Zamboanga the Movie

Sponsored member Elicel with mother Evelyn. Elicel participates in the Saturday outreach program. This picture doesn’t capture the tears that filled her mother’s eyes when she talked about what sponsorship will mean to her. Elicel is the oldest of three girls and the family’s fourth baby is due in February. Evelyn expresses that she always wanted a daughter like Elicel (bright and eager to learn) and she’s so happy that she’ll have help going to school. Elicel was newly sponsored in December.  

Orientation with new sponsored families at the Centro. Some of these families have been waiting for up to two years to enter into the program. (These are mostly local application and wait times. There is great demand on the project for new applicants.) The hope and excitement in the young people, moms and several dads present is evident in the very attentive faces to staffer Christine. The families are learning the history of CFCA, CFCA presence in the world, and core principles of education, participation, communication, benefits and services. Christine conveys an excitement and a real welcoming to the CFCA community for these families. Sponsored kids and parents are all taking notes during this talk. They will write welcome letters during this day to their newly found sponsors.

Meeting with El Pueblo dance and theatre instructors. El Pueblo will present a multi-faith doxology (praise dance) to open the concert and introduce the Philippine national anthem. Then they will present dances spanning several hundred years from the original Subanen tribe up to modern times. Theatre instructor Baby and Maribel were co-workers back in Claret school. Baby is happy to be a part of this community concert and excited that it will be filmed. She wants to promote Philippine culture and the arts. There are 255 high school youth in their performing arts program.