The Nida Charcos Story

Nida Charcos shares a light moment with her mother. 

Nida was just 12 when she left her home in a faraway village of Bohol without explaining why.  She eventually found her way to Manila where, for the next 15 years, she worked at a series of low-paying jobs:   dishwasher at roadside eateries, housemaid, sari-sari store helper.

Mistake. She heard the Gospel and gave her life to God during a church Bible study when she was 17, but at 21, Nida made the mistake of marrying a man who turned out to be an abusive alcoholic and a womanizer.  Three children were born to them before his other woman had him shot dead after he refused to leave Nida for her.  “Honestly, I felt relieved with his passing,”  Nida admits. “Life with him was pure misery.”  The lowest point in her life came when her mother-in-law threw her and her daughters out of a house she had helped pay for.  There was nowhere to go but the streets. 

Survival. Nida and her daughters spent three months on busy streets near Rizal Park in Manila.  To survive, she sold small items that pedestrians stop to buy, like cigarettes, candy, and crackers. “Despite everything, the Lord was watching out for us because I never had to succumb to crime to feed my children, the way other street dwellers do,” she says.

She met staff of CCT’s Kaibigan Ministry in 2005 when she attended one of their feeding and Bible study sessions. This was a turning point.  A few months later she was among the first group of street dwellers invited by KM to stay at its halfway house. There, Nida renewed her relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and started attending discipleship sessions. Later on she was offered work as service staff at CCT’s support office on Taft Avenue, Manila, and she gladly accepted.   

Regaining Contact. One of the Kaibigan Ministry’s many programs involves reuniting street dwellers with their families.  Kaibigan staff and Nida’s co-workers encouraged her to write home. (Her family back in Bohol had long ago given her up for dead.) She wrote home, jotting down as recipient’s address a village name she remembered from more than two decades ago.  Surprisingly, the letter found its way to her sisters without much trouble and in much shorter time than everyone expected.  Soon the family was catching up by cell phone calls and text messages:  both her parents were still alive; all her sisters had completed high school, one of them lived in Pampanga, close to Manila.

A Secret Revealed. Finally, in February 2013, 24 years after she had last seen her parents and sisters, Nida got on a plane to Bohol for a much-dreamed of week-long reunion. One quiet evening, she finally told her mother why she had left home:  two male members of their extended family had been making sexual advances. Knowing what could possibly happen, and knowing no one would believe her, Nida said she chose to slip away and cause the least trouble for everyone.  Mother and daughter spent several minutes sobbing on each other’s shoulders.     

Back in Manila, Nida expresses thanks for the way her life has turned out: she has a steady job, her children are in school and not on the street, she has a new husband and son, she has found a caring family among CCT staff.  “God is good,” she says, with tears forming in her eyes. 

Nida, with her husband and son, reunited with her parents after 24 years of separation. 

Tearful farewell.

Nida and her sister were not yet in their teens when Nida ran
away from home. 

James hugs his grandmother goodbye at the end of a
week-long visit.

Nida shares a last meal  with cousins before
she returns to Manila with her husband and son. 

 James Charcos, born in the age of 
handheld electronic 
games, feels the grooves in a rough,
homemade sungka board in his mother's 
home province. 

Arsenio Children Won't Be 3rd Generation Street Dwellers

Joshua Arsenio, 10 months, will never know
what it is like to live on the street. 

Joshua Arsenio could have spent many of his growing up years on the street like his father.  He could have grown old and died of tuberculosis on the street like his maternal grandfather or could have turned out an armed robber like his uncles. His older sisters Shannawene and Shanamae could have become  druggies like their aunts.  Instead, these children are growing up safe on a rice farm, far away from the dirt, noise, pollution, drugs, and crime of Metro Manila's streets.

Aldrin had a stormy childhood. Unwanted as a baby, his biological mother left him in the care of an older friend, Mommy Virgie, whenever she went off with a man, and came back for him whenever it was convenient. When Aldrin was about eight, his mother finally settled down on the island of Mindoro, bringing Aldrin to live  with her and her new partner.

 Restless even as a young boy, Aldrin got on a boat to Manila  when he was about 11 and found his way back to Mommy Virgie.  Although his mother's friend treated him like one of her own children, she could also be harsh and was once reported by neighbors to the Bantay Bata for hitting Aldrin on the hands with a hammer. Thus Aldrin spent some of his growing years with various foundations that cared for abused children, intermittently running away from them to return to Mommy Virgie's house, or spending nights in parked jeepneys or sleeping on the street.

