Since its inception, the objective of the Parish of the Holy Sacrifice’ Social Development Program has been to address the needs of the most indigent parishioners from a holistic perspective. In 2008, Kaloob Karunungan or KaKa, the Parish’s scholarship program, commenced. To date, from thirty scholars, there are now 35 scholars and 5 children have graduated from grade school because of KaKa. In 2009, Hapag-Asa, the Parish’s feeding program was launched. The Parish believes in the necessity of not only providing the most basic needs of the most indigent parishioners but more importantly, in upholding these parishioners’ dignity and self-respect. Thus, in October this year, the Parish will launch the third and final part of its Social Development Program, a livelihood program.
One of the Five-Point Priority Agenda of the Diocese of Cubao is to implement a sustainable resource mobilization guided by the spirituality of stewardship. In line with this, the Parish, through the Social Services and Development Ministry, formulated a specific goal in its three-year plan for the period covering 2009 – 2012: to provide social services and developmental projects to 2,000 parishioners. To implement this goal and in relation to the scholarship and feeding sub-programs, the Parish believes that there is a need to make the parents or guardian of the KaKa scholars self-sufficient in order that other indigent parishioners may benefit from the resources of the sub-programs. Consequently, the target participants in the livelihood program are the parents or guardians of the KaKa scholars. A profiling of the KaKa parents will be done by Chie Lumbre in preparation for their participation in the livelihood program. A questionnaire which aims to reveal the parents’ interest and availability in undergoing the program will be used.
The preliminary work on the livelihood program will include the identification of the specific activities as well as of the resource persons for these activities. Discussions with regulatory agencies and partnerships with people’s organizations are currently being looked into. A project or feasibility study will then be prepared by some volunteer parishioners to guide the establishment of the program. Once the specific activities under the program are approved by the Parish Pastoral Council, a manual on the program will be prepared. A pilot-testing of the approved activities will be conducted before the manual is finalized and the program implemented.
At the end of the day, it is hoped that the most indigent parishioners will be transformed empowered, educated, and esteemed individuals.
If you want to volunteer in establishing the Parish’s first livelihood program by becoming a donor, resource person, or even an encoder of the feasibility study or manual of the program, you may get in touch through the parish office. Any form of help will be most appreciated.
-Grace Yumul (with Josie Gonzales as resource person)
