Apr 18, 2024
The MSC Centre for the Poor in the Philippines has launched the first phase of a feeding programme for vulnerable children in Libis Baesa, a highly populated region in the city of Calcoon.
The feeding programme will run for several months, with this first stage haven taken place over a six-week period throughout February and March, feeding 40 children in Libis Baesa Elementary School. The second phase of the programme will take place in April, in the regions of Libis Dulo and Reparo, and the third stage is planned for May, covering East Libis and Centro.
The Facebook page for the MSC Mission Office in the Philippines shared these photos from the programme, noting “Observe the joy on the faces of the children currently benefiting from the feeding program in Libis Baesa.”
The MSC Centre for the Poor is highly active in its ministry throughout several regions of the Philippines. Its core values centre on working together in harmony with the earth – nurturing our natural environment, while reaping its benefits in creating a sustainable lifestyle that will help poor and struggling families and communities to build the foundation for a brighter future. From agricultural programmes, to clean water projects, to plastic-free and zero-waste initiatives, the MSC Centre for the Poor encourages participants to develop the skills needed to create and maintain an improved quality of life for disadvantaged communities in both urban and rural areas.
The community at the Centre are also extremely responsive in terms of providing emergency aid where necessary, providing urgent care to survivors of the typhoons and tropical storms that frequently hit the country. From building and repairing homes to distributing emergency care packages, their outreach programmes provide practical and very necessary help to families and communities in real need; these photos of the Libis Baesa children receiving much-needed nourishment is a testament to the wonderful work they do at the most fundamental level.
A whole host of willing participants came together to make the food drive possible, with posts on the Facebook page expressing sincere thanks:
“On behalf of the MSC Center for the Poor, we extend our gratitude to the volunteer cooks, the Principal of Libis Baesa Elementary School, Teacher Myrna, the MSC Brothers, Chapel Presidents, Fr. Gab, and Fr. Sam.
Special thanks to our sponsors, RJF Primo Corporation, Felicidad T. Sy Foundation, and Casao Kids. May God bless you abundantly.”
“We are grateful for the visit from our donor, Mrs. Falcon, accompanied by her daughter Cazandra and her classmates from Miriam College: Aurora, Althea, and Jan Jan. The children greatly enjoyed their presence and were overjoyed with the gifts they received.
We also wish to express our thanks to our IC brothers, Bro Erwin and Bro Borge; to the Principal of Libis Baesa Elementary School, Ms. Maria Idel C. Malay; to the Teacher Coordinator, Mam Myrna; the Coordinator of MSC Center for the Poor, Ms. Joy; the MSC Mission Office Board of Trustees and Staff, and the MSC Manila District, Fr. Sam & Fr. Gabby.”
Please keep our MSC communities in the Philippines in your prayers as they continue in their remarkable work in bringing hope to people who people who have very little, and in putting food on the plates of children who would otherwise go hungry. We wish them every blessing in support and friendship as they look ahead to phase two of this vital programme.
Images via the Facebook page for the MSC Mission Office Philippines, Inc.
IF YOU CAN, PLEASE SUPPORT THE MSC CENTRE FOR THE POOR
Feb 15, 2024
Congratulations are in order for the MSC community and their superb team at the MSC Centre for the Poor in the Philippines. On December 15th, 2023, Fr Richie Gomez MSC, community leader at the Centre, attended an awards ceremony hosted by the Villar Foundation in Las Piñas City, where the MSC Centre for the Poor Agriculture Cooperative (MSC CEPAGCO) were honoured to accept an award for being one of the Outstanding Community Enterprises in the country.
Since its establishment five years ago, the MSC Centre for the Poor has gone from strength to strength, with the MSC CEPAGCO providing invaluable assistance to local communities throughout the COVID pandemic and beyond. With a dedicated focus on food sustainability and care of our common home, the agricultural cooperative aims to educate and empower both rural and urban families and communities with the skills they need to create sustainable livelihoods, while nurturing and caring for the earth for future generations to come.
From addressing plastic waste to organising clean water programmes, the MSC Centre for the Poor Agricultural Cooperative are tireless in their work to improve the quality of life of the people in their programmes, while working in harmony with the natural world.
