Bahay Pag-asa Newsletter - March 2015

USLS Bahay Pag-asa Youth Center                                 March 2015

Pag-asa Update

   A Newsletter of USLS Bahay Pag-asa Youth Center, Bacolod City, Philippines    

**************************************************************************

Education for Adolescent Health & Development at Bahay Pag-asa

The young people entrusted to us at Bahay Pag-asa Youth Center arrive with a wealth of knowledge regarding survival in the world outside. They also have learned a great deal about drugs, crime and sex. The problem is that much of what they have learned is either incomplete or inaccurate. And because many of these boys have not been attending school regularly and because even the ones

The youngest resident at Bahay Pag-asa graduates from his short course on Adolescent Health and Youth Development. The instructors, from the Population Commission Office of Bacolod are (from left to right) Mr. John Christopher Bais, Mr. Ernie Asoy, and Ms. Jerrilyn Tambasen. 

who did attend school received little or no education in these areas, they now find themselves ill-informed on these topics and at great risk of disease (or even death), involvement in criminal activities and other problems associated with unhealthy or age- inappropriate sexual activity. So, Bahay Pag-asa was very happy to be able to have a team of instructors from the Population Commission Office present a two-day course in Adolescent Health and Youth Development. Using multimedia presentations and and interactive seminar format, our guest instructors led our residents through a two-day course in which they explored the topics of human reproduction and sexuality, healthy vs. unhealthy relationships, child abuse, human trafficking, drug abuse and the development of skills needed for responsible decision- making. The process involved a great deal of pre-assessment - finding out what the boys already know, or think that they know. It’s a sobering experience for those of us on-staff at Bahay Pag- asa to realize the extensive exposure our residents have had to a very dangerous world. For their part, the residents were enthusiastic students and very much appreciated the chance to ask questions in a very open forum. Two days, of course, is not nearly enough time to fully educate our boys on these topics, so we are planning additional modules to be held in May. Bahay Pag- asa extends its thanks to the Population Commission Office and the instruction team of Mr. Asoy, Mr. Bais and Ms. Jerrilyn for their time and evident dedication to the education for health and safety of young people.

A Call for Books

With the library renovation largely completed, we are now in the process of finding new books for our shelves.  All donations of new or gently-used books for our library are appreciated.  If it’s up-to-date, looks interesting, and is appropriate for young adult readers, we can certainly use it!

For Those Who Wonder Why We Are So Shy…

Why is it, especially here in the “City of Smiles,” that our residents are so shy in our newsletter photos.  The answers to this question are privacy, safety, and compliance with govenmental guidelines.  The residents here at Bahay Pag-asa are minors (at least at the time of their admission) who are, in some way, in conflict with the law.  We are, therefore, required to protect their privacy as directed by juvenile justice legislation and according to the guidelines given by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).  What is even more important, however, is the safety of our residents.  Several of our residents were placed here as a way of protecting them from harm in their own home towns.  Even some of the smallest of our boys have been targeted by individuals or groups seeking revenge.  Others, by cooperating with police investigations, have put themselves at risk of violence from the criminal orgaizations that recruited them.  So, while we would really like to share with you the hopeful faces of our residents, we must refrain from doing so, at least in any media that is widely accessible.  So, if you can’t visit in person, you’ll just have to take our word for it that, thanks to your generosity, our boys have very big smiles.

“Bahay Pag-asa is the best ever!! This is the right place for young men who really need comfort and guidance and for those who have sometimes lost their way and struggled in life.”  -  Edmar (former BPYC resident)

We Will Run and Not Grow Weary…

With two big athletic events coming up at Bahay Pag-asa, the Summer 2015 Sportsfest and the Trans-Pacific Masskara Marathon (see next page), we realized that our residents have a great need for athletic shoes.  So thanks to Ms. Margaret Brown-Salazar, the St. Mary’s College Volunteers and some additional donors, we had just enough cash on hand to go shoe shopping.  The staff spent an afternoon with the boys, determining shoe sizes using a reliable, if basic, method - tracing.  Then it was off to a downtown shoe store where we paid around P450 per pair (about US $10).  For some boys, it was their first pair of athletic shoes; for nearly all, their best.  Big smiles…trust me.

What's a “Trans-Pacific Masskara Marathon”?  

A few final notes…

Bahay Pag-asa would also like to thank Br. Mark Salvan and students from the University of Saint La Salle’s Nursing and HRM programs for providing a Saturday class for our residents on first aid and professional bed arrangement.  

We also appreciated the visit of 243 students from the Criminology program at Bago City College. Part of the mission of the Lasallian Bahay Pag-asa Youth Centers is to provide police formation programs so as to help bring about needed juvenile justice reforms.

Please keep in your prayers four of our residents who are preparing for baptism during this Lenten season. They will be baptized on Easter Sunday.

Be sure to view our new brief video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fAePm1onaI

Visit us at the Bahay Pag-asa Bacolod page on Facebook and at lasallianpagasa.blogspot.com