A residential care facility which caters to children aged 7-17 years old who are abandoned, neglected, abused, orphaned, exploited, maltreated and vagrants and called as “Nayon ng Kabataan” located in Mandaluyong City, recently celebrated its 47th founding anniversary.
With the theme, “Dangal ng Kabataan, Handa sa Kinabukasan,” this year’s celebration highlighted the showcasing of talents of its residents and awarding of plaque of appreciation to various organizations who untiringly support the operationalization of the facility being managed by DSWD-NCR.
Among the awarded organizations is the Victory Christian Fellowship Pioneer represented by Senior Pastor Jun Aguilar who has been a partner-organization of Nayon ng Kabataan in providing leadership training to students and values formation once a week since 2013.
In his response, Pastor Jun said, “we received an award today but the reality is kayo talaga (the DSWD) ang dapat bigyan ng award…kayo ang laging kasama at nag aalaga sa mga batang ito at sa totoo ay napakaliit lang ng aming nagawa compared sa inyong ginagawa.”
In early months of 2015, the Victory Christian Fellowship Pioneer sponsored the putting up of cabinets inside the children’s cottages which are now being used by the residents of the facility.
Meanwhile, in her privileged speech, “Nichole,” a 14-year old child who was admitted in Nayon ng Kabataan in 2013 expressed her heartfelt gratitude to DSWD-NCR and its partners for bringing back their dignity as children.
“Ang pagkakaroon ng dangal ay isang karakter ng pagkakaroon ng respeto sa sarili at kapwa kaya maraming salamat at ito ay naibalik sa aming narito sa Nayon ng Kabataan,” Nichole emphasized.
Further, DSWD-NCR Regional Director Ma. Alicia S. Bonoan said in her inspirational message delivered by Assistant Regional Director for Administration Natividad Canlas, “the important unit of our society is having and being with a family. In NK, these children are ensured of having found their second home away from their parents and loved ones where their rights are protected and their good future is treated as the primary consideration. The needed love and affection are given to these children for them to grow as secured, confident, bright and good citizens of the country in the future.”
To show how grateful they are as residents of Nayon ng Kabataan, the children offered street dance performance to their guests and visitors during the culminating activity for their anniversary celebration.
Currently, Nayon ng Kabataan has a total of 210 residents composed of elementary and high school students while some are undergoing skills training being conducted inside the facility.###