Feeding Hungry Kids

Shiela and I are at the Badjao village weekly for the Feeding program. 

21 of the most in need children from the village receive a cooked lunch at the community centre. First we cook their meal, then there are a few activities when the children arrive. We teach them the importance of personal hygiene, tell Bible stories and songs with actions. Then we eat with the children before tidying up.

A Safe Home

Wisma was the first Badjao Duncan and Sara met when they arrived on Palawan – begging, borrowing (and who knows what else) with her group of street urchins.

Nearly ten years on, she has been married twice, abandoned and divorced and most recently widowed. All by the tender age of 22. So being able to provide a good home within the new housing block to Wisma and her two small children is awesome.

You might be interested in this extract from Duncan’s old diary about that first meeting...

SEPT 14 2008: It was very moving. I’d read the phrase “I was naked and you clothed me” but never seen it happen before. In town today Sara had stopped to give a beggar some fruit, when she became surrounded by street children, encircling her like cats around a fish bowl. One of them was the tough looking girl we’d noticed begging a couple of weeks back. Rather than a quick dole out and rushing on, we sat on a low wall and started to engage the girl in conversation, finding out she is a ten year old called Wisma and has four siblings.

As Sara gave her time, Wisma’s face softened like a fruit ripening in the warmth of the sun... then looking up, Sara whispered “Dunc, that boy is naked!” sure enough a lad of maybe seven years had sat before us on the street, a tatty T-shirt riding up to reveal... well you know... the poor little chap’s all and sundry. Without missing a beat, Sara squatted beside him asking Wisma, who seems to lead the little street pack, to help. They explained that Sara wanted to buy the little fellah some shorts. So off strode Sara like a Mother Goose followed by a motley train of bemused but intrigued goslings. Soon the lad trotted away to show off his new combat shorts and Wisma herself was rewarded for helping with a bright new pair of her own.

It was one of those moments, when God did something deep in our hearts, and I believe, gave us another “first” – for now we think no longer of “Street Children”, but of a little girl with a name, an ability to help us bless others and, we pray, a different future to that looming towards her. For when street girls reach puberty the slip from begging to falling into an abusive relationship or worse might be just one false step away.

Handing over the keys

The block of innovative new housing we designed for the Badjao – and built alongside some of their men (see Model Homes below) – is now finished at the new Badjao village. We have just had a dedication (house blessing) and invited the whole community.

Most excited of all were the 18 young families that now each live in a brand new home. Part of the dedication included officially handing over the keys to these families, who were carefully chosen as those most in need. They are predominantly young families with young children who are unable to build there own homes.

After the prayer blessing and a short time of sharing, everyone enjoyed some special party food. It was a joyful time for the whole community, most of all for those who had no hope of building their own houses, but are now enjoying a new home!

Building squad

These are the Badjao men who are working on building the bridges that will join up the new village and form the walkways, with materials provided by local government.

At first they made almost no progress because their tools were lost in the fire – they had nothing to work with. The Father's Refuge was able to provide all the men with the tools they need to build their new village. That's Duncan in the middle... errmmm, we can't see your spade, Duncan...

A Phoenix from the ashes

Our old centre/school in the Badjao village was destroyed along with the rest of village. But the good news is that a new building (which we have dubbed The Phoenix Centre) will ‘rise from the ashes’!

Like all the Badjao, we will have to move to the new relocation site. The Father's Refuge has been given a 10x10 metre plot of land at the new site, where we will build our new centre. We were even given the privilege of being able to choose where we want our plot of land to be. In the picture: The Father's Refuge senior team choosing and marking the plot where the new centre will be located.

Model homes

We are in the second week of building a model block of houses for the Badjao community at their relocation site, this is to help prevent the area becoming a slum. With only 10,000 pesos (£150) per home from the City Government, this is a slum in the making unless there’s some intervention.

So, the model home we are designing and building will have a single roof for a block of ten homes, fire resistant partitions and clothes washing/showering facilities, which makes them more cost-effective than single buildings.

The building is 16 metres by 40 metres and has a total of 55 cement posts, which raise the houses above the mud at high tide. Materials have to be carried on site by hand because of the mud and it’s hard work in the thick mud.

