Bamboo Community Center Rising In Malungon

Light and airy.

Cool.

Maaliwalas.

This is what a bamboo house is like. And light, airy, cool, and maaliwalas is what the main building at the Kerith Ravine Retreat and Community Resource Center in Malungon, Sarangani Province will be like.  The 234-square meter structure, made mostly of bamboo, is expected to be completed by July this year.

Designed by Architect Rosario Encarnacion Tan, the building is stilted or raised from the ground. Seventy percent of the silong or ground floor will be left open.  The silong will house a clinic, bathrooms, a pharmacy and a water station.  A worship hall with a 160-seating capacity, a library, an office and a classroom will be on the second floor.

Twenty-three men composed of  five B'laan men, ten former street dwellers from Manila, and ten members of the Malungon community are working on the building. Before construction work began, workshops were held to train them on bamboo harvesting, treatment, and storage; bamboo growing and propagation; and bamboo design and construction.

Just-harvested  bamboo poles are made to absorb a borax
solution to prevent termite infestation
and the growth of mold.

 The bamboo used for the building is harvested from clumps of bamboo growing abundantly on the 77-hectare CCT property. It is treated on site.  The roof will be of cogon grass which also grows profusely in the province. 

CCT ministers to the B'laan community in Malungon to help transform and empower them to reach their potential as human beings created in the image and likeness of God. Aside from the building of the community center, ongoing projects include organizing of leaders, livelihood training, discipleship classes, and the feeding of children.

19 VOH Beneficiaries Graduate

Praise the Lord for 17 VOH-sponsored young people from General Santos City and Sarangani province who graduated this March from high school. One of them was valedictorian and three others were among the top ten students of their batch. The students are:

Czarina Poblete, valedictorian, Gen. Santos City High School

Jean Hope Piang, fifth honorable mention, Batotitik High School

Renlie Lauron, top 8, Malungon National High School

Charity Solania, top 8, Alabel National High School

Jowe Auman, medal for distinction in sports, Gen. Santos City High School

Ellaine Bueno, Gen. Santos City High School

Najma Bandoy, Ireneo High School

Augusto Ongcoy, Ireneo High School

Diano Leahne, Lagao National High School

Jaymark Tagnaan,Malungon National High School

Reinhart Tagusi, Malungon National High School

Michael John Insular, Malungon National High School

Jessa Mae Mission, Alabel National High School

Roy Mart Palawan, Alabel National High School

Ferdilyn Baton, Alabel National High School

Melvie Carangue, Alabel National High School

Leizle Geral, Labangal National High School

Christine Fae Genona and Alfie Balayo, on the other hand, graduated from trade school.

Community Resource Center

Construction began on October 11th 2010

Project Manager Engineer Rody Gonzales

Bamboo from the property is harvested, treated and used for the construction of the Community Resource Center.

Harvested bamboo

Side View

Front View

Malungon Retreat and Community Resource Center

CCT’s Malungon Retreat and Community Resource Center is built on a huge 72-hectare property in Malungon, Sarangani Province, Mindanao. 

The indigenous people of the area, the B’laan, are poor subsistence farmers who have been historically marginalized. Since 2003, CCT has provided them with health care, livelihood skills training, insurance and microfinance from a CCT micro-finance branch in nearby General Santos City. 

The Malungon property currently runs five main programs for the B’laan: Education, Training, Spiritual Development, Nutrition and Health Care and once completed, a new Community Center.

Education

Fourteen children aged between 5 and 10 currently attend CCT’s Basic Literacy Education and Support Systems Program (BLESS). 37 B’laan between the ages of 14 and 50 are undertaking the Alternative Learning School (ALS), a ten month program which provides them with an elementary or high school diploma. 

Training

10 B'laan families are undergoing livelihood training, including sewing and traditional dress and bead making. Six more B’laan are attending CCT’s Magdalena Vocational Training Center.

Spiritual Development

67 B’laan attend weekly Bible study groups and services at the Malungon Worship Hall. 

Health Care and Nutrition

82 children, 32 of them chronically undernourished, are provided much needed nutrition in six nearby B’laan sitios, villages, every month.

Community Center

The B’laan have been trained in the harvesting, treatment and storage of bamboo from the Malungon property, to be used in the construction of the Community Center. With bamboo abundant in the area, the B’laan will be able to retain these skills for the construction of their own villages in the future. The Community Center will include a pre-school, health clinic, library, training rooms and a worship hall. It will be completed in early 2011.

CCT staff at Malungon have also helped B’laan children get birth certificates, provided legal advisers to protect the B’laan from losing their land and organised help from the Department of Agriculture.

Administration Building 

BLESS classroom

BLESS students

Student Dormitory 

Teacher's Dormitory

Dormitories

Center for Community Transformation (CCT)

The Center for Community Transformation (CCT) is a non-profit, faith-based organization that believes than an organized Christian response against poverty and social injustice is needed. 

This is carried out through the fusion of social development initiatives, including microfinance, and evangelical mission in a uniquely Filipino context. It serves urban and rural poor communities throughout the Philippines, in pursuit of its desire to see changed lives, strong families and transformed communities.

Welcome!

Dear Ministry Partner,

Welcome to CCT's online reporting system.

This website is dedicated to keeping you up to date with activities and developments st the Malungon Retreat and Community Resource Center. It will be regularly updated with photos, videos and written reports.

We hope you enjoy this new reporting format and that it satisfies your reporting needs. Please feel free to contact us if have any questions or requests.

Thank very much for your support of CCT.

Warm regards,

The CCT team