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Little Angels
The Little Angels child sponsorship program
began in May 2000, after Mission Board member Antonia Antonopoulos visited
the Philippines
and saw first-hand how much the children and families living in poverty would
benefit from our help. As of April 2002, sponsors have stepped forward to
support over 70 Filipino children.
How does your gift help? The Little Angels program
is run by volunteers and all administrative costs are covered by the Mission
Board. This allows us to commit 100% of all gifts to the Little Angels
and their families or communities. Find out more:
Information for current and prospective
sponsors:
See your gift at work! Visit the Little Angels Gallery to view photographs from the
church of the Annunciation in Manila
as well as art created by some of the Little Angels.
Click here to sponsor a Little Angel!
If you have any questions about the
Little Angels program, please contact us.
About the Philippines
The Country
The Philippines
is an archipelago of more than 7000 islands located in Southeast
Asia. Manila
is the capital city of this island nation. The climate is tropical, with hot,
humid weather year-round. The official language is Filipino, and the
population is approximately 70 million inhabitants.
The People
Filipinos are known for their warm smiles,
hospitality to foreigners, and strong family values. The Philippines is the only Christian country in Asia—approximately 83% of the population is Roman
Catholic. Filipinos are a religious people that turn to faith in times of
trouble. Orthodox Christianity is relatively new in the Philippines,
only six years old. There are three Orthodox churches in the Philippines,
headed by three Filipino-born Orthodox priests, all of whom are converts from
Roman Catholicism. Orthodoxy is spreading fast in this country and a number
of chapels have been established as well.
The Effects of Unemployment
The Philippines is a developing
country where agriculture, forestry and fisheries provide employment to
almost half of the working population. However, due to wider economic and
political problems, the unemployment rate is high at 20%. To be unemployed in
the Philippines
means that a person is not registered by the government as having a full-time
formal job. However, this does not mean that unemployed people do not work.
Because the Filipino government cannot support Employment Insurance, people
are forced to work hard in what is known as the "informal sector."
Jobs in the informal sector include scavenging through garbage heaps to find
pop bottles that are sold to recycling plants or selling small items like
matches on a street corner.
Life in Manila
Most of the families sponsored by the Little
Angels program have migrated to the capital, Manila, in hope of finding better jobs to
support their families. They come from even poorer regions within the
country, where employment and educational opportunities are extremely
limited. However, upon arriving in Manila,
they find that life is still hard. In an overcrowded city like Manila, the poor are
forced to live in the slum areas, also known as shanty towns or squatters.
These are crammed living conditions where homes are essentially shacks made
of scrap materials such as wooden boards, tin sheets, and even cardboard.
Most families in these areas do not have electricity and generally must share
a toilet with a large number of other families. Families are typically
large.
The Effects of Poverty
In developing countries, people are not poor
because they have a lot of children; rather, they have a lot of children because
they are poor. Poor people are typically uneducated about
contraception methods and unable to afford them anyway. Poor people have a
lot of children because they need help on their farms or with other income-generating
activities. Because the governments of poor countries cannot afford old age
pension, parents rely on their children to care for them in their old age.
The situation is a familiar one, much like the one faced by our grandparents
and great-grandparents in Greece.
Still, it is difficult to find a Filipino
that does not have a smile on his or her face! The Orthodox Church cannot
solve the political and economic problems of any nation, but it can make a
big difference in the lives of those it helps. The Philippines is a country
that faces many challenges: a legacy of colonialism, corruption in
government, unfair trade policies vis-à-vis rich countries, a
crippling national debt, natural disasters (like floods and volcanic
eruptions), and a growing income gap between a small rich elite and the
poverty of the majority of the people.
Goals of the Little Angels Program
·
To alleviate the pain and struggle of poverty faced by
hard-working, poor families.
·
To address the total development of a child, by
contributing to all essential aspects of his/her life. This includes
Educational, Health, Community, Social, and Spiritual Needs.
·
To support our Orthodox-Filipino brothers and sisters in
serving as a witness of Orthodox Christian love worldwide.
·
To foster cross-cultural understanding and Christian
friendship through letter writing between you and your "Little
Angel."
How Your Gift Helps
The Little Angels program helps needy families
living in the slum areas of Manila and Los Baños that are near the Orthodox Churches of the
Holy Trinity (Los Baños) and The
Annunciation (Manila).
The program is run by Orthodox volunteers who are members of the St. Sophia
Sisterhood chapters (these are the equivalent of out Philoptochos
organizations), under the direction of parish priests Father Philemon and
Father Tarasios and Metropolitan Nikitas of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia.
The Little Angels program was conceptualized
by the Orthodox-Filipinos themselves as a worthwhile program to pursue in
poverty alleviation. The Little Angels program will assist a poor child
irrespective of religion or gender.
Your sponsorship supports a child's
educational and health needs, as well as his or her spiritual and social
development. Depending on the needs of the child, your gift of $29 per
month will contribute to any or all of the following:
Education
·
yearly tuition fees
·
school bag and school
supplies
·
mandatory school uniform and
shoes
·
transportation costs to and from
school
Health
·
INSUMIX
pacts (a nutritional food/vitamin mix recommended by nutritionists)
·
medical/dental check-ups
Spiritual &
Social Development
· Sunday School programs
·
summer camp activities
(educational trips, tree-planting)
Family &
Community
·
livelihood training
·
health centre supplies
·
day care needs
If you have any
questions about the Little Angels program, please contact
us.
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