The foundations are the slowest part of the project but important to stop the building sinking into the mud. They are deep and wide with steel bar frames running though the cement to give extra strength.

I am on site several days every week with one other person from the KNA team (we always have a couple of people on site). I am there to help supervise the workers and to buy any necessary materials. But we all get involved and I enjoy helping the guys working – and I'm learning a few new skills in the process.

Life on a basketball court

Seeing what’s left of Badjao village was sad, burnt posts and crumpled corrugated iron sheets is all that remains. But it’s good to know that all our work in the village was well used and made a difference to the people.

Now the whole Badjao community is squashed onto 2 basketball courts.

As I walk around greeting the people I know I’m amazed they can still smile and enjoy small talk despite their difficult living conditions.

Some of the families are living in gazebos; the rest are in makeshift tarpaulin tents. It’s very hot and smelly in the cramped tent village. I have to duck down often because of the low roofs making it sticky in the heat. When it’s raining I need to dodge the leaks and water runoff from the roofs like hundreds of taps left on.

It was a great joy to help with the relief goods distribution. Before we can give to the people it takes hours of finding and buying what they need. Because of the huge quantities needed we go round several shops and market. Sometimes like when we gave a wood cooking stove to each family it felt like we brought every stove in town, we went to almost every shop to get the numbers we needed.

Items like the hygiene kits we gave out then have to be packed into bags (soap, toothbrush ect) that we give out to the people as a pack. Lots of smiles and happy people as we give out the supplies. We have a list of their names so as we read several names they come and collect their items as the next names are being read out. Some came to me asking for the items before their names are read out, But I told them “there is enough for everyone, wait till you hear your name so we know everyone gets help”.

Each distribution was a tiring long day but I am very happy to have been a part of it. The Badjao community was also happy to receive the help.

A new home

Following the destruction of their village, a relocation site has been given to the Badjao community by the Government. Each family is given their own 6x8 metre plot on which to build their home.

This new area is next to a mangrove, and the whole site is on mudflats which are flooded by sea water at high tide. The new village will therefore have to be built up on stilts above the mud, like the old one.

There is some distance from the sea making it safe from storm surges, but their boats should still be able to get close at high tide.

The show must go on

Even without our centre, we are continuing our weekly activities/ministry with the Badjao community. We feel it is important to have a regular presence with them because this is a really difficult time for them – especially for the children, as our work with them gives them a chance for fun.

So, our highly-effective ALS (Alternative Learning System) school continues weekly, temporarily using a room in a nearby school.

The kids’ club ministry also continues, giving them a break from difficult cramped lives in their temporary tent village. We pick them up and take them to a nearby park or use another building where they enjoy Bible Stories, worship, games and fun activities. Also we fill them up with healthy food!

They lost everything

The Badjao people on Palawan are still currently homeless, living in a makeshift village of tents and gazebos until their relocation site is ready. Local government is providing food, tents and a few toilets for them and a few other organizations have given aid as well.

Thanks to those that partnered with us, we were able to distribute relief goods directly to the Badjao people; that's 345 families totalling about 1500 people made homeless by the fire. We distributed items to every family, including personal hygiene kits, clothes, cooking stoves (pictured below), thermos flasks and tools to help rebuilding.

Badjao rescue

Another busy day yesterday distributing relief goods to to Badjao community. Buying the needed quantity of goods and distributing to the 345 families is tiring but very rewarding, I feel privileged to be a part of it.

If you missed the news, on Sunday 3rd September a fire broke out at the Badjao stilted village (built over the sea) destroying the whole settlement in just two hours. 1,500 people lost everything, although miraculously no lives were lost. 400 families lost their homes and almost all of their belongings. Most escaped with just the clothes they where wearing. 

In 2015 The Fathers Refuge (KNA) team had spent seven months building the only safe bridge in the community and a spacious, well equipped centre for education, ministry, food distribution and health care. The end-of-jetty T section is all that remains. We named the bridge Tulay ng Buhay (Bridge to Life) which became prophetic – as the major reason there was no loss of life in the fire was this stable and wide escape route.

Now KNA has been able to give hundreds of hygiene kits, clothes, cooking stoves, thermos flasks and tools to start building a new village. Many thanks to all that have partnered with us to help the Badjao people. More news to follow...

