped him in his livelihood, the ecology desk is a safer environment that the dump sites and they even earn more money. Aling Anita, who is in charge of the organization’s marketing department said that the projects allows them to store and properly segregate the waste until it is enough to sell to the recycling plants who pay a bigger amount compared to the junk shops. The greenhouse facility also serves as the demonstration area for segregation and composting education for the public andparochial schools under the diocese.

Hapag-Asa: Bread of Life, Meal of Hope

Hunger of Body and Spirit

Of the many scourges that mankind faces, one might say that hunger is the most insidious of foes. Slowly, yet with sinister certainty, hunger and malnutrition eat away not just a person's health, but also his sense of self-respect, his dignity, and finally, his faith in the mercy of God.
Pondo ng Pinoy, however, has always believed in the virtue of "small things", and that even the smallest advancement can make a considerable difference in a person's life - and thus, even the simplest of meals can still provide sustenance to a hungry child. While it is true that many families must cope with very meager resources, it is the belief of Pondo ng Pinoy that - as in the story of the loaves and fish - modest resources coupled with a community spirit and faith in the compassion of a Merciful God, can indeed work miracles.
And so it was that in nine parishes located in some of Metro Manila's most populous areas - Novaliches, Manila, Caloocan - Pondo ng Pinoy began its humble efforts to give a handful of hungry children a hot, nutritious meal, and transform the family hapagkainan into "Hapag-Asa".

Let the little ones come to Me …

A day at the Hapag-Asa parish feeding center starts out in much the same way as an ordinary day would start in homes across the country - with some exceptions. Here, the family is slightly larger, and includes volunteers from the parish as well as the mothers of some of the children who are the youngbeneficiaries of the Hapag-Asa program. Amid this domestic flurry, however, the Hapag-Asa volunteers work to teach their young guests a number of ordinary habits that have extraordinary effects. The food at the Hapag-Asa table is simple, yet nutritious; it would not be unusual to see a bowl of steaming misua soup, made even tastier and truly healthful by the addition of vegetables - an excellent alternative to instant noodles. Yet what makes a meal at the Hapag-Asa table truly a feast for the spirit are the gentle lessons learned by the children who come to share these simple yet nourishing meals. To say "magandang umaga po." To wash up before eating. To sit properly at the dining table. To say a prayer of thanks before a single morsel is eaten. Courtesy. Cleanliness. Self-respect. And yes, gratitude.

Food for the body. Food for the soul.

A few weeks into the program, the volunteers of Hapag-Asa were rewarded by some of the most heartwarming developments. Along with the improved physical health, the children's mental faculties also became noticeably enhanced. One mother from the a Kalookan City parish was pleasantly surprised when her child - who could only do chores after a litany of instructions - could now go about her tasks with but a few basic directions.
In many ways, the food offered at the Hapag-Asa table is nourishment not only for the body, but certainly for the soul.
Nowhere was this more evident than in several positive changes in the lives of some parents. A mother from one of the participating Manila was so inspired by the program's values formation sessions that she decided to go back to school, to continue her formal education. Other volunteers began to realize the truth behind the time-honored saying "It is better to give than to receive.” Perhaps the most touching change brought about by the Hapag-Asa program was related by one father; a longtime alcoholic, he found - through the program's catechism sessions - the strength to break his destructive habit.
On the whole, the parents participating in the program found a new appreciation not only of their family life, but of their own roles as parents. Many discovered themselves becoming more sensitive to their children's needs, while others realized that although making a living is an essential aspect of family life, so too is setting aside time and energy to attend to their children's spiritual growth. In virtually all the parishes, a spirit of solidarity and friendship evolved among the parents - buoyed by the camaraderie they found in each other, many found a new hope in their future, and in themselves.
Not surprisingly, the Hapag-Asa program also brought much-needed spiritual nourishment to the parish priests of the participating parishes. Encouraged by the involvement of both volunteers and parents, and inspired by the joy of the children, many of the priests found a more profound fulfillment in their pastoral ministry. A priest from Kalookan City promoted Hapag-Asa to his friends residing abroad; one was so moved by the priest's stories of the children who came to the feeding program that he sent two balikbayan boxes filled with toys and clothes for the program's young charges.
Hope, indeed, was on the Hapag-Asa menu.

By Lisa Bueno as inspired by the Hapag-Asa reports


The Hapag-Asa Program aims to alleviate extreme hunger among poor Filipino children. Its four major components: supplemental feeding, health education, spiritual formation and livelihood. A total of 120,000 children nationwide is sought to be salvaged from malnutrition and health-related illnesses between 2005 and 2007. This is a drop-in-the-bucket considering that there are millions of children experiencing hunger. Right now 65,000 undernourished children are enrolled nationwide in 37 dioceses, LGUs, NGOs and schools.

