Who We Are
When we arrived in the Philippines in 2007 to volunteer teaching music in a charity that runs a school we planned only to stay a maximum of 6 months and then return to our “real jobs” in the UK. But when we met the children living in rat infested conditions on Manila’s largest dumpsite we knew we could not walk away.
It was in our hearts to give these forgotten children a safe place to hear they were loved and valued. What started as a class of 10 children is now a place of worship for hundreds of people. We also developed a creative arts program, feeding ministries and train locals to reach out to their own communities. There are currently groups for children, youth and adults 6 days a week.
At the heart of it all is worship. This takes many forms… sometimes feeding a starving child, teaching music, loving the abused and abandoned, empowering young leaders and sharing the hope of God to hurting people.
‘Kalayaan’ means freedom in tagalog (Filipino language) We are a non-profit organisation located in Smokey Mountain dumpsite, Tondo, Manila, Philipines. Our mission is simply to bring help and hope to those affected by the injustice of poverty in the Philippines. This is being done through;
-establishing churches
-feeding programmes
-leadership training
-children and youth work/creative arts
-emergency relief and response to critical needs
We are currently located in three main areas. Tondo dump site area, Navotas Cemetery and Malabon. This work began in January 2008 but became a registered charity in march 2009. In June 2012 we re-registered our charity name to Kalayaan Community Ministries. We are commited to being good stewards of the finances entrusred to us and operate with transparency to all donors.