Feeding the hungry

At our new centre in the Badjao village, we have started a new Kids Club for children who do not go to school, in addition to the current weekly ministry. There is Bible teaching, stories and worship, plus games, sports and basic education.

As you can see in the photo, we have also started a feeding program during our ministry activities there. Because of poverty many of them do not have enough food, so while they are with us, we now fill them up with good healthy food.

Learning: another way

We 've started a one-day-a-week school every Friday at the centre we built in the Badjao village. This is for the Badjao people, set in their own community, to use the Alternative Learning System (ALS).

ALS covers the education curriculum and is designed for those that have not completed (or started) the normal schooling system. Our students can graduate to  elementary and high school level though ALS training. Over twenty have enrolled so far, including teenagers who do not go to school, some of them young parents. There are even a few older mums that have not studied but want to learn.

Many of the Badjao have not completed their schooling. Often this is due to arranged marriage at a young age and teenage pregnancy. (We are
trying to teach the younger generation to wait first, and we are helping the ones already married with family planning. Click here to read more.)

Boys often don’t study because they have to work at a young age to help support their poor families. But ALS gives them a second chance to complete their schooling in their own village. Just one day a week means they can still work and look after their families... and have a chance to improve their own lives. With an education they will be able to get a much better job.

In the family way

We partnered with NGO Roots of Health to run a family planning conference, based at our centre in the Badjao village. Couples came to learn about family planning and receive free contraception.

The Badjao people have a culture of arranged marriage while still young (school age) and we are trying to teach the younger generation to finish schooling first and wait until they are able to care for a family. These early marriages often don’t last and leave young girls looking after their babies alone. For the young couples already married (and others with loads of kids), family planning is a great help for them to wait until they are ready.

Badjao weekly outreach

Every week we hold an outreach activity at the new centre we recently built in the Badjao village. A group of Badjao youth and out-of-school children regularly attend. Now in their village, we are able to work with even more children. 

The activity includes basic education (many of them have no education), Bible stories/teaching, worship time, games, snacks, drinks and a fun time for all. Some of the team are learning the Badjao language.

It has recently been summer school holidays here on Palawan and our kids from the safe home came along and helped with the activities at the centre. It was wonderful to see them now confident and having changed so much since arriving with us – and helping others less fortunate to learn. Another pleasant reminder of the positive change we are making in their lives.

A place in the village

The new ministry centre in the Badjao village is ready for action. It is built in the native style, up above the sea on posts like the rest of the village, located at the end of the new bridge and the furthest out to sea.

Our KNA safe home kids put on a puppet show for the Badjao kids at the centre's opening... as you can see in the pictures everyone enjoyed it!

I have been busy with the chainsaw again cutting the posts that it is built on. The centre is not yet 100% complete, although the shell of the building (floor, roof and outer walls) are in place. The last finishing touches such as toilet, cooking area and windows are being added a bit at a time each week.

The centre was built by local Badjao people working with KNA team members. The locals brought the necessary experience to build a house in this style, as building a house up above the sea has its difficulties! We are very excited to now have a centre in their village. We have started a new phase of outreach and community help with a weekly education plus bible teaching for a group of the Badjao kids. 

We have many more plans for the centre and how it can help the community in the near future. Plans include family planning training, adult learning, and education for the out-of-school kids (most of the Badjao kids don’t go to school) – plus medical outreaches and livelihood training.

  

The bridge is finished!

Our six-month project to build a new 120 metres long walkway through the Badjao stilt village is complete!

The new passageway has been named Tulay Ng Buhay – 'Bridge of Life' – by the grateful local community.

There's a T-section at the end of the walkway, on which will be built our new outreach centre. This will help us become even more effective with the Badjao sea gypsies.

To see lots of pictures, click here

To celebrate we had a party on the bridge and held a special dedication. The finished bridge is four feet wide and contains over 1000 planks and 120 posts. It is sturdy strong and safe. It is the main walkway though the village and will benefit the entire population of 660 people for access to their boats and homes. And there are about 220 people living directly along the new bridge. 

