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 YOTS visits young gaol inmates in Philippines
BACKGROUND
In 2005, Father Riley met a kindred spirit in Father Cullen, who has twice been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with the PREDA Foundation, the organisation he established in 1974 to help women and children in Olongapo City, 120 kilometres from Manila.
Programs include accommodation for girls rescued from brothels and domestic abuse, human rights and child protection lobbying, outreach to street kids and educational seminars in schools throughout the provinces on topics such as child abuse, drug abuse and HIV/AIDS. One main program is the street child contact and recovery program.
Due to a regular monthly donations, two more social workers have been employed through Preda, to work within the street child contact and recovery program. These social workers spend most of their time on the streets, contacting street kids, conducting street education programs, and organising daily meals. The aim of the program is to get the kids off the streets, where prostitution, vagrancy, solvent sniffing and gambling is widespread, and support them into residential homes, where they continue their schooling, and with a longer term view to getting the kids back into their regular schools close to home. Some of the funds are using towards reconciling children with their parents, assist the parents with purchasing better food for their families, as well as paying school fees, which helps the kids to attend their local school. Staying at school can lead to better long term employment opportunities for these young people.
As part of World Youth Day we will welcome a visit by a group of young Filipinos later this year, who will perform plays and songs, to raise awareness of youth issues in their country.
Your donation will help support projects such as the safe house, food outreach to street kids and the street child contact and recovery program.
 Local young people  Local street kids living under a bridge
Country Facts
 Philippines Map
CAPITAL: Manila
LOCATION: Island nation located in south east Asia
AREA: It comprises 7,107 islands called the Philippine Archipelago, with a total land area of approximately 300,000 square kilometres
CLIMATE: Hot, humid and tropical. There are three recognized seasons: Tag-init or Tag-araw (the hot season or summer from March to May), Tag-ulan (the rainy season from June to November), and Taglamig (the cold season from December to February)
POPULATION: Estimate 85 million
RELIGION: Primarily Roman Catholic
LANGUAGE: Filipino and English
NATURAL RESOURCES AND INDUSTRY: The Philippines is a developing country with an agricultural base, light industry, and service-sector economy.Natural resources in this mountainous country include copper, nickel, iron, cobalt, silver, gold. Main agricultural products are rice, coconut products, sugar, corn, pork, bananas, pineapple products, aquaculture, mangoes and eggs. Industries include textiles and garments, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, wood products, food processing, electronics assembly, petroleum refining and fishing. The Philippines also has one of the most vibrant business process outsourcing industries in Asia, including call centres.
CURRENCY: Peso
CURRENT ISSUES: The Filipino economy is growing but income inequality remains persistent; about 30 million people lived on less than $2 per day in 2005. China and India are now major economic competitors, taking investors in the telecom and communications industries. Regional development is also somewhat uneven, with the main island Luzon and Metro Manila gaining most of the new economic growth at the expense of the other regions.
Source: Wikipedia
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