The Problem

More than 2 million Filipinos are living on the street. These street people are mostly children and adolescents. Existing reports indicate that in Manila alone, there are about 100,000 street children. Living in desperate poverty, suffering from poor health, and often victims of drug abuse, they survive by selling cigarettes, flowers, newspapers, and sometimes…themselves. They scavenge and beg, watch and wash cars…and pick pockets.

Parental neglect and social indifference force thousands of children to quit school and turn to street life to survive.

To provide assistance and find solutions constitutes a challenge few are prepared to accept.

Kaibigan

Founded in 1986, Kaibigan Ermita Outreach Foundation is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organization devoted to the care and well-being of street children and urban poor in different districts of Manila. It is fully registered with the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Range Of Services

Outreach Services

Kaibigans’s outreach workers have become familiar to hundreds of children on the streets of Manila, offering guidance and assistance.

Education

Kaibigan supports the education of approximately 400 children from the elementary grades through to college. Non-formal education programs and vocational training are also offered to the children and their families.

Health Care

Kaibigan ensures that the children under its care receive adequate preventive and curative medical attention.

Recreation

To provide the children with a healthy and wholesome respite from street life, Kaibigan undertakes a variety of cultural and sporting activities such as creative drama, drawing, swimming classes, summer camps, field trips and Mini-Olympics.

Livelihood

Kaibigan organizes income –generating activities such as various cottage industries, a thrift shop, a small capital assistance program and a choral group.

Learning Center

Besides serving as its principal office and headquarters, the Kaibigan Learning Center is used as a multipurpose facility.

Residence

In addition to the Learning Center, Kaibigan operates a residence for distressed children, where many find food and shelter from the hardships of the streets.