CFC ANCOP Australia is providing $5,000 to fund the replacement of the existing roof of the Pulong Mindanao Elementary School Activity Centre. The funds will be used to pay for building construction supplies, materials and labour.
Once the roof at the centre is replaced, the solar panels which ANCOP Australia also donated last May-- valued at over $4,000-- will then be installed. The solar panels will provide a power source for the school, its students and the community residents as well. The activity centre will become a safe venue for meetings and activities not only during the day but also at night as it will have proper lighting for the first time. It is expected that many of the students will use the centre at night as many houses do not have sufficient lighting to enable them to do their school work at home.
Site development plan for Sitio Pulong Mindanao School Activity Centre, which ANCOP Australia is helping to renovate
Pulong Mindanao is a sitio located 10 kilometers away from the town of Santa Maria, in Laguna Province, Philippines. The area relies on solar lamps and generators for lighting, as it is not serviced by the main electric grid.
To get to Pulong Mindanao, one has to travel by horse, or walk along slippery trails and cross several streams.
The original settlers are migrants from Mindanao who left the island during the height of the Muslim-Christian conflict in the 1970s. Hence it is called Pulong Mindanao.
Villagers of Pulong Mindanao are subsistence root crop farmers, haulers and seasonal workers. Their houses are of mixed or indigenous materials. Their water for bathing, cooking and laundry are from a well and a running stream. Clean drinking water comes from water distillers donated by a water utility firm.
There is an elementary school in the area. In 2020, it has around 66 pupils and four teachers. ANCOP USA provides educational sponsorship to 43 children and youth. The delivery of the Educational Sponsorship Program (ESP) components are done in coordination with the parents and teachers of the Pulong Mindanao Elementary School. Value formation trainings are regularly given to the students as part of their holistic growth and development.
CFC ANCOP Australia is helping with power generation through the provision of solar panels. Donations from Japan, U.S. and other donor partners also came in the form of computers, clothes, and other supplies.
Recently, the area received food aid under the Covid 19 Assistance Project.