project 0278 & 0312 gawad kalinga | “give care” · gawad kalinga | “give care” ... jobs...

WWW.CROSSCATHOLIC.ORG

2700 N. Military Trail, Suite 240PO Box 273908

Boca Raton, Florida 33427-39081-800-914-2420

Gawad Kalinga | “Give Care” Transforming the Slums through

Christ-Centered Community Development— Philippines —

Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of thesebrothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.

Matthew 25:40

PROJECT 0278 & 0312

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GAWAD KALINGA | “GIVE CARE” PROJECTS 0278 & 0312

Project Synopsis

Ministry Partner DescriptionGawad Kalinga, a holistic human development project, needs our support to construct safe, concrete homes for impoverished families living in metro Manila’s dangerous slums. Most housing projects include a Community Center to provide housing beneficiaries with additional services — medical care, vocational training, and academic and spiritual education.

Location2013 construction will take place primarily in the Mandaluyong City slums of Daang Bakal and San Miguel, while maintaining operation of the Community Center in the San Andres community of Hiyas Ng Maynila.

Project CostHouse construction: $83,596. One year operation of the Community Center: $39,600

Project Description• Home Building: Transforms oppressive slums into peaceful, Christ-centered communities.

• Community Center: Provides new residents access to Bible studies, rehabilitative services and microenterprise programs in order to instill Catholic values of unity, stewardship and accountability. Free medical care and youth programs also help lay a firm foundation for these rejuvenated neighborhoods.

• Holistic Ministry: Secures long-lasting change through physical and spiritual restoration by promoting programs that infuse dignity and self-worth, empowering new homeowners to take ownership of their lives and Catholic faith in order to sustain their new communities.

AccomplishmentsSince 2006, Cross Catholic has helped Gawad Kalinga build more than 200 homes for needy families and covered operational expenses for their neighborhood Community Centers.

Poverty in the Philippines• Nearly 12 million Filipinos live on less

than $1 a day.• 33% of the population lives below the

poverty line.• 5 million families live in inadequate

houses in slum communities.• More than 17 million Filipinos are

undernourished.• The huge income gap between rich and

poor continues to widen.

My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes,in undisturbed places of rest.

Isaiah 32:18

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THE NEED:

Life in the SlumsWhen you enter one of metro Manila’s slum communities,

the sky suddenly vanishes beneath a ceiling of smog and makeshift shanties. The disorienting place is a network of muddy, cramped and convoluted alleyways that thread through a seemingly endless patchwork of ramshackle houses. Everywhere you turn, poor parents are struggling to raise their families in one-room shacks pieced together with bits of wood, corrugated tin and plastic tarp.

Look further and you’ll find other tragic signs of abject poverty. Children play in garbage-strewn streets, constantly exposed to open sewers, polluted canals and disease-carrying vermin. Sadly, this is the daily reality for an estimated 5 million families in the Philippines.

Without hope for an alternative, many of these broken people succumb to despair — finding refuge in crime, gambling or substance abuse, all of which are rampant in the area. As a result, residents acquire a “slum mentality” which further alienates them from their neighbors. Left unchecked, a culture of fear develops, preventing any prospect for unity and real change. The most tragic victims are children. They are condemned to continue this unending cycle of poverty, eventually carrying it forward to yet another generation.

Destitution of this magnitude cannot be remedied by a temporary fix. The problems in these Filipino slum communities run deeper than material poverty. But Cross Catholic Outreach, in partnership with the ministry Gawad Kalinga, believes a solution is possible and it has proven its approach with earlier successes. The way to revive one of these neighborhoods is to address the holistic, human and spiritual needs of its residents through one comprehensive, sustainable project of development, strategic training and spiritual transformation.

While people living the slums come from different provinces, ethnic groups and dialects, they all have one thing in common: Abject poverty. Most of them do not have regular employment. Unskilled, they work temporary jobs as manual laborers, street vendors, tricycle-taxi drivers — whatever they can find. The poorest families might eat one or two meals a day, and their children are unable to go even to public school because they have no money for uniforms or school supplies. These families are trapped in a cycle of poverty that has relegated them to a grueling life in the slums.

