Child Protection Philippines Project #40814

Send 100 more needy Filipino Amerasians to school

by Philippine American Guardian Association, Inc.

Project Report | Jan 19, 2022
The Latest Update from the PAGA Team

By Terry Haas | President

A PAGA beneficiary family

This is our “post - centennial” message to members, donors, and friends, because on November 29, 2021 PAGA reached its 100th birthday!

I can’t imagine that our founders realized they were creating a social welfare organization that would last over a hundred years …

In those days the beneficiaries served were referred to as American mestizos. Their profile and needs are similar today, but they are called Filipino Amerasians. And there are still, 100 years later, many more needy children than PAGA’s resources can provide for.

And now back to the 21st century, where once again, we highlight the ongoing impact of COVID-19, which is setting all time records in the number of new cases, thanks to the Omicron variant, particularly in the NCR Plus area. Where does it leave the families of our beneficiaries?

FIrstly, the earner in the ‘typical’ beneficiary’s family is a daily wage worker, supposedly working for at least the minimum wage of P 537/day in Metro Manila. However, many workers have been recalled on a temporary, reduced basis - maybe 3 or 4 days a week and below the minimum daily wage.

Meanwhile, 2021 inflation has been running at approximately 4.5%. So the earnings, severely reduced by as much as 50%, are further diminished with inflated prices on essential family purchases.

Secondly, in addition to the financial stress that families are coping with, millions of school children are hunkered down at home again for a second year of remote lessons that experts fear will simply worsen an ongoing educational crisis.

The Philippines is one of the last countries to delay a return to classroom learning, despite the overwhelming data and other evidence of its superiority to the non-face-to-face methods.

Despite these overwhelming macro challenges, PAGA’s mission for its beneficiaries in 2022 remains unchanged as “to build the intellectual ability, personality, and productive skills of underprivileged Filipino Amerasian children and accompany them on their journey to becoming meaningful, respected, and actively participating members of Filipino society.”

We are proud of the results of our integrated programs for education, health care, social protection, psychological development, and the opportunities provided for the economic productivity of our beneficiaries and their families, liberating them from social discrimination and the cycle of generational poverty.

Our programs are ‘richer’ than ever before in the financial and other services provided to our beneficiaries. The content of the proven PAGA program has evolved over the years and is based on our experiences with many youth. Our beneficiaries and their parents are required to sign a letter of agreement with PAGA committing to follow the program requirements and to avail of the services that PAGA provides because only with the family’s commitment and support do we see significant positive results.

The names, dates, and descriptions of these recurring programs and services can be seen in the PAGA Matters newsletters on the https://PAGA.PH website.

The obvious question is “if we have a solution to poverty, why don’t we have several hundred or thousands of beneficiaries?”

Of course the answer is based on our available resources. it costs money (P 30+K per child per year) to deliver our programs and services and we have a waiting list of needy youth otherwise qualified to participate,

We have had continuing success with the GlobalGiving.org online fundraising platform, designed to help NGOs such as PAGA create campaigns and enlist new donors.

We can’t afford advertising so we need you to please tell your friends, acquaintances, co-workers, relatives, and neighbors to support our work. Any size donation is welcome.

More donors are the key - and repeat donations from the loyal donors we already have .

Thanks for helping us grow through your donations and by spreading the PAGA message!

Angeles City beneficiaries

Visiting the PAGA office

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Oct 1, 2021
Greetings from PAGA in the Philippines - October 2021

By Terry Haas | President

Greetings friends and donors of PAGA!

During the past few months of summer break we were pleased to see the advancement of many of our student beneficiaries. Congratulations to 11 Senior High School graduates, 11 Junior High completers, and 3 Elementary graduates.

Together with other students at different levels, they were promoted to the next year/grade level despite the challenges and difficulties brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. They successfully adapted to the “new normal setup”, with no face-to-face schooling. The highlight of the school year was the attendance of these students through Virtual Graduation and Moving-Up ceremonies uploaded by their respective school in YouTube and/or the school’s social media links.

School is already in session again in the Philippines, as of September 13. A total of 71 beneficiaries are enrolled now. The distance learning mode is still in effect, but responding to the challenges, we will continue to be flexible with our programs to support our beneficiaries in their pursuit of completing the requirements for higher education diplomas.

During the past few months we conducted 4 Webinar sessions via Zoom for 54 of our students with the theme: PAGA Cares: “Student’s Life Learning Experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic”.

This was a venue for students to share their insights and learning experiences with distance learning during the COVID pandemic. Most encountered difficulties but there were also joyful moments during their online class. Many shared about having gained new friends, developed self-confidence, and knowledge, especially on using different applications such as Google Meet, Zoom and Microsoft Office.

All attendees expressed their thanks and appreciation for the support from PAGA especially the grant of their monthly educational stipend which was a big help for them to access data loads and/or internet connections, complete school projects, and enabled them to move up to next educational level.

On September 18, 2021 PAGA conducted a Webinar for the parents of beneficiaries with the Theme: PAGA Cares “Facts and Questions on COVID 19, Self-Care and Vaccination”. 46 attended, with Dr. John Carlo M. Malabad, MD, PhD, an assistant scientist from DOST-PCHRD as the invited resource speaker.

Also, “PAGA Matters” – the May-June 2021 newsletter, was released and can be found on https://www.paga.ph.

In closing, we’d like to emphasize our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to all of our donors and volunteers. Please know that PAGA management is aware of the act of support that is made by your donation. We would be unable to continue our work for these worthy beneficiaries without your generosity.

Stay safe always!

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Jun 7, 2021
PAGA Update Report from the Philippines - June, 2021

By Terry Haas | President

Gregorio family beneficiary receives knee surgery

Welcome to our 8th update report since we began our partnership with GlobalGiving, and our 4th update, post - COVID-19 pandemic.

A year ago we started the June report by saying "The whole world has changed since our March update".

In addition to severe and widespread poverty, what's really changed still, and most challenging to PAGA and its mission, is the public educational system, which is our beneficiaries’ springboard to becoming successful and contributing members of Filipino society.

There are about 29 million students enrolled from the pre-primary to the tertiary level in the Philippines and in mid-March last year public schools were closed to all of them, and they remain closed today. Face-to-face instruction is forbidden, and even an exploratory program to look at reinstating limited classroom instruction is on hold.

Nowadays, students use a combination of distance learning 'modalities' ranging from TV broadcasted lessons, printed 'modules', and online resources.

Children under 17 years of age aren’t allowed outside of their homes under the quarantine restrictions, but at-home education is not easy for many of these students and their parents. The home environment is often crowded with a quarantined, multigenerational, family. The schoolwork, particularly the printed modules, can be difficult to complete and the parents or elder siblings are often unable to assist with the content. Around 3 million students have dropped out in the first year of distance learning for various reasons, including the difficulty of studying at home.

But we at PAGA have doubled down on our support for the beneficiaries enrolled in school, such as it is!

We have provided dozens of students with tablet computers to assist in their online learning. We are providing financial assistance for the basic survival needs of the poorest of our students’ families. We are rewarding all continuing students with a P1,000/month financial incentive IF they maintain satisfactory progress in their studies. Our social workers are in close, sometimes daily, contact with our beneficiaries’ families to assist in obtaining health care or meeting other pressing needs.

Failure is not an option, and sincerest thanks to all of our donors for enabling the increased support required to help our students’ ongoing progress towards their educational goals!

Ignacio family beneficiary volunteers as fireman

Links:

PAGA's website

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