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LCW Program Highlights and Needs Friends of LCW can keep updated on the LCW programs by:
The LCW program as a whole targets at-risk children who are victims of poverty and vulnerable to abuse. It is distinctive in that it is family centered, community based, holistic, and participatory. By "participatory" we mean that the beneficiaries of the program are trained and empowered to largely manage their own program. Hence, the all-Filipino staff at the Dumaguete project site. "We grow our own," as our CEO likes to express it. Persons desiring to help support any of the above programs should send their checks to L.C.W, PO Box 37, Barnesville, GA 30204, indicating which program it is designated for.
Malnourishment Program and Soup Kitchens The malnourished Program provides a hot meal six days a week to LCP children who are found to be malnourished upon the annual physical exam. This program was nonexistent for the last months of 2003. The cost of feeding each child is $0.05/day. There are 256 children participating in this program. In 2002, 140 hungry kids received hot, nutritious meals and multivitamins on a daily basis through the Soup Kitchen program. The Dumaguete LCP project has two soup kitchens. One is located in the pier area, Looc, and was started by a volunteer from Falmouth, ME. The other is located in a fishing village, Canday-ong, and was started by another volunteer from Webster, NY. A substantial lunch is provided for these children five days a week, supplemented with daily multivitamins. The long-term goal of the Soup Kitchens is to make the children healthier and happier so that they will be able to attend school. Children whe would not otherwise have health checkups, are treated each month and potential and real health problems are addressed. The vitamins used in the Soup Kitchen are not purchased in Dumaguete because of the high cost per tablet and vitamins are needed to continue this program. The number of malnourished children in the immediate areas of the two Soup kitchens far exceeds the number being served. Additional funding would allow more children to participate. In addition, children under the Malnourishment Program are being fed in the home of the community paramedics during lunchtime before returning to school. The ideal situation would be for all hungry children to eat in a Soup Kitchen at their respective communities. Funds are not available to provide a Soup Kitchen in each of the 14 communities. Health Care The LCP Health Care is primarily a prevention program. During the year 2003:
There is a great need for medicines such as antibiotic creams and ointments, anti-fungal creams/ointments, band-aids, tape, cotton swabs, cotton balls, tongue blades, tylenol, advil, cough and cold syrups, benedryl, and hydrogen peroxide. In addition, the clinic provides flip-flops to help in their Parasite Control Program. Handclasp In 2003, approximately 31 children in the Dumaguete area who were born with various developmental disabilities received medical, surgical and/or rehabilitative services through LCP's Handclasp Program. Free corrective surgery and medication are available through a partnership with the Liliane Foundation. Follow-up visits and therapy are done by the LCP medical staff to monitor their progress. Following are two case reports: Bernadeth Epis is a 5-year-old girl from the Canday-ong community who was born with an imperforate anus. She underwent abdominal surgery shortly after birth for the construction of a colostomy. Last year she was taken to Cebu Children's Hospital for a number of preliminary surgical visits and then underwent surgery to construct a rectum. Andrew Guanzon, an 11-year-old boy from the Looc community, was born with hydrocephalus and a meningitis. He was taken to Cebu Doctors' Hospital for the insertion of an intracranial shunt that was needed to get extra fluid off his brain, and he has recovered well. Currently he is attending school and awaiting a second surgery in 2003 for the removal of the meningocele. The Lilane Foundation and the Shriners International provide supplemental funding for this program but funding has been reduced. There is a great need for additional sources to help supplement the budget and provide for the children who are waiting for help. Housing The Bloomington Farm Housing project was launched in June 1999. With land provided by Second Presbyterian Church, Bloomington, IL, and financial support from the Consuelo Foundation, 32 houses were built for some of LCP's lowest-income families, who contributed their labor as sweat equity. More than a housing project, the Bloomington Farm is an experiment in a mutual-caring and interdependent community. If the families continue to pay their amortization, they will own house and lot in 21 years. Livelihood The Bloomington Farm Training and the Mother/Daughter Handicrafts programs are designed to help families become more self-sufficient. During the year 2003: ·Members at the Bloomington Farm are growing herbs for herbal medicines, gardening, raising pigs, and developing sewing and cooking skills. The Calindagan women are doing meat processing each week. The Balugo community is cooking and selling snacks. The Talay and Ticala communities are using their roof-making skills. The Mangnao community is using their card making skills. Many LCP women are cutting hair and doing manicures in their communities. These skills allow the members to earn income and a small portion is given back to the LCP community centers or to offset medical needs of members. Sponsorship LCW now has 525 sponsored children with a sponsorship council handling all sponsorship concerns on a monthly basis. In 2004, sponsorship criteria were established which are as follows with a few exceptions: child must be a registered member of LCP; child is at least 5 years old; only one child per family can be sponsored; maximum income is P3500 (rural) and P5000 (urban); child must maintain 80% or above with no failing grades; parents cannot be involved with gambling or substance abuse; parents cannot hold a college degree unless amental illness prevents them from functioning. Priority is given to length of LCP membership and level of participation. The major concerns of the program are: over 450 children are waiting for sponsorship with long waiting times and an increase in the number of children with failing grades. The library at LCP is becoming the best in the area but can still use donations of textbooks, reference books such as Encyclopedias, children's books that encourage reading skills, grade related activity books that enhance math, reading, writing and English skills, youth books that encourage reading skills for youth, Christian books that would enhance morals, World Almanac, English literature books, Design and construction books for Civil Engineer and Architecture books, and videos that can be used for all the programs. College Work Scholarship Program In 2004, we saw 8 students graduate with 4-year degrees, 4 students graduate with 2-year degrees, 1 student graduate with a 3-year degree and 7 students were honor students receiving the Dean's Award. 