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After
seeing the plight of the 'street children', members of the Rotary Club of
Clark Centennial
launched a project in 2001 to assist and provide
shelter for them.
Under the leadership of
Charter President Reynaldo Pineda, this idea escalated in to a
major project, to provide not only care for their basic needs, but a new home,
education,
welfare,
sports,
medical and other facilities.
Her Excellency Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo, President of the Philippines, upon hearing of the
project, made a special visit to inaugurate the
center on July 25, 2001.
Archbishop Paciano Aniceto offered prayers to open the inauguration
ceremony and later blessed the children’s center.
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Our
definition of a ‘street child’ is a child who has no useful meaning in his
life, lives in poverty and is often the object of family abuse. He may
have no family and is often forced to work on the streets as child labor
or as a beggar to support his meagre existence. |
Angeles City, Philippines.
In most Asian cities as well as many western cities,
the problem of ‘street children’ is a continuous uphill struggle. Angeles
City, located in the farming heartland of Central Luzon, right next to the
former USA Clark Air Base, is no exception to this problem.
The DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) has more than 1500
children registered in the city as ‘street children’. In reality, the
number is much higher.
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Rotary Club of
Clark Centennial |
found many
of these children to have been mentally, physically and even sexually abused;
or just dumped on to the streets to fend for themselves by parents or
family members who can not afford to care for them.
In several
cases these children are forced on to the streets by parents eager to
generate extra income. It is not uncommon for a young child to bring home
several thousand pesos a month.
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