Filipino families living in slum communities deal daily with muddy, makeshift houses and cramped alleyways.

Children play in dangerous streets littered with garbage.

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THE PROJECT:

Building Hope One Slum at a TimeCross Catholic Outreach’s goals are to partner

with Gawad Kalinga to lift poor Filipino families out of abject poverty and equip them with the material and spiritual tools they need to live productive, moral lives.

To begin this process of holistic transformation, our partners will replace dilapidated shantytowns with rows of safe, concrete homes. The slum’s once-filthy alleyways are also cleared of refuse and polluted water, allowing children to play in clean, organized streets.

Many of Gawad Kalinga’s housing beneficiaries have spent their entire lives in one-room shacks before they received their Cross Catholic-funded homes. Consequently, the brightly-painted, concrete houses supply more than a solid roof over their heads — they instill a renewed sense of pride and self-worth in the new occupants. Accompanying this new spirit of dignity is a spark of hope, which serves as the impetus behind true, long-lasting transformation.

We know the method will work because we have proven its effectiveness with previous successes. Since 2006, Cross Catholic Outreach has helped the GK Hiyas team (named after our first Gawad Kalinga project in the notorious slum of Hiyas Ng Maynila) build more than 200 homes for needy families. Cross Catholic has also promoted unity and Catholic values by annually covering operational expenses for the Community Centers added to serve the rejuvenated neighborhoods.

Our StrategyCross Catholic Outreach is a ministry dedicated to holistic, integral development of the poorest of the poor — meeting both material and spiritual needs. As such, we identify and select as partners those organizations that best implement holistic, integral ministry strategies; and we create strong bonds of Christian fellowship with partners based on mutual love, respect and service empowered by the Holy Spirit.

“Though we hope to change the lives of individual families and turn the physical landscape of a slum into a beautiful place to live, we more importantly strive to transform the entire community through the

restoration of human dignity.”

Hector Quesada, Gawad Kalinga director

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HOME BUILDING:

Sample Construction Budget

MATERIALS DESCRIPTION TOWNHOUSE MULTI-UNIT DUPLEX UNIT APARTMENT

Concreting Cement, Sand, Gravel, Steel Bars,

$833 $606 Lumber, Tie Wire

Masonry Cement, Sand, Steel Bars, Hollow Blocks $1,763 $1,283

Plumbing Works Pipes, drains, plugs, traps, sinks, toilet $128 $93

Electrical Works Flex Hose, Outlets, Switches, Hex Box,

$90 $66 Utility Box, Electrical Wire, Panel Box

Doors and Windows Jamb & Flush Door, PVC Door,

$231 $168 Aluminum Jalousie Windows

Roofing Purlins, Sheets $274 $199

Hardware Nails, Hinges, Welding Rod, Door Knob $63 $46

Paint White Latex Paint, Acri Color, Enamel $52 $38

Total per-unit construction: $3,434 $2,500

Sample Floor Plan

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HOME BUILDING:

Construction Quick-Facts

• In the slums, hundreds of squatters erect their makeshift homes on empty government or private property. For some Gawad Kalinga developments, the local government sells each family title to the plot of land they live on for a very low monthly mortgage. In other cases, private owners donated the land to Gawad Kalinga. In either case, the resident of the rejuvenated neighborhood moves from squatter status to the position of land owner.

• Under the program, each benefiting family will donate time and labor to build their own house, which fosters a sense of ownership. They are then required to help build their neighbor’s house, which develops a sense of community. Using donated labor also keeps housing costs down.

• Because family members must still earn a living, they can only commit a limited amount of time to the construction process. It may take up to four months to build a house, but the method creates pride of ownership, justifying the time it takes.

• Construction is concentrated in one specific area of a neighborhood at a time. Homes are completed in batches and approximately 30 homes are finished per year. It can take several years to complete a development of more than a hundred homes.

