Pila Area, LAGUNA

LOCATION:

PHYSICAL FEATURES

Pook and Santa Clara are poor community composed of about 4,000 families. Houses in these communities are usually made of mixed materials including hollow blocks, wood, sawali, G.I. roofing, and other light materials. Most of the people in the community get their water from a deep well.

ETHNICITY AND LANGUAGE

The majority of the residents are from the Tagalog region of the Philippines. The rest are from the Bicol regions. The common dialect spoken in the area is Tagalog.

SITUATION OF COMMUNITY

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

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

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

3. There are on-going Bible Study classes in the area.

4. There are also on-going monthly fellowships in the area

2. The growing group of Christians is reaching out to serve others.

1. A Micro- finance project is presently underway in the area through the help of National Deacon Assembly (NDA)

2. These Christians organizations also help the families through training, seminars, and benevolence programs for those who are in need especially the poor.

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

1. Most of the people in the community are devoted Catholics. Beliefs of people about God varies. 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.

2. The community members are open-minded. Most of them are willing to accept anything, especially that which would be beneficial to them. Many are interested in attending Bible studies. Parent allow their children to attend Bible studies conducted by any denomination believing that it will help their children to be a better person

3. .If as community members fully adopt a biblical worldview, there will be a new understanding among the people in the community.

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 are 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. Barangay Integrated Development Approach for Nutritional Improvement (BIDANI)

2. Kabataang Barangay (Youth Organization

3. Buklod Biyayang Kristiyano (BBK)

5. Projects have been established which add new resources for the community.

The monthly average income of family heads is 2,000(US$40) - 3,000(US$60) 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.

This is a weakness on the part of the community leaders. Linking/networking has to be strengthened.

7. The community is using local means to help one another and others.

This is also a weakness on the part of the community leaders.

SITUATION OF CHILDREN

Spiritual

Before sponsorship, CDP children have no knowledge of the Bible. They don’t know how to use or read the Bible. 90% of the residents do not have a copy of the Bible but are eager and interested to receive a copy of it. Most of the children are saying curse.

Intellectual/Vocational

Most of the CDP children in this area attend public elementary and high school. Most public schools lack enough school materials and equipment (desk and chairs). The ratio of teacher per students is 1:50. Elementary education is supposedly compulsory but because of economic reasons some children cannot attend school. Most children needs supplemental teaching at home but most parents are not capable to do so. Some of the reasons are the lack of time, as most parents are busy earning a living and most of them have only completed elementary education making hard for them to teach the new school curriculum.

Most children are not motivated to school without school needs such as bags, notebooks and other materials. The lack of said materials is a hindrance for them to strive to do their best in school.

Vocational training is included in the public school curriculum. One of the weakness though of this subject is the lack of materials to provide students. Vocational training is confide only to theories but the hands-on aspect is the neglected.

Social/Moral

The social life of the children evolves at home, school and the community. At a very young age, children are exposed to the social and moral problems of their community which cause maladjustment to their personalities.

Physical (Health)

In comparison with the urban poor, rural children are more blessed to have more space at home and in their community. They are blessed to see nature through mountains, trees and fields which urban children are deprived of. Most children in the rural areas are underweight. One of the reason cited is the lack of enough food to eat. This is because of the limited income of their family.

Emotional

Most children in the province are typically shy. They do not mingle at once to stranger. They have strong attachment with their parents or relatives. In comparison with the urban children, rural children are more behaved and easily obeyed on any task assigned them.