HOME History & Vision Benefits of Sponsorship Communities We serve Community Involvements CDP updatet Q and A Contact Us

Bay Area, Laguna Center

LOCATION:

Bay is one of the poorest community in the 3rd District of Laguna. It is bounded on the north by Laguna de Bay, on the east by the municipality of Calaun, on the west by the municipality of Los Baños and on the south by the municipality of Sto. Tomas, Batangas. The community has good passable roads which are accessible by jeepney, tricycle, bicycle,and motorcycle every hour of every day (except late at night).

PHYSICAL FEATURES

Bay is a poor community where most families lived on a subsistence economy. Bay area is mountainous and receives an average amount of 200-mm rainfall during the rainy months of June to September. A small market is located within the community aside from the market located in the town proper. There is one public elementary school and one health center available on a once a week schedule.

ETHNICITY AND LANGUAGE

The majority of the residents are from Tagalog region while the rest are from Bicol and Visayan province. The common dialect spoken is Tagalog.

SITUATION OF COMMUNITY

  1. A growing group of Christian exist in the community.

    • Most of the residents claim to be Christians. About 90-95% belongs to the Roman Catholic faith and 5-10% from other denominational groups.

    • Women are more interested in spiritual activities and attending church services than men are.

    • There are on-going Bible Study classes in the area conducted by Christian Reformed Church.

  2. The growing group of Christians is reaching out to serve others.
    A Micro- finance project is presently underway in the area through the help of National Deacon Assembly (NDA). NDA is a Christian organization involves in livelihood training and doing charity assistance to the poor residents of Bay.

  3. A process to produce future community leaders with Biblical worldview has been established.

    • Most of the people in the community are devoted Catholics. Some people believe there is only one God with different names, others believe Jesus was a man or prophet, while other believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.

    • The community members are open-minded. Most of them are willing to accept anything would be beneficial to them.

    • The community population is comprised mostly of children. Parent allow their children to attend fellowship and Bible study, acknowledging that it will help their children .

  4. Local leaders are in place who have an increasingly Biblical worldview as well as the ability and motivation to solve future problems.

    • There are formal leaders in the community. The head of the community is called Barangay Chairman . There is a Barangay Council and a Barangay Police Force.

    • The Barangay officials are responsible for the community policies and laws. They are decision makers, maintain peace and order and must be the one to attend to any community needs and problems.

    • Other existing organizations in the area are as follows:

      1. CCF - PAG-ASA (Christian Child Foundation)

      2. BBK EBuklod Biyayang Cristiyano

      3. CFARD

      4. BIDANI ( Barangay Integrated Developoment Approach for Nutrition Improvement of Rural Poor)

      5. Kabataang Barangay (Youth Organization)

      6. CARD Center for Agriculture and Rural Development

  5. Projects have been established which add new resources for the community.
    The monthly average income is 2,000 - 3,000 Philippine pesos. Most family heads work as farm laborers, others work as sidecar drivers, vendors, and jeepney drivers.

  6. Direct and independent links to outside partners have been established.
    People in the area links with outside partners in order to meet some of the community needs. These partners include NGOs and various religious groups.

  7. The community is using local means to help one another and others.
    This is still a weakness on the part of the community.

SITUATION OF CHILDREN

Spiritual

Before sponsorship, CDP children have no knowledge about the Scripture . They dont know how to use or read the Bible. Most of the families do not have a copy of the Bible, but they are very much eager and interested to receive a copy of it. Most of the children are using bad words in their conversation, others are selfish and lack discipline ( e.g. They do not know how to follow orders or instructions). They are quarrelsome and very unruly.

Intellectual/Vocational

A number of children do not attend school because their parents income is not enough to provide and support them. Children usually attend grade school, but often do not complete high school. Still other do not send their children to any type of school because of their poverty. Support from parents is lacking. School meetings are not attended and their parents do not monitor their childrens status in school. This is a key factor why children do not take their studies seriously and lack the desire to get good grades in school.

Vocational training is included in the public school curriculum. One of the weakness in the vocational training of the government is the lack of needed materials. Often times, children learn only from theories but not the actual hands-on training.

Social/Moral

The social life of the children is confined to their own community and schools . At a very young age, children are confronted by social and moral problems which caused maladjustment in their personalities. Television to this date has become the number one teacher of the children. Since the Government has been lax with the media most children learned wrong values and are exposed to the materials of this world. Some parents substitute television as tutors to their children in their absence to earn a living for their family.

Physical(Health)

Children are susceptible to all types of diseases and oppression in the community. There is one health center in the community but available only on a once a week basis.. Even hospital is located outside of the community and most people have poor health knowledge. Health needs of the family is often unmet. In times if sickness, most children are only treated at home without consulting any doctors.

Emotional

The emotional status of the children is unstable. There are children who look mature for their age because they are required to work even at a young age. Most children are shy to mingle with other people.

Food for the Hungry Philippines Inc.
P.O Box 3022, Manila 2800 Philippines

 HOME |  History and Vision |  Benefit of Sponsorship |  The communities We serve |  Community Involved |  CDP Update |  Q. and A. |  Contact Information



Laguna Center

Bay Area

Los Banos Area

Pila Area

Accomplishment 1999-2000

  • Greetings from staff

    Other Communities