The celebration included dancing with performance from the Badjao people as well as KNA team. Speeches from our team, Badjao leaders and the local government official thanked all involved in the project. It was a great chance to share the gospel to the community, and food and fun followed. 

The Bridge project has been a great way to build relationships within the community, and have a positive effect on their everyday lives. At the end of the new bridge we have made a small jetty area for the boats with a ladder leading down to the sea. This is to make it easier for the coming and going boats – and it's become a favourite swimming area for the kids. 

The bridge is extended beyond the current line of houses to allow room for the Badjao outreach centre we will build there. We are planning activities such as adult and out-of-school learning, medical outreach and teaching of new skills, plus Bible study and worship times. 

Visiting the Badjao is no longer a scary, dangerous balancing act along a shaky old bridge, so patched up with whatever they can find that  it no longer looks like a bridge. It’s now an easy walk down a wide safe walkway that doesn’t move. Now this project is complete it has opened the door to be able to work within the community itself, an exciting time.

The bridge: nearly finished

Our building project – a safe walkway through the over-water Badjao village on stilts – is nearly finished!

Badjao men are doing most of the work, with help from our team, under the leadership of Kuya Dong from KNA as project leader. The Badjao guys all live in the village with houses along the bridge. They are incredibly hard-working and want to see the bridge made safe for their community and their families. 

One of guys helping Kuya Joali told me how happy he is it see the bridge replaced, and he is happy to help because he knows it will make life for his son easier and safer. He says when the bridge is complete, it will make it easier to improve his own house and living standard as there will be a safe path to the house. 

The upright posts are stood in the water then sledge-hammered though the layer of mud to rest on the layer of rock bellow. Then they are sawn to the correct length, support braces attached and walk-boards fixed on top. The posts and braces are hidden from above. 

Walking on the new bridge, all you see is a flat platform of walk-boards – much wider than the old bridge and safer as it has no gaps like the old one! We are extending the bridge beyond the length of the old bridge; this is to make space for the KNA centre that we will build there. This however makes it much harder as there is no longer an old bridge that can be used as scaffolding. Instead we are using small boats or floating scaffolding to stand on while putting new posts in place in the deep water. 

It is great working in the village, and all the people are so friendly and grateful. Especially those with children, who were most at risk of falling off the old bridge. It is hard but happy and rewarding work for everyone.

To see more pictures, click here

The bridge... building begins

Building the new bridge has begun. The exciting work has finally started. I am very happy to see the wood which has taken months of preparation, being put in place and forming a strong, sturdy, wide bridge though the village over the sea. 

During our frequent storms, waves come over the old bridge which was built lower than the houses. We are building the new bridge higher, so that the waves won’t reach it. It also makes it easier for the people that often had to climb up into their houses; the new bridge is now level with most of the houses. 

You'll see in the pictures, We use the old bridge as scaffolding to build the new. This can be done because the new bridge is wider than the old. Then the old bridge is removed from underneath and many supporting braces are fix in place to make the new bridge strong and steady. It will not move from the traffic of people moving on the bridge, but also must flexible enough to withstand tropical storms. 

Progress is pretty quick at the moment as we are still in the shallow area, but each day as we progress along the bridge it becomes deeper, so the posts become larger and longer and the distance to carry becomes further. But it’s going well and great to be in the Badjao village... working with local people and seeing the difference it's making in their lives. To see more pictures, click here...

Load the trucks

Phase one of our project to replace the Badjao village walkway (bridge) is finished... all the wood we have cut down is complete, treated and ready to go. Everything that can be done at the farm is over and we're ready to start phase two, the actual building of the bridge! 

Three huge trucks came here to the farm where the safe home is based, and with the help of a group of Badjao men we have loaded everything on to the trucks. It was a huge task and heavy work loading everything on the three trucks. The trucks then transported all the wood to the Badjao village where it was all unloaded and the local government provided a guard for all the wood. 

It was great to see the wood arriving at the village after months of work. Everyone was excited to see it, knowing that work on their bridge would soon begin. Many of the locals helped with the unloading of the trucks at their village – it was good to see the teamwork and joy on everyone’s faces. I was given the

task of counting and checking all the wood was loaded and unloaded safely and that it all made it to its destination.

Back soon with the start of the construction work! To see more pics, click here