During one of those nights he met Sonnyboy who influenced him negatively -- taught him how to do drugs --but also did him some good. Sonnyboy introduced Aldrin to a community of street dwellers at a place called Sarimanok,  near Manila Bay. The Sarimanok community was being regularly ministered to by the Kaibigan Ministry of the Center for Community Transformation.

Aldrin was 17 and Rose Ann was 15 when they eloped and began living together at Sarimanok.  Kaibigan Ministry workers reached out to them, introducing them to Jesus, helping them grow both emotionally and in their relationship with God, patiently drawing them back when, on occasion, they went back to their old ways.

The two were among the first few Kaibigan Ministry 'regulars' to show interest in and qualify for resettlement at the Kaibigan Village in Nueva Ecija. Having spent some years living in an agricultural setting back in Mindoro, Aldrin immediately took to farm life. Today, at 22, he oversees the work on a five-hectare rice field. "All-around po ako dito.  Nagtatanim po ako, nag-ooperate ng tractor, nag-papatubig.

Aldrin's eyes shine brightly when he talks of the house he and his family live in.  "Ako po ang nag-ayos niyan," he says pointing to walls covered with sawali (woven bamboo). "Bumili pa po ako ng kurtina!"

He and Rose Ann are married now and are thankful that their children have absolutely no memories of living on the street.

"Napakahirap po sa kalsada.  Lagi kang puyat, pagod, huhulihin ka pa ng pulis.  Lalong mahirap kapag umuulan. Sobra-sobra ang pasasalamat namin na hindi na lalaki sa kalsada ang mga anak namin," Aldrin says.    

Shannawene, three, with her parents.
She  was a baby when her parents left
the streets of Pasay and has no memories of
street life. 

The Arsenios use a solar lamp to light their home
 which is still off-grid.  The lamp (shown at
 lower right) is also a cell phone charger,
 a real  blessing to neighbors --
having their cell phones charged here saves
them a trip to a charging station. 

Aldrin,  here clearing away  banana stalks on
the edge of a rice farm can literally claim the promise
in Isaiah 65:21b -  
 and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. 

Edwin Catana's Story

Edwin Catana gets ready to give  a wall at the Visions of Hope Christian School in Laguna
 at smooth cement finish.   

Covered with Tattoos. “Getting these was extremely painful,”  Edwin Catana says, pulling up his sleeves to reveal arms fully covered with tattooed-on symbols. “But there was almost nothing else left to do in prison,” he explains with a shrug.  In fact about 75% percent of his body is covered with images ranging from the romantic to the religious to the grotesque --  permanent reminders of a turbulent past.   

Edwin’s past could have been vastly different though. He could have left for the United States to live with an adoptive family when he was 13.  He had been a ward at a Christian orphanage in Quezon City and his adoption papers were nearing completion.  That’s when he confessed to the orphanage management that he was not actually an orphan as he claimed a few years earlier. The truth was that he had run away from home to escape being abused by an alcoholic father.   

A visit to Edwin’s home dashed all hopes of his ever being given up for adoption.  “Kaya kong palamunin ang sarili kong anak!” (“I’m capable of feeding my own son!”)  his father bellowed. Since the man was just as abusive as ever, and because Edwin would just be an added burden to his mother, a laundrywoman, he chose to drift from  one boys’ home to another, until he became too old to be accepted at these institutions. After that he became involved with drugs, women, and crime.

Imprisonment. He was caught carrying a gun on the way to a planned hold-up one day, and was thrown into prison for illegal possession of a firearm. Released on parole four years later,  he joined a community of homeless people living on an abandoned piece of land called Sarimanok near the Manila Bay waterfront development area. 

These homeless people were being ministered to by the Kaibigan Ministry of the Center for Community Transformation (CCT) through feeding and Bible study sessions. During one of those Bible studies, Edwin renewed his relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ whom he had first encountered back at the Christian orphanage that was his refuge as an abused child.

A few months later, along with several other men from Sarimanok, Edwin was recruited to do construction work at the Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center, also managed by CCT.  The spiritual development program observed at the Tagaytay construction site – including morning and evening devotions, Saturday corporate worship along with the retreat center staff, and Sunday worship services –  helped him grow in his relationship with God.

Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Catana on their wedding day.

He learned construction skills on-the-job as well, and recently earned certification of competence as a mason from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

Responsible Father. Today Edwin still reports regularly to his parole officer who has noted the definite change in his behaviour.

Back in his wild days, Edwin fathered three children who are now in their teens. He had no role whatsoever in their upbringing. In a mass wedding of former street dwellers organized by the Kaibigan Ministry in November 2011, he married the mother of his youngest child, a two-year old girl. He prays he will be a good husband and father, and hopes his daughter will never have reason to run away from home and follow his once-errant footsteps.   

