by Ermin Stan B Pimentel and Wilson J Hormeguera
Proud Graduates. KKP-PEACE Project has helped 34 sponsored children finish their elementary education.
“What makes our work distinctly Xavier?” asked Fr Roberto C Yap SJ, XU President, in his homily addressed to KKP volunteers in a send-off Mass. With reference to the gospel story of Jesus helping the widowed woman, Fr Yap answered, “First, it is our going to the margins, the frontiers of engagement where no one else wishes to go that makes us distinctly KKP, distinctly Xavier – Filipino, Catholic, Jesuit.”
Frontiers of engagement
For 10 years now, Barangays Lumbia and Macasandig have been the frontiers of Xavier University through the San Pedro Calungsod PEACE Project of the Kristohanong Katilingban sa Pagpakabana-Social Involvement Office (KKP-SIO). The Partnership for Effective Assistance for Children’s Education Project or PEACE Project, which is sponsored by ChildFund Japan, has been serving 250 sponsored children (SC) and youth, providing necessary educational materials and school needs, facilitating the development of their academic performance through school visits, review of their school requirements, tutorials to those needing assistance, and other effective or applicable activities.These 250 sponsored children and youth are sons and daughters of parents whose main sources of income come from construction/carpentry work, contractual/hired labor, motorcycle driving, small stores, and daily/contractual household work. Some of these children, especially those in Macasandig, are victims of typhoon Sendong, some are malnourished, others are sick with dengue, asthma and other respiratory illnesses, typhoid, diarrhea, and measles. They are, for Xavier and especially KKP, the Frontiers.
Fire of compassion
“The second characteristic that makes us distinctly KKP, distinctly Xavier is Compassion for those in the frontiers; compassion that moves us to do something, something more. Our love, Ignatius said, is best expressed in deeds,” continued Fr Yap.
The PEACE Project did not limit itself to providing necessary assistance for children’s education. It facilitates not only the sponsored child’s academic component but his entire human formation and development, his family and community’s growth and sustainable development. This is where KKP Student Volunteer Formation Program (SVFP), Collaborative Service Learning Program (CSLP), Issue Advocacy Program, National Service Training Program (NSTP), Research and Social Outreach (RSO), and other university units come in, intervening and synergizing in their spiritual/psycho-emotional formation, family life education, non-formal education, health, livelihood programs, tutorial programs,disaster preparedness, and their partnership with the XU units, barangay local government, parish, and other agencies. These engagements are all products of this fire of compassion ignited by the “signs of the times – struggles of those who suffer, of those who struggle, and of the Spirit of the Lord.”
Faith in the Lord
Lastly, Fr Yap said, “There is so much to be done in our work for development. Sometimes frustrating, sometimes disappointing. Have faith – trust that the Lord is good, that whatever good we do for others, no matter how small, will bear good fruits and will contribute to the building of the kingdom, sustainable development.”
In its annual report for the Fiscal Year 2013, the PEACE Project counted its fruits. It has aided 34 SCs to graduate from their elementary education, 25 from high school and 1 from college. More than 99% have been promoted to the next year level and less than 1% (7 SCs) has been retained. The project has facilitated a partnership with the City Mayor’s Assistance Project and Department of Education Division Superintendent; conducted a training workshop on Storytelling for Lumbia and Macasandig school heads, teachers, and Project Staff; initiated three Parents’ Workshop on Child’s Rights where parents were able to understand and appreciate the rights of their children; provided training on Disaster Preparedness which reinforced the family’s role as the primary caregiver and support for children especially in times of disaster, and helped foster positive outlook in life; conducted three area-based Medical Check-ups in sitios Baluarte, Upper Palalan and Centro, Barangay Lumbia; provided medical and dental services for the children; assisted 13 other medical cases along with 5 children who were positively diagnosed with TB; and conducted trainings on Credit Management, Organizational Development, and Business Management which helped parents in the production, marketing, and management of their livelihood activities, small businesses, and their peoples’ organizations.
Despite all these fruits, the PEACE Project recognizes that there are still so much more to be done. There are challenges in sustaining the schooling and formation of these sponsored children; strengthening partnerships with other organizations; facilitating coordination with the Barangay government policy on child protection program, wherein the sponsored family takes an active role in ensuring that the program is instituted in their barangays; facilitating regular community drills on disaster preparedness to ensure that the families will really be prepared and can effectively handle disaster situations and ensure the safety of their children; closely monitoring the medical and dental concerns of the SCs and ensuring that those with special medical cases are fully attended; continuing education and training of the parents on basic Financial/Accounting management, and also enhancing their skills in dealing with their members; and continuing the training of parents who are into livelihood or small business activities in basic financial management.
All these fruits and those for the past 10 years have led to another challenge: the approved 5-year expansion of the project. From the 250 sponsored children, KKP-PEACE Project shall have an additional 50 sponsored children, this time, from Xavier Ecoville, the university’s house-build project.
With all these challenges and many more, the PEACE Project hopes and trusts in the Lord that all these will contribute to the sustainable development of Barangays Lumbia and Macasandig.
The Ateneo Way
Frontiers of engagement, Fire of compassion, Faith in the Lord - “Distinctly KKP, distinctly Xavier,” as Fr Yap puts it. Jesuit Education contends that our distinction is not to suggest “uniqueness” but rather a description of “our way of proceeding” – our way of life, the Ateneo way. It also contends that “the success of Jesuit education is measured not in terms of academic performance of students or professional competence of teachers, but rather in terms of this quality of life – a life lived “in service of others ‘for the praise, reverence and service of God’.” This is distinctly true to KKP, distinctly true to Xavier.