• Homes are either built as townhouse duplexes or multi-unit dwellings.

• Sizes and floor plans vary in each Gawad Kalinga housing development according to land availability, population density and other factors.

• All building materials are purchased locally.

• Each home contains a kitchen, bathroom, living /dining area and bedrooms. Sinks and toilets are installed, but families provide their own stoves.

• All homes are wired for electricity and equipped with plumbing. Families pay the city for power and water usage.

• The local government creates a basic drainage system for the housing development.

Pablo Alora, Jr.(center), a semi-retired civil engineer and committed Couples for Christ member, is the Project Director for the GK Hiyas core team. He has been overseeing construction with direction from the team’s head and founder, Hector A. Quesada (right), since the early days of GK Hiyas for all joint Hiyas projects with Cross Catholic Outreach, led by president Jim Cavnar (left).

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COMMUNITY CENTER:

Holistic Community TransformationThe GK Hiyas team reaches

out to the new homeowners with the love Jesus Christ exemplified. Their goal is to move people from a long-ingrained “slum mentality” toward unity and collaboration, just as Christ taught the early church to do. Gawad Kalinga takes a holistic, sustainable approach to transforming a community — one family at a time — through a variety of volunteer-run programs offered at the Community Center. Each has a profound part to play in the transformation of the slum and its people:

• Tatag (To Build) — Builds walkways throughout the development and builds the Community Center which houses classes, a multipurpose hall and a clinic. This center becomes the hub of the revitalized neighborhood.

• Lusog (Healthy) — Provides feeding programs, health checkups, medicines, dental care, and training in health and hygiene.

• Sibol (To Grow) — Offers preschool classes for children ages 3 to 6.

• Sagip (To Save a Life) — Offers tutoring, sports, creative workshops and values formation to older children up to age 13.

• Siga (To Light) — Provides: a) College scholarships for students who have demonstrated an aptitude for higher education, or b) activities and counseling sessions to help rehabilitate juvenile delinquents.

• Livelihood training programs — Help beneficiaries seek and apply for employment or develop skills they can use to generate their own income.

• Kapitbahayan (Neighborhood) Association — Sets the guidelines for wholesome community living. Peace is achieved by mutual adherence to these agreed upon values. Those who best model those traits typically emerge as leaders within the association. Every family is represented in the association by one family member. Together the families change their culture from a slum mentality to a friendly neighborhood. This is a key to sustaining the community’s transformation and long-term success.

A key component of each Gawad Kalinga housing development is the Community Center — the heartbeat of the transformed neighborhood.

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THE SPIRITUAL IMPACT:

Christ is the CornerstoneIn the slums of the Philippines, many families

identify as Catholic but their expression of faith goes no farther than to place a Santo Nino (baby Jesus) statue on a shelf. Lacking true spiritual formation, they believe more in folk superstitions than in the power of Christ. While some place great importance on a child’s baptism or rites for the dead, they do not exercise the sacraments of marriage or take part in the Eucharist. They may go to church on major occasions such as Christmas and Easter, but do not attend Mass other times of the year. In the meantime, things

like gambling, alcohol abuse and stealing are a normal way of life.

When the GK Hiyas team selects a community for development, members of Couples for Christ (CFC) work to change these behaviors by becoming conduits of the Holy Spirit. As they help the community organize and prepare for the housing project, they also launch a process of values formation with the benefiting families. Adults are taken through a 13-week Christian Life Program, after which they are invited to join Couples for Christ or one of its affiliates — Singles for Christ, Handmaids of the Lord (for single women) or Servants of the Lord (for mature men). They also form small groups to study the Bible and pray together each week.

Even those who choose not to join CFC are continuously exposed to Catholic faith in action. Daily construction begins and ends with prayer, as do all the activities at the Community Center, which are overseen by CFC volunteers. And thanks to the community’s transformation, the parish priest will occasionally hold Mass on a neighborhood street or kick off a big community project or event by celebrating the Eucharist — something that never happened when the neighborhood was a slum.