Freddie Venzon: A Changed Man

Freddie Venzon’s father died when he was just 12. His mother tried to support him and his sister with odd jobs such as car washing, and Freddie often helped her. Then just two years after her husband passed away, Mrs. Venzon died  too.  

Friends brought Freddie home to live with them for a few weeks at a time, but because he was just another mouth to feed in those homes – which were just as poor as the family he came from -- Freddie felt unwelcome and took to the streets. Meanwhile, his sister had gone to live with an aunt and they soon lost touch.

From Tondo where he spent his early years, Freddie drifted to the tourist areas of Luneta and Intramuros in Manila, to the heavily populated Pasay City with its many dark alleys and sleazy night spots, to the busy Cubao shopping center in Quezon City.  At night he would fall asleep on sidewalks unmindful of the feet just inches away, hurrying home from malls, schools, and offices. Having grown accustomed to the noise of honking horns,  loud music blaring from jeepneys,  and the revving of motorcycles, he slept soundly with nothing but a piece of cardboard between his body and the cold pavement.

Freddie Venzon paints a classroom at the Visions of Hope Christian School
 in Puypuy, Bay, Laguna.

Like many other street dwellers he fell into crime, mainly for sustenance reasons. He learned how to snatch earrings right from the ears of passengers on jeepneys stalled in traffic. He would stand behind a target, reach out with both hands and with one swift motion would grab the earrings. If the earrings were screwed on too tight the victim would have to rush to a doctor's clinic to have her bleeding earlobes sewn.

Years passed and Freddie joined a community of homeless persons living on Sarimanok, a neglected piece of land along Roxas Boulevard in Manila. Because he was addicted to drugs, an older woman who was like a mother to many of the street dwellers committed him to a drug rehabilitation center for several months of treatment.  However, the most significant happening in his life occurred during a feeding and Bible study session led by the Kaibigan Ministry of the Center for Community Transformation (CCT). He heard the Gospel for the first time.  After attending several more Bible studies Freddie responded to an invitation to turn his life over to Jesus Christ.  (Kaibigan is the Filipino word for friend. At CCT, kaibigan also refers to a street dweller.)  

Changes and blessings he never imagined possible began coming his way. Freddie was among several Kaibigans invited to help construct a small building on the grounds of the Rose of Sharon House of Friendship in Puypuy, Laguna. Here he began to learn to use his hands to earn an honest living and also began to grow in his relationship with the Lord. (Morning devotions, discipleship classes, and weekend worship services are part of the routine of the Kaibigan Ministry.)   Next, he helped build  classrooms and dormitory buildings at the Training and Development Institute in Magdalena, Laguna. Because the campus was finished on time and because of significant savings on labor costs, he was among 35 Kaibigans rewarded with an all-expenses-paid, three-day trip to Boracay. Freddie says, “Hindi po ako makapaniwalang yung isang lugar na nakikita ko lang sa picture ay mapupuntahan ko! At nakasakay din ako sa eroplano!” (“I can’t believe I got to visit  a place I only used to see in pictures! And I even got to ride an airplane!”)

Equally rewarding work followed when he helped build dormitory buildings at the Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center.

Recently, Freddie earned certification of competence in painting from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority under the SIPAG project run by CCT in cooperation with the Department of Trade and Industry. (For more information on the SIPAG project please click  here and  here).

Even more exciting is what happened around Christmastime 2011. He returned to Tondo and found someone who knew his sister’s whereabouts.  A short time later, the siblings were reunited.

Today at 42, Freddie  cares about the dozens of homeless people still living at Sarimanok and prays they will respond to Christ’s call the way he did. Kaibigan workers still regularly hold feeding sessions and Bible studies there; Freddie hopes to be able to minister to the Kaibigans there himself someday.   “Kung tapos na po ang mga construction project ng CCT, gusto ko sanang makatulong sa feeding program ng Kaibigan Ministry.  Kahit ako lang po yung tagabuhat ng pagkain,.” he says.  (“When all the CCT construction projects are over, I would like to help with the Kaibigan feeding ministry.  I won’t mind having to carry the food.”)   

If the Lord indeed leads Freddie back to Sarimanok soon, his changed life will certainly be a blessing and an inspiration. 


For more information on the ministry of the Center for Communication Group of Ministries, please visit its website at cct.org.ph/new/. 

21 Kaibigan Couples Tie the Knot

Photo by Walt Davis

The mass wedding on November 18, 2011 was a dream come true in more ways than one for 21 Kaibigan couples.  The sky was clear and bright over the  new CCT Retreat Center in Tagaytay which served as a fitting venue for the day’s romantic celebration. (Kaibigan is the Filipino word for friend. At the Center for Community Transformation, the word is also used to refer to current or former street dwellers.)