“Thank you Villar Foundation for recognizing our effort and advocacy on organic sustainable agriculture, environmental protection, food security and poverty reduction,” posted the Facebook page for the MSC Centre for the Poor as they shared the news of the 2023 Villar Sipag Award. “Congratulations to Fr. Richie and to all MSC CEPAGCO staff and volunteers who have been instrumental in winning such award!”
We add our congratulations to theirs, and we wish Fr Richie and all the MSC CEPAGCO community continued success in their phenomenal efforts to make an instrumental difference to the lives of disadvantaged families in the Philippines.
Images via the Facebook page for the MSC Centre for the Poor
IF YOU CAN, PLEASE SUPPORT MSC CENTRE FOR THE POOR
Feb 8, 2024
The MSC Mission Office in the Philippines have been working in rapid response with the MSC Centre for the Poor to issue essential emergency aid to several communities that have been critically affected by severe flooding in the Mindanao region.
The relief project aims to help as many families as possible who have been displaced by catastrophic flooding across the Mindanao area in late January/early February. Flash flooding has caused landslides and as yet untold destruction in this region and beyond, with the death toll climbing to the high teens in the days following the disaster. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced, while homes and business premises alike have been destroyed, with power outages and interruptions to the water supply also reported.
On February 5th, the MSC Centre for the Poor began distributing vital emergency relief aid to families impacted in Tagbina, in Surigao del Sur. With the emergency response team springing to immediate action, a total of 142 families have received urgent aid so far, as they attempt to recover from the devastation wreaked by the flood waters.
The relief project is ongoing as the outreach team continue in their efforts to help families to repair and rebuild across different areas of the Mindano region. Together, the MSC Centre for the Poor and the MSC Mission Office Philippines are organising the next phase of the mission response project, to support families who have been displaced by flood waters in the districts of Talacogon and San Luis, Agusan del Sur.
Together, we keep our MSC brothers in the Philippines Province, and the communities of Mindanao, in our prayers, as they work to rebuild lives and livelihoods in the face of this overwhelming ordeal.
Images via the Facebook page for the MSC Mission Office Philippines, Inc.
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Nov 21, 2023
Welcome to this year’s Winter edition of the MSC Message!
• Read a special greeting from Fr John Fitzgerald MSC, Director of the MSC Missions Office.
• We welcome Fr Joe McGee MSC as the new Provincial Superior along with our new Provincial team, Fr Dave Nixon MSC and Fr Manus Ferry MSC, Fr John Bennett MSC, Fr Alan Whelan MSC.
• More updates from Fr Alan Neville MSC in South Sudan, where a Peace walk was in progress and new members were welcomed to the diocese.
• Fr Remigius reaches out to us to help rebuild his parish Church which had been damaged by high winds in Keelakarai, in South India.
• An update from some of the work we have done in the Phillipines after Typhoon Odette Appeal in 2021.
Read the Winter 2023 edition of the MSC Message
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Feb 2, 2023
As 2022 reached its end, the MSC Mission Office in the Philippines once again ran their Christmas Basket project, which this year saw over 1,000 pledges helping families in the remote communities of Bataan and Caloocan City.
Care packages containing groceries and essentials were distributed in Calcoocan City and in St Thomas Aquinas Parish, Bangkal, Abucay, Bataan at the end of December. Working together with the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Mission Station and a team of wonderful volunteers, the Missions Office were able to raise enough funds for over 1,000 Christmas baskets to help families in need. Each pledge for a basket was marked at a value of 500 Philippine pesos, which meant that a whole family’s Christmas could be entirely transformed for a little under €8.50 per household.
These photos, from the Facebook page for the MSC Mission Office in the Philippines, show the distribution of Christmas baskets in the parish of St Thomas Aquinas in Bataan, led by Fr Ace Yu MSC with the help of parishioners and volunteers. You can also click here to watch a video from the Christmas basket distribution event in Caloocan City, courtesy of the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Mission Station.
“We would like to thank all our donors and mission partners who supported us in the campaign to bring joy this Christmas season,” posted the Facebook page for the MSC Mission Office in the Philippines. “We also thank the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Mission Station and all the volunteers who help us to make this project possible. To all of you, MARAMING, MARAMING SALAMAT PO! (Thank you, thank you very much!)”
Images via the Facebook page for the MSC Mission Office in the Philippines.
Video link via the Facebook page for the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Mission Station.
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