CRF

The History

The PJC was established on 28 January 1994 as a response to the growing needs of street children in Quezon City, Metro Manila.

The clientele group of the centre includes urban working children, who mostly live and work around a large dumpsite as garbage throwers, glove makers, market helpers and junkyard workers.

Through the support of the CRF, the PJC currently assists approximately 300 street children in its street, community and centre-based programmes, ranging in ages from 3 to 17 years. There are currently 2 PJC centres; the 2nd centre began operation 10 June 2006.

Purpose

The PJC was established to give hope to children in need, to remove them from a situation of loneliness, malnutrition, abuse, restlessness, psycho-physical instability, crime and exploitation. 

The Goals

• To make the children aware of the risks/hazards involved in spending long hours on the streets.
• To make the children aware of the ill effects of spending longer hours working.
• To provide basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter as the situation warrants.
• To develop a positive self-concept among the children served.
• To reconcile children with their families by improving the family-life-situation.
• To look for long-term placement for children who do not have families to turn to.
• To promote and advocate for the rights of children.
• To provide educational opportunities and skills training for the children.
• To make the children’s respective families aware of their duties and responsibilities as support systems for the children.

Programmes & Services

• Temporary Shelter.
• Street Education.
• Educational Sponsorship.
• Family Intervention.
• Foster Care.
• Community Outreach.
• Day Care.
• Spiritual Services.

Objectives

Support and maintain the existing programs and services of the PJC, including: the purchase of food, clothing and vaccines, both for the children in the centre and for distributing on the streets; the purchase of school materials; and salaries of the local staff.

• Maintenance of doors and windows, painting of the walls and gates and all other iron items in order to prevent rust and corrosion which could lead to children contracting tetanus.
• Creation of a dentist surgery within the centre available both to the children and the local community (opened October 2005).
• Construction of a "sari-sari" store (small grocery/kiosk) to aid the PJC in the self-sustainability factor.
• Construction of a community library on the ground floor of the PJC to offer educational services and leisure reading to the in-house children and the surrounding community (Opens).

Psychological Needs

The Centre provides services to children in two different settings: In the Centre and in the Community. However, heavy focus is placed on children in the Centre as they are completely abandoned or neglected. These children manifest psycho-social problems such as:

• Low self-esteem.
• Distorted sense of values.
• Lack of direction.
• Slow-learners.
• Confused role identification.
• Violent responses to conflicts.
• Distrust of their own family systems.
• Slow coping mechanism.
• Negativism.
• Self-destructive behaviour.
• Wallowing in self-pity.

In order to address those needs, the Centre provides a holistic intervention. As such, the families who can or who wish to be found are being tracked down so as to be included in the healing process. Aside from the provision of the above-mentioned programmes and services, the Centre, through its staff, performs the following:

• Counselling sessions.
• Value clarification sessions.
• The children attend enriching activities such as seminars and training courses.
• Group dynamics sessions.
• Tutorial lessons.

The PJC Dental Surgery

In the summer of 2004, a Norwegian couple got married. It was a normal wedding like any other. The only difference was that they didn’t register anywhere for their gifts. They asked that all gifts be in the form of cash, and they informed everyone that the money-gifts they received would be split into two parts; one half to be used on travelling, the other to be given to the PJC for the construction of the dental surgery. In March 2005, the CRF received their generous donation, which in conjunction with money donated at a fundraising Christmas concert held in Italy in 2004, built the PJC dental surgery. This project has been in the works for years now, and it has finally been realised thanks to the generosity of 2 donors, living in different countries. The dental surgery formally opened its doors in October 2005.

The director of the PJC is a trained dentist, and has invited her dentist friends and colleagues to the opening. From then on out, they will be volunteering their time at the PJC on a routine basis in order to see to the dental needs of the children; first and foremost for the children of the PJC and the children in the day-care programme, after which the community as a whole can receive affordable dental care if they so desire.

The objective of the dental surgery is to perform a much needed service for the children and the surrounding community at large. However, due to the economic situation in which the centre finds itself, the dental surgery is also an income generating project. The more self-sufficient the PJC becomes, the more secure their future and the futures of the children will be.

The PJC Day-Care Centre Prior to 1997, the PJC was located in a different area of Quezon City. The centre was not owned by the PJC, but rented, and it was much smaller than the permanent centre at its present location. In 1996, the PJC staff realised that they needed to find a solution to the problem of keeping the youngest street kids, aged three to six, off the streets at night. It was then that the idea of a day-care centre, for use at night, was conceived and put into motion. At that point in time there were only 10 children enrolled in the day-care centre.

THE PJC DAY-CARE CENTRE

In 1997 the PJC, through donations from Norway, moved to a new plot and the current building which stands today was built.

In 2004, thanks to the funds raised by Lamborghini, the day-care centre was expanded to include 60 children, and presently has an enrolment of 60. A new classroom and adjoining toilet was built behind the centre, furnished with desks, chairs, learning materials and toys for the children. The day-care centre is composed of children from the centre as well as children from the surrounding community, and provides them with both education and food. By joining these children in the classroom, the two communities are also joined in a unified effort to provide education for the children.

Sari-Sari Store (small grocery/kiosk)

At present the CRF is planning to construct a sari-sari store on the PJC premises. The funds have already been raised and it’s simply a matter of when construction begins. This again is another income generating project (IGP) for the PJC in order to make them more self-sufficient and independent of outside aid and donations, freeing up money for new projects to help other street children. (More news and photos of this project will be posted in this section in the coming months).

PJC Community Library and Computer Centre

Newly inaugurated is the PJC Community Library/Computer Centre. An area on the ground floor has been set aside in order to build a small library containing books on learning, family planning, community services, educational opportunities, parenting and an assortment of fiction and non-fiction. In addition, nine (9) fully functioning and internet capable desktop computers, chairs and tables have been installed in the adjoining room to provide computer and internet services to the older children and to the local community at large. The computer centre was made possible through the generous donation of Dorothy Byrne. The community where the PJC is located does not have library and computer services readily available for the poor and underprivileged, so this will be an important resource for both the young and old.

Opening of new street children centre

On 10 June 2006, the inauguration of the second street children centre was held. The construction of the new centre, or PJC II, is fully financed by CARITAS Antoniana (Padova) of Italy. The CRF is eternally grateful for their continued support. This new centre is a two storey building that houses 23 of the youngest children of the CRF street children shelter programme. The older children remain at the first PJC centre where they will have greater opportunities for learning and individual training for independent living. All construction on the new centre was completed in the fall of 2006, and the centre is now functioning at full capacity.