OH: Marilyn’s Steady Income Streams
Marilyn, a client of the One Hope Microfinance Program, is thriving with her third loan. Her food stand near a school feeds students and teachers daily.
After all the preparations: house surveys, coordination meetings with community and barangay leaders, and going to schools for partnership, we had our very first disbursement last week for Marytown to welcome 224 new beneficiaries for our Manila Slum Project!
In early July, our team surveyed houses in Marytown in the hopes of expanding the Manila Slum Project to another community. After an initial visit to other slum areas in Loyola Heights, we met with the community leader of Marytown. He heard about the progress in Ronas Garden and he is thankful that we are going to do the same thing in his area. Out of the 6 slum areas in Loyola Heights, the 3 most in need are Ronas Garden, Marytown, and Daan Tubo. Marytown has 600 families with 3-4 children per family.
As we aim to secure education for 200 street children in our new area, our team constantly coordinates with both local leaders and school officials. When we visited the area, it was a long narrow alley and houses are built on top of a huge canal. Around that slum area are huge, tall condominiums, so the alley is dark. The barangay leaders also identified Marytown as an area where they had problems with the youth. The community leader and barangay officials will also be joining our team during the house-to-house surveys. This will help us identify those who are really in need of our assistance.
Our team, mothers from our first batch from the Manila Slum Project in Ronas Garden, were all present for the launch last week. Thank you to our on-ground team in the Philippines and our donors for this wonderful opportunity for all these children and their families.
Our Partners
Marilyn, a client of the One Hope Microfinance Program, is thriving with her third loan. Her food stand near a school feeds students and teachers daily.
Through our Manila Slum Program, Jei returned to school and graduated, while her mother, Jing, completed a cookery course and is now seeking stable work.
The school leaders at Payatas B fully support our mission to bring online safety education to their school, empowering students to recognize and report abuse.
As we expand our microfinance program, each client will now receive an OSAEC (Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children) activity booklet with their loan.
Last month, we invited Joanna and Vic to inspire our student beneficiaries with stories of perseverance, overcoming financial struggles, and pursuing their dreams.
One of the main tenets of stopping cybersex crime is through education. We ensure that all of our program beneficiaries in the Philippines undergo online awareness programs. During our second meeting and disbursement, 225 parents and guardians from Marytown received essential information on Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children (OSAEC).