2. The Journey An illustrated story of a unique impoverished community situated at Inayawan Rubbish Dump Site
3. SPECIAL THANKS To all the staff and team from International Gospel Center Inc and Global Development Group …. Thank you for all that you have done to help this project become a reality. compassion … love … action
6. This scripture was given to us as we began to build a center at Inayawan Dump site at a time when there was no water at the area … since then we have installed more than 6 water pumps … not to mention the blessings now at the center …
7. Isaiah 41:17-20 17. The poor and needy seek water, but there is none, Their tongues fail for thirst. I, the LORD, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. 18. I will open rivers in desolate heights, And fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, And the dry land springs of water. 19. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree, The myrtle and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the cypress tree and the pine And the box tree together, 20. That they may see and know, And consider and understand together, That the hand of the LORD has done this, And the Holy One of Israel has created it.
10. DEDICATION This book is dedicated first and foremost … to our GOD … who illustrates His love to us over and over and over again. Thank you Lord for your love and compassion. Secondly, to Peter and Jessie Ochse for their vision, determination and faithful dedication and support of the work here in Cebu particularly the center at Inayawan.
11. THANKS It is not possible to put together a book such as this Without dedicating a portion to the HUNDREDS of individuals That made this project possible … From all those that donated funds. To those that Volunteered their time. To those that Drew up plans. To those that Helped to solve engineering problems. To those that Drove vehicles. To those that Cooked the meals. To those that Swept the floors. To those that Painted the walls. To those that Made the bricks. To those that Delivered the cement. To those that Gave up their holidays to work at the site. To those that Planned the teams. To those that Trained the teams . And so much more … THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
12. Clovercrest Team Members from 2005 to 2009 Peter Ochse Jessie Ochse Lisa Warren Ben Warren Gary Baker Brooke Baker Trevor Bayly Deanna Bayly Jan Bandsma Reina Bandsma Graeme Kluge Darren Smith David George Margaret George Mark Mostert Russell Riessen Scott Cooper Stephen Briene Michael Woodley Ben Blenkiron Bruce Oxley Jan Oxley Neville Krieg Yvonne Van Roy Martin Van Roy Netta Cufone Gail Allingame Darryl Allingame James Harbinson Gladys Fischer Andrew Velez Adriana Velez Tamara Velez Sarah Velez
13. Local Building and Volunteer Team from 2005 to 2009 JR Antipolo Rogelio Delica Reynaldo Casquiejo LebnieLayson Steve Tingson Paul Acosta Eunice Acosta Clarence Tudtud Janice Carriaga Christine Tan Lisa Roa Erick Siatanan MarechelSiatanan ErminiaMaga Berly Cadiz Lemuel Cadiz Lina Cadiz Jinky Cadiz Edwin Cadiz Nick Longden Lucy Longden Emma Longen Lizzie Longden Sarah Longden MeraPuza Bliss Gapay Christina Balleno Jogie Acosta Jonathan Acosta Christina Eduave Maximus Zima Sarah Whitby Richard Beardall Kim W….. Tahil Andrews John Buckley Abel Rendon BersantMadrona Jun JunAniel WelmieEstrellanes Dario Villarosa Jr. EsaganeCañete Michael Donan Salvador Digan Eunice Acosta LinalynRendon Robert Moranta RollyCasas Benjamin Beard Jordy Sparks Sarah Sparks Linda Kate Simon Liang Mercy Baldelovar Mac Mac Junjun Alice Bartlett LijanaPoga Lauren Sargeant Nelson Casul Dario Villarosa
15. Scavenging through the rubbish looking for anything they can resell; recycle; repair and sell … food to eat. This is a desperate way to live. There is a better way of life … thank you to all who are helping us impact their lives with hope.
16. Desperate living circumstances, families find whatever they can to make their shelter out of. When it rains … many of their roofs don’t protect them from the rain.
17. So many children without hope. This is what they know … this is how they live. Fighting for each day … each meal …
18. THE COMMUNITY This community lives right on the outskirts of the public city dumpsite. They life in make shift houses constructed out of any materials they can scavenge. Most have dirt floors … and a roof that barely keeps out the rain. Average family size here is 8 persons with one bread winner. No work, no pay; no pay, no food. Average daily income for these families is $1.50 … children are often expected to help the family put food on the table … either by helping their parents sort through the items they have collected for the day or scavenge themselves even though this is illegal. Many children do not attend school OR their attendance is sporadic due to illnesses and lack of motivation. Wet season is a time of sickness and disease as their human waste mixed with mud floods their homes … bringing with it copious amounts of bacteria … with their weakened immune systems due to malnutrition and poor living conditions … children often circum to pneumonia; diarrhea ; dehydration … all three life threatening without adequate knowledge and resources …. We are focused on equipping families with necessary resources and information on prevention, early treatment etc. This is where our medical clinic is vital to the health and wellbeing of the community, in conjunction with our feeding and education programs.
19.
20. This young boy collapses after a day of scavenging. Looking for whatever he can to help his family put food in their bellies. Life is hard for these precious little ones.
21. So how did it start? We started this work underneath a coconut tree … with the kids Sitting on a log and the teacher battling for their attention We then had a vision to build a center where we could not only conduct our classes ... But also facilitate many other service groups and concerned citizens programs through the provision of this facility. We were blessed to see how well the concept worked … many people want to help the poor and destitute … but it can be very overwhelming when first faced with the magnitude of the peoples needs, and the harsh conditions at the site.
