PASAKALYE Initiative

PASAKALYE is a special project that we initiated in response to the request of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to help keep street children off the streets during this Christmas season. From Monday to Thursday, 6-16 December 2010, at 3PM-8PM, we organized story-telling, art activities, games and sharing sessions with child-scavengers from Bgy. Highway Hills, Mandaluyong City, allowing them time to simply be themselves.

While most of them continued to attend school, many were below the grade level appropriate for their age. All worked as scavengers, some up to dawn simply to raise money for food. The work was not specially lucrative as they were only sorting through their own poor community's waste.

We will be keeping in touch with these children to help those lagging behind their peers in school and create a viable meal assistance program for everyone else.