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BACKGROUND TO BETHLEHEM COMMUNITIES AUSTRALIA (BCA)

Fr. John Iacono , an Australian priest, first visited the Philippines in the 1980s as a missionary priest. One of his many duties was to provide pastoral care for the prisoners in the city jails in Cebu City.

He found that a large proportion of prisoners originated from a small region of Cebu known as Inayawan where there was a tip site known as Smokey Mountain (not to be confused with Smokey Mountain in Manila) where families scavenged for daily subsistence. He found that small children, some as young as 3 years old, were forced to work there on the tip site to earn a few pesos to help the family buy food .(photo of rubbish tip). Inayawan is a local word meaning 'unwanted, unloved, rejected' ie a 'dumpsite'.

About this time, he met another Catholic Priest, Fr. Heinz Kuluke, an SVD, missionary priest from Germany , who also knew of Smokey Mountain at Inayawan. Initially the authorities denied that these places existed in Cebu but one evening Fr Heinz followed a rubbish truck which ended up at Inayawan.

There he found about 200 families living in cardboard and tin sheds and living from scavenging on the tip. For a month he lived and worked side by side with the families to work out ways to help them. He was witness to some of the 20 annual child deaths caused by sickness, infections and malnutrition.

In 1992, he set up a Day Care Centre for children which worked for about a month before attendance started to fall. He found that parents could not earn enough to feed their families if the children were not scavenging too.

Following discussions between the two priests, it was agreed to give each child some rice to take home after school each afternoon to compensate for the food which they could not provide by scavenging. From that point on the project flourished.

For more than ten years, half of all children from the dump site were cared for and the results were very positive. The 'graduates' of the first intake are now young adults and through their education and new opportunities they have not returned to the dump site. In the Filipino way of sharing their advantage, they go on to help many others.

After some years, the lease on the original Day Care Centre became close to lapsing so a new facility was needed. Fr. John felt that a more permanent structure was needed.

Enter Ron and Maria Natoli with both their building expertise and boundless energy After their first life changing visit in August 2001, they (and their family) set about helping Fr. John to raise funds to build a new day Care Centre. Along with many Australian supporters over $400,000 was raised. First the land was bought, followed by the building of a sturdier and more permanent concrete structure which was able to cater for all of the children of Inayawan, (approximately 160 children). Fr John's dream had come true!

The new Bethlehem Day Care Centre opened in January 2004 with much fanfare. It was here that the Australian group first met the celebrated University of the Visayas Choir who have become part of BCA life.

The Bethlehem Day Care Foundation Inc (BDCCFI) was established in the Philippines with its core purpose to continually provide for the Centre. Bethlehem means House of Bread and this is their focus: to provide spiritual and material food for the future of the most disadvantaged children. The Gospel Motto is, 'I assure you , as often as you did it to the least of my brothers, you did it to me'. (Matthew 25: 46)

Positive outcomes from the Building of the Day Care Centre include:

Over 1500 children have attended the Centre since the first one opened in 1992.
All have gone onto attend Primary and High School
the number of jail inmates originating from Smokey Mountain has decreased
child mortality in the area has reduced dramatically (for the past two years no children have died)
parents participate in the running of the Day Care Centre and as a result have learnt about hygiene, moral and Christian values.
Bethlehem Day Care Centre is an approved NGO. It is now Incorporated Foundation. Its website is www.bdcc.cjb.net
The organization Cebu Archdiocesan Prison Apostolate (CAPA) was set up. Its mission is to assist prisoners and their welfare. With the full backing of Cardinal Vidal, CAPA is integrated into Cebu Caritas and is a non profit registered NGO. Its outreach program is the Inayawan dumpsite where it focuses on education as the key to improvement. Over 200 (new) families still scavenge there. CAPA is one of BCA's partners in the S. Pio Program

Since 2001, many Australians have visited Cebu as part of the ' Bethlehem awareness program' witnessing the inherent problems of poverty. Their visits always include Inawayan and the Day Care Centre. The heightened interest and commitment has resulted in the more formal development of Bethlehem Communities Australia (BCA) which became Incorporated in June 2005.

BCA is made up of 'everyday' Australians who are committed to making a difference to the world. Through BCA , members have been touched by the grace and humbleness of many disadvantaged people whom they have met. They feel privileged to be involved; it has resulted in their own lives being enriched as well as making a difference to others. 

The Board of Directors includes the following: 

FR JOHN IACONO - Patron

Fr John Iacono has lived and worked in the Philippines since 1982 (except for a few years in Australia ). Among his many early missionary tasks, was to offer pastoral care to prisoners. This work led him to the local rubbish tips where he became committed to helping the many marginalized families who lived there. His dream to open a Day Care Centre for the children of these families to break the poverty cycle has come true twice! The first centre opened in 1992 and the second more permanent one in January 2004; [see History]. Over 1500 children have attended the Centres and all have gone onto attend Primary and High School. He is the first link in our work in the Philippines . [ see FJ background ]

RON NATOLI - Chairman

Ron has had extensive experience in the building trade for over 40 years. He saw the need to help after his first visit to Cebu , with his wife Maria, in August 2001 and has not stopped since! Commencing with fund raising for the Day Care Centre, he has been a stalwart supporter and visionary to 'Bethlehem' and all its related projects.

ROS BRADLEY - Secretary

Ros has always had a keen interest in overseas development programs. Using her experience from working at The Fred Hollows Foundation, she has been an unswerving supporter of ' Bethlehem ' from its early days and is enjoying progressing the formation of BCA.

LANCE BROOKS

Lance started Communities for Communities (C4C) 3 years ago. C4C is about building, experiencing and celebrating community within our own communities as well as 'reaching out and helping' other communities. His wide variety of local fun(d) raising activities as well as helping to build 9 schools on the Burmese/Thai border express these exact sentiments. C4C is now supporting the S. Pio Village.

VICKI KASSOUF

Vicki is unstoppable! Forever the pilgrim, Vicki travels widely for her studies and research, but always adds a positive contribution to meetings and assists enthusiastically with fundraising events.

JOE EL-KHOURY

Joe is an experienced and widely acclaimed teacher at St Aloysius College. He has visited the Philippines twice, both times as a 'pilgrim' as opposed to a tourist; as a result he is totally committed to the objectives of BCA.

 

 

 

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