More than a few tears were shed as the brides, in their Filipiniana attire, walked down the aisle while being serenaded with Ikaw and as they pledged their love and loyalty to one another in front of God and their many ninongs and ninangs .

Officiating minister Pastor Saludo charged the couples  to love and  stay faithful to each other.  Visitors from all over the world (USA,  South Africa, Kenya, Australia, the Netherlands, Bangladesh, among others) who were in the country for a series of meetings witnessed this wonderful commitment of lives and marriages  to the Lord.

The couples range in age from their mid 20s to early 50s and have been living together for an average of five years.  They are being ministered to by CCT's Kaibigan Ministry which reaches out to Metro Manila's street dwellers through programs that include feeding, evangelism, discipleship and reintegration into mainstream society.  

Noted makeup artist Madge Landrito and her amazing team, Jason Magbanua (celebrity videographer), and Dino Lara (internationally awarded wedding photographer) donated their time and services as a way of sharing their blessings.  What a wonderful gift for the  couples!

The  couples shared a sumptuous dinner buffet with the people closest and dearest to their hearts. Music, laughter, dancing, and a lot of love filled the rest of the evening then the couples left for a nearby hotel for their honeymoon.

Some of the buildings at the retreat center were built by many of these Kaibigans themselves.   Read the heartwarming story of one changed life here:  http://cctsikhay.blogspot.com/2012/04/weve-been-blessed-say-former-street.html

For Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center rates and booking information, please contact Eva Lope, CCT partners development officer / CCT servant at evaranlope@yahoo.com.ph, evamlope@gmail.com, 09192933157, 09232497605, 806-6912, and 234-1301. For more information on CCT'  programs and target beneficiaries, please visit www.cct.org.ph/new/.

 Story by Chie Gatchalian, Photos by Jill Hall and Chie Gatchalian

John Rollon's Testimony

John Rollon lived on the streets of Manila for 25 years before coming to have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. In this video he shares how God has transformed his life. Today he is one of the staff at the Kaibigan Center in Pasay.

Kaibigan Villages Receive Portable Solar Home Lighting Systems

CCT President Ruth Callanta receives a solar powered lantern from Philippe Saubier (center)
and Jim Ayala of the Solar Energy Foundation.

The Kaibigan Villages in Kalikid, Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija received portable solar home lighting systems during the first community stop of Ride for Light 2011, a 6,600-kilometer motorcycle adventure ride across the entire Philippine archipelago.

Philippe Saubier, Ibba Rasul Bernardo, and Antonio Villanueva of the Solar Energy Foundation brought a donation of 20 portable solar home lighting systems, some of which now light up the homes of former street dwellers who have been resettled in five Kaibigan villages in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija.

The three riders kicked off their adventure at the Rizal Park in Manila early April 16 and arrived at the Kaibigan Village 1 by mid morning, followed by their backup team. 

Ride for Light 2011 riders on  powerful BMW motorcycles arrive at Kaibigan Village 1.

 CCT President Ruth Callanta and the Kaibigan Ministry staff from Manila were in Nueva Ecija to meet the team. A brief program was held, followed by lunch. Attending the program aside from the SEF riders were Jim Ayala, chairman of SEF-Philippines, his wife, SEF staff, Kalikid barangay officials, and Kaibigan villagers.

Jim Ayala is greeted by Kalikid barangay officials.

Ruth Callanta and guests sing, "How Great Thou Art".

Naida Ilao gives the welcome remarks.

Ruth Callanta shares how she met Jim Ayala and learned of his advocacy

for the use of solar energy.

Visions of Hope Foundation and Kaibigan Ministry staff sing, "He Lives!"

Jim Ayala speaks earnestly about using solar power to
light up villages currently excluded
from the electricity grid.

Frenchman Philippe Saubier, Ride For Light head rider,
demonstrates how to use a solar lamp to light a home...

.... as a flashlight....

... as a cell phone charger...

...and how to recharge a solar lamp using a solar panel.

The lanterns double as flashlights and cell phone chargers.  They are recharged using solar panels. Jim explains that about 20 million Filipinos live in areas without electricity. Lighting up their homes with solar lamps will allow productive activity for business and studying after sunset.

Ruth Callanta prays for the 'Light Riders'.

The 'Light Riders' will travel to 39 other communities in Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao to raise funds and awareness for the foundation’s advocacy of electrifying remote villages with solar energy.They will also visit the B’laan community assisted by CCT in Malungon, Sarangani province in Mindanao as part of their19-day tour.