22. Our first center that was built at the rubbish dump site. We turned two 40 ft shipping containers into a center. It was fantastic for our first steps … but as we grew, our needs grew as well.
23.
24. THE INAYAWAN RUBBISH DUMP COMMUNITY CENTER STORY … This center was originally built with two shipping containers converted into a classroom/center. The center was placed on rented land owned by a local government official … elected by the people for the people. However, he saw fit to continue to increase the cost of rent for our project in the midst of a school year knowing we were bound to pay any increase in order to continue schooling our children. In answer to our prayers … during the year of 2005 God sent a business man to the project that felt God prompt him to help us to purchase the land so that we could build a permanent building. He then shared the vision with his local church and from then on the rest is history … after 4 teams joined our CMF team here in Cebu … spanning over 5 years … with the generous assistance and donations from many organizations and individuals … we have built something that brings hope and a sense of dignity to all our families involved with our projects …
25. The Clovercrest Baptist Church in Adelaide, have visited us 4 times over the past 5 years. We now have 2 fully operational classrooms … a kitchen… 2 toilets … piggery … fully equipped clinic … playground area … water pump and storage area … and the last phase of the project is to finish off the third classroom upstairs … equipping it with computers for the training of our young people in the area. The Clovercrest fellowship have spent a total of 9 weeks over the past 5 years … here in Cebu … helping us to achieve the vision of a fully functioning … multi purpose center … with the primary goal of sharing love and life and hope to the community … 34 members of their fellowship joined our building team here in Cebu … many of them returning three and four times … THANK YOU !
26. The day it all began … Peter Ochse; Nick Longden and Jogie Acosta looking at the land available …
27.
28. This land was used by the community as the local basket ball court.
101. Australian Ambassador to the Philippines, Tony Hely and his wife assist Lucy Longden in the cutting of the ribbon for the opening of the Clovie Activities room.
102.
103.
104.
105.
106. Australian Ambassador, Tony Hely, looks on as our children are using the laptops in the Clovie Activities Room.
132. Networking with Channel of Hope Foundation To provide free dental care for the entire community … we convert the class room into a fully functioning dental clinic … literally hundreds of patients are seen each day during these missions.
150. FEEDING PROGRAM As part of our comprehensive program at Inayawan … we conduct regular mass feedings for the community. Everyone is welcome … we distribute Mangoes … Bread … and a food called “Lugaw” which is like a porridge made out of chicken, rice, vegetables, ginger, garlic and it is very nutritious.
153. The people are hungry and line up in anticipation of the food … they bring their jugs … pots … plastic bags anything that will hold the hot food …
154.
155. PIGGERY We have constructed a small piggery on the site … the purpose of this is to generate income to maintain the centers ongoing running costs. Wages for the caretaker … water supply bills … electricity to run all the classrooms and computers … and general maintenance. We have taken great care to ensure the integrity and standard of the center is maintained in regard to cleanliness and smell. When visitors arrive at the center, unless they are told we have a piggery, they are not aware. At the time of the compilation of this book … we have 5 pregnant pigs … when they deliver their litter we will raise the piglets for 3 months … then they will be cooked and sold … doubling our selling price for each piglet … this project in itself will employ 3 parents on our program.
156.
157.
158. The center is also used as a place of worship on Sundays
159.
160.
161.
162. The Australian Embassy, Manila sends dignitaries to honor the team from Clovercrest for all their hard work.
168. TEAM WELCOMEMaking the teams that came to serve feel welcome and loved. We are always so blessed and honored to work along side so many of our brothers and sisters for the one purpose …
204. Produced and edited by Mission Director Lucy Longden and Volunteer Missionary Lauren Sargeant … 2009
205. Cebu Missionary Foundation: Is an interdenominational organization that is not affiliated with any specific denomination. This provides us with the privilege of working with a wide cross section of the community both believers and non alike by expressing our faith and the extravagant love of God through action. With a strong commitment to networking with other organizations and community service groups, both over seas and within the Philippines. You may be familiar with our founding organization in Australia known under the name of International Gospel Centre Inc (IGC)… we are proudly supported by IGC … and Lucy Longden was on the Board of Directors of IGC Australia for many years … she is also the Mission Director and President of the Board of Directors of Cebu Missionary Foundation… The two organisations work hand in hand in achieving the work for the poor within Cebu. Our Focus is to reach the most destitute and vulnerable children through the slums of Cebu and impact their lives with hope and the power of love in action, through our comprehensive and effective program that not only reaches each child … but impacts their families and indeed their communities at large.
206. Our program includes medical care; emergency care; community development; education programs ranging from Kinder 1 through to our various College Scholarships Program; skills training and development; livelihood sponsorship; building projects and our rescue homes. We have been working in Cebu as a Non Government Organisation (NGO) registered with the Security and Exchange Committee (SEC) … and the Department of social Welfare Division (DSWD) and the Department of Education (Dep. Ed) … for more than 12 years. We are subject to the local laws and regulations concerning welfare programs and religious organizations. We undergo regular inspections and are required to adhere to various reporting schedules, both overseas, for our supporting agencies, and locally. Our Mission is to put our faith into ACTION … our motto is … COMPASSION … LOVE … ACTION It should be noted that no person is refused service or care based on their religious beliefs … our work is to bridge the gap … !!
212. community based service organizations … All with the purpose of networking … in order to gather as many resources and support for the most destitute of Cebu … Bringing hope and compassion; a voice for the speechless … !!
213. Romans 12 v 4 - 8 4Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to hisfaith.7If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8if it is encouraging, let him encourage;if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently;if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.