The cost of feeding is P10.00/child per day, five days a week for six months or just P1,200 to feed one child, P12,000 to feed 10 children and P120,000 to support a parish program for 100 children. For donations you may deposit to the following Pondo ng Pinoy Hapag-asa (Current) Bank accounts:

Bank of the Philippine Islands (CA) 3061-0858-22
Banco de Oro (CA) 228020364
China Banking Corp. (CA) 103-57972-19
Equitable PCI (CA) 0115-04248-3
Metro Bank (CA) 175-7175-50963-8

Participating Dioceses

• Archdiocese of Manila
• Diocese of Antipolo

• Diocese of Cubao
• Diocese of Daet
• Diocese of Imus
• Diocese of Kalookan
• Diocese of Malolos
• Diocese of Novaliches
• Diocese of Parañaque
• Diocese of Pasig
  
• Diocese of San Pablo
• Apostolic Vicariate of Puerto Princesa
• Apostolic Vicariate of Taytay
• Military Ordinariate

A Brief History

By Ambassador Henrietta T. de Villa

Pondo ng Pinoy is the vision of one man who dares to dream dreams that would move forward the Church in the Philippines as the Church of the Poor – the Archbishop of Manila, Most Rev. Gaudencio B. Rosales.

Enraged by the prevalence of graft and corruption that has kept more than 50% of our population in abject poverty, and moved by compassion for the poor, Archbishop Rosales gathered the priests, religious and laity of the Archdiocese of Manila, along with the dioceses of Antipolo, Cubao, Imus, Kalookan, Malolos, Novaliches, Parañaque, Pasig and San Pablo; the Apostolic Vicariates of Puerto Princesa and Taytay; and the Military Ordinariate of the Philippines to launch on June 11-12, 2004 the movement now popularly known as Pondo ng Pinoy (PnP) at the Folk Arts Theatre, Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City. The event brought together some 10,000 delegates from the thirteen participating Particular Churches.

Pondo ng Pinoy took in its fourteenth member at the beginning of 2005 – the Diocese of Daet in Camarines Norte. It is the first Particular Church in the Bicol region to pledge its commitment to the PnP vision.

Pondo ng Pinoy Community Foundation, Inc. is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a non-profit organization that will evolve into a “potential mechanism to consolidate efforts at local poverty alleviation.” PnP is administered by a Board of Trustees composed of distinguished lay leaders, bishops, priests and religious, with the Roman Catholic Church as its initiator, promoter and steward.

Archbishop Rosales, the architect of the Pondo ng Pinoy vision is single-hearted about its objective. PnP is mainly to educate the Filipino people towards a new mindset, a new way of becoming and a new way of living. It aims to engage the various sectors of society, and in the process, consolidate positive responses and attitudes that will lead to the development of a new culture. PnP’s foundational raison d’etre – reason for being – is love of God and love of neighbor. It translates the love of God (Pag-ibig ng Panginoon) into acts of sharing and giving to the last, the lost and the least so that these acts – individual and collective – generate hope for the Filipino people (Pag-asa ng Pilipino).

The love of God and hope of the Filipino are given a value that is actually a “crumb” – 25 centavos. Twenty-five centavos saved daily by parents and their children, by teachers and their students, by parishioners, by every man and woman, by all Filipinos, and turned over to Pondo ng Pinoy will be the concrete response to Jesus’ call, “Love one another as I have loved you.” The accumulated savings will then be distributed by Pondo ng Pinoy to fund projects on education, health care, livelihood, etc. that will directly help the poor live with dignity that is their birth right as children of God. In this way, PnP is not only a value or a method, but a personal and collective paradigm for human development.

In his homily at the Mass that launched Pondo ng Pinoy, Archbishop Rosales emphasized that the development of every Filipino starts with the very poor, and in so doing, “love will be the motivation we have (and) compassion is the only influence we will use. You and I will be surprised at what the love of God will do in us and among us.”

God whose love endures forever has indeed surprised us and continues to surprise us. As we celebrate on June 11, 2005 the first anniversary of Pondo ng Pinoy – with minimal promotion except a focused and calibrated education campaign in the schools, the parishes, the families and some significant private sectors – is now ready to distribute the “crumbs” it has gathered within twelve months, twenty million pesos, through projects that will impact the lives of the poor. And the gathering continues, so, too, will the distributing.

All fourteen Pondo ng Pinoy dioceses, with one heart and one mind, are making alive the axiom “Anumang magaling, kahit maliit, basta’t malimit ay patungong langit.” And their solidarity and passion will continue to throw fire until the whole nation is transformed by the Pondo ng Pinoy vision.

Love – that is what Pondo ng Pinoy is all about. Love that makes one see the possibility of great results. If you have love, join Pondo ng Pinoy. All it takes are a big heart and a piece of “crumb” – 25 centavos.

Pondo ng Pinoy … Pag-ibig ng Panginoon … Pag-asa ng Pilipino!