14 youth successful completed their one-year training at LCP. In High School, 24 sponsored youth and 12 non-sponsored youth graduated. LCW is providing extra training and educational symposiums to educate the LCP students in High School and College on the dangers of involvement with alcohol, drugs, premarital sex, prostitution, child trafficking and family issues. In November, each youth was given a drug test and we are happy to say all were negative. In December, LCP held a Drug Symposium with authorities from Dumaguete to educate the youth on the dangers of drugs. In March, an all day Youth Activity was held at LCP where the students viewed a video on Child Trafficking (thanks to Greg Burrell) followed by discussion led by Fe Ariola from Consuelo Foundation. The youth also watched a Christian Video, followed by discussion with Glenna concerning the struggles the youth were faced with in the movie. The youth were given specific topics and divided into 12 groups with the assignment to be prepared to come back to the large group to present a skit showing the problem and how God would have you to respond in each situation. They did a wonderful job of developing the various skits. It was a good and profitable day for all. Many more of these activities need to be planned in order to assure the youth are educated to the dangers in life. Saving one youth would be worth any sacrifices needed in order to accomplish this goal. With the growing numbers of High School Graduates, it is more critical than ever for the LCP students to excel in high school and LCP participation. Starting in April 2005, LCP will be implementing new criteria for eligibility into LCP's one-year post-high school training program. In 2004, LCP had 24 sponsored youth graduate from High School. Only 16 spaces are available for trainees in the LCP programs. Students must have good moral character, live with one or more parents or in the LCP dorms and have proven themselves worthy of the opportunity. Those students with high academic and participation performance will be given option to go straight to college or to be a trainee for one year at LCP. Students who have satisfactory academic and participation performance will be provided with the remaining positions available at LCP or allowed to go straight to college if requested by their sponsor. Students who have either satisfactory academic performance but poor participation or poor academic performance but satisfactory participation will not be offered youth trainee positions except in the unlikely event that more vacancies exist. Students with poor academic performance and poor participation will not be offered trainee positions or the chance of a scholarship. LCP will also experiment with a one-on-one apprentice programs for students whose grades will not allow them to go to college or have interest in other skills such as welding, carpentry, plumbing, sewing, cooking etc to help these students develop life skills that will allow them to be contributing members of society. Education LCP sponsors eight preschools, which are free to member families. During the 2003-2004 school year:
Peace and Faith Program The year 2003-2004 year ended with 968 families participating at LCP and an average Sunday worship attendance of 1,951 and an average Sunday School attendance of 1,918 (45% of those attending are women, 33% are children preschool through Grade 6, 12% high school and college, 5% infants and 3% men). 417 bibles were given out and a total of 22 youth attended the Teen Missions Camp in 2003 and 43 in 2004. The goals of the Peace and Faith program are accomplished through many regular activities such as: weekly worship services, weekly Sunday school classes, weekly adult bible studies in each community, weekly youth bible study and fellowship, annual Teen Missions Camp, annual Vacation Bible School, Project Philip bible project, door-to-door evangelism, puppet ministry, weekly Men's Bible Studies in Canday-ong and Bloomington communities, Annual youth retreat, annual Christmas and Easter meals at LCP, team building workshops, pastor bible studies and weekly sermons, pastoral home visits, weekly prayer and planning meeting by Peace Staff and Pastor, annual youth retreat, community and staff training, peer counseling, home visits in conjunction with health staff, workshop seminars in Family Life Enrichment, AA group, Christian drama teams! As the annual Peach and Faith budget does not include funds for teaching and resource materials, there is a great need for materials such as crayons, pencils, paper, scissors, Bible story pages, glue, teaching materials, and used/new clothing for birthday gifts for each person who attends Sunday School. Endowment Fund (last updated July 2003) The campaign to establish an Endowment Fund for LCW began in June 2000. The main purpose of the Fund is to provide a solid and consistent financial foundation for LCW and its ministries. The Consuelo Foundation agreed to match, dollar for dollar, all contributions up to a maximum of $100,000 over a four-year period. During the past three years LCW has met its annual obligation to raise a minimum of $25,000 a year from supporters, and the foundation has responded by awarding LCW with annual grants of $25,000. Total assets in the endowment fund now exceed $170,000. During this final year of the four-year matching grant the Endowment Fund still needs to receive donations from supporters by October 1, 2003 in order to receive the final matching grant of $25,000 from the Consuelo Foundation. Persons desiring to help support the Endowment Fund should send checks to L.C.W., P.O. Box 37, Barnesville, GA 30204, indicating that it is for the LCW Endowment Fund. Rescuing the Street Kids (last updated July 2003) The Taclobo Center is a dormitory for boys who were formerly living or working on the streets of Dumaguete City. These boys are given intensive tutorial sessions until they are ready to reenter public school. We are happy to report that currently all the residents are attending public school. A School on Wheels project prepares out-of-school youth to reenter public school at their ability level. During the year 2002, 124 children received basic education through the School on Wheels, and 38 are currently enrolled in public school. Housing (last updated July 2003) The Bloomington Farm Housing project was launched in June 1999. With land provided by Second Presbyterian Church, Bloomington, IL, and financial support from the Consuelo Foundation, 32 houses were built for some of LCP's lowest-income families, who contributed their labor as sweat equity. More than a housing project, the Bloomington Farm is an experiment in a mutual-caring and interdependent community. If the families continue to pay their amortization, they will own house and lot in 21 years. Persons desiring to help support any of the above programs should send their checks to L.C.W, PO Box 37, Barnesville, GA 30204, indicating which program it is designated for.
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