Experiencing Christ’s love, studying God’s Word together, praying for one another, practicing the sacraments… all these things fertilize the soul’s soil, one heart at a time, until an entire community is transformed. The Lord’s work becomes evident as people speak boldly from the Bible, quit destructive behaviors such as drinking and gambling, and interact positively with their family and their neighbors.

“Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’”Acts 4:11

Couples for Christ members assigned to a community development project come as the “Implementing Team.” The Implementing Team helps community members articulate their dream and create a partnership for achieving that dream. Different members of the team take on different roles to implement specific programs: the Head Steward, responsible for community organizing as well as construction, the Education Steward, Health Steward, and Environment Steward. While Team members ideally have an exit plan, they stay as long as it takes for the community to develop a level of empowerment to eventually run the programs themselves.

Residents celebrate Mass in a neighborhood street.R id t l b t M i i hb h d t t

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THE MINISTRY RESULTS:

Testaments of ChangeBefore, our house was made of wood and was always flooded. We had no drainage system and there were

many mosquitoes, which caused my children to be sick. We were so focused on our everyday needs that we did not make time to attend religious services or activities. But because of the blessing of a new home, we are now

striving to improve our lives. Today, praying and going to church is a priority for our family. Our lives, and that of

our neighbors, are happier because of your help.

Edilberto Prospero

Now our lives have changed for the better. We are more peaceful and hopeful. Our new home is made of concrete. It has two levels and is painted a beautiful color. We no

longer fear fires razing our houses and the alleys are now clean. The neighborhood is united and becoming organized

and this has caused a great change in our community.

Leonora Feliciano

When Gawad Kalinga came to build us a new house, I began to hope. Before, we lived in a tent. Now, I am happy to say that our house is comfortable. It is made of concrete,

so our belongings no longer get drenched when it rains.

Erlinda Rocaverte

We used to share a house with two other families. Our dream was to build a better

home for our children, but we were not able to because of our lack of income. We prayed for many years. Now, because of Gawad Kalinga, we learned that hope is

not impossible for us. Now, because of this support, our children will experience life in

a wonderful community.

Leamor Sabado

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2700 N. Military Trail, Suite 240 • PO Box 273908 • Boca Raton, Florida 33427-3908 • 1-800-914-2420

© 2013 Cross Catholic Outreach. Cost effectively written, designed and printed in-house.


OUR COMMITMENT:

Charity in Truth, Love in ActionWith your help, Cross Catholic Outreach will be able to partner with Gawad Kalinga in a joint

project to spread Christ’s transformative love and promote the holistic development of poor Filipino families and their communities. This integral outreach is committed to fostering the growth of the poor on multiple levels to ensure true physical and spiritual restoration.

As Pope Benedict XVI wrote in Caritas In Veritate: “Only in charity, illumined by the light of reason and faith, is it possible to pursue development goals that possess a more human and humanizing value. The sharing of goods and resources, from which authentic development proceeds, is not guaranteed by merely technical progress and relationships of utility, but by the potential of love that overcomes evil with good.”

Cross Catholic Outreach is committed to holistic, integral development of the poorest of the poor through ministries like Gawad Kalinga that operate out of the life-saving love of Christ. Gawad Kalinga’s housing project and Community Center outreach are making a lasting impact by exemplifying sustainable community development firmly founded on the rock of Christ.

Cross Catholic Outreach President James Cavnar meets with future beneficiaries, who will soon receive a new house and life in a Christ-centered community thanks to the long-time partnership between Cross Catholic and Gawad Kalinga.

Our Promise to You!Proceeds from this campaign will be used to cover any expenditures for this project incurred during the

current calendar year. In the event that more funds are raised than needed to fully fund the project, the excess funds, if any, will be used to meet the most urgent needs of the ministry.

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project 0278 & 0312 gawad kalinga | “give care” · gawad kalinga | “give care” ... jobs...

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