A Living Positive Impact

 Leah Sasing

Inside an unpainted stone building just a couple of blocks away from the busy lanes of Quezon Avenue, sits an old man who already seems oblivious of the present. He enters the room with a curious, jolly grin, eyes sparkling at the sight of two unfamiliar young girls in his office. “Good morning, Father”, we greet him as we took his hand on to our foreheads for a blessing. He didn’t seem to hear us speak; he just pointed at us and giggled in delight.

Father Pierre Tritz, S.J., founder of the Educational Research and Development Association (ERDA) Foundation, Inc.  turns 100 this September.  He founded ERDA 40 years ago in 1974 when 10 years prior that, he learned about the increasing number of student dropouts in Philippine public schools. He was deeply bothered by the reality poverty inherently produced and wanted to make a difference about it. Today, ERDA Foundation has helped over 22,000 students under the Educational Assistance Program (EAP).

At 98 years old, with weakened auditory senses and almost unaware of the happenings around him, Fr. Tritz is no longer able to work as rigorously as he did the past three and a half decades. It is clear, however, that his vision of alleviating poverty through quality education of children resonates with the passionate and dedicated workers of the foundation.

The long and arduous commute travelling to-and-from the various communities ERDA is working with all over Metro Manila is just part of the day-in-a-life of the committed workers of the foundation. The Sanayan ng mga Batang Nananambakan (SaBaNa) Center can be found along the busy highway in Magsaysay, Tondo, Manila. Despite the cramped heat and the dirt caused by the air pollution, the activities that are held in the center still go on. SaBaNa works with former child scavengers at the now-closed Smokey Mountain. The children who used to dig in the dumps of the entire region’s garbage are given a chance at a better life through quality education and a myriad of trainings that help hone their talents, skills and leadership potential. They also reach out to deserving students of the depressed Tondo community who need educational and livelihood assistance. The center has 10 students under the Educational Assistance Program who are now in college, young people who represent the success of the program.

The students’ progress and well-being are closely monitored by the center. Feculent grounds of the former dumpsite community are trod by Ate (title for elder sister) Femy, SaBaNa Center’s program officer, just to get to the house of 14-year old Danison, a benefactor of the foundation’s EAP, to see how he and his family are doing. The young man had just woken up from an afternoon nap. He needed to rest before he goes back to work at the Ulingan or the charcoal-making factory of sorts at the back of their shanty. His little brothers came in, their skin covered in black ash, they had just finished burning wood to make coal and get paid for their labor. In a while, Danison will be carrying sacks of coal on his shoulders and earn a little as well. At a young age, his body looks strong and well-built, evidence of his physical labor at the Ulingan. With 10 brothers and sisters depending on a health-risky source of income, Danison is assisted by ERDA in his studies and they make sure his family lets him focus on that as well. The community knows Ate Femy and ERDA well. As we were walking along the barangay back to the center which was across the highway, we were stopped a couple of times by mothers who seem to want to catch-up with Ate Femy and know the latest news of the foundation. The impact of SaBaNa in this Tondo Barangay is visible in this manner.

Back at the center awaits a group of about 20 children aged 17 and below. They form the Barangay Children’s Association (BCA), student-beneficiaries of the foundation who meet regularly to discuss pressing social issues around their community. It is astounding, the amount of knowledge they have about human and children’s rights at a young age. They are confident, eloquent and intelligent young kids who have advocated children’s protection to the local and even the national governmental councils. As a group, they orient parents in the barangays of Tondo about children’s rights, responsibilities and protection through creative productions that showcase their talents of singing, dancing and acting. Selected child-leaders of the BCA go up to become child representatives in national councils such as the National Federation of Children’s Association in the Philippines (NaFeCAP), the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC) and the Philippine National Children’s Conference (PNCC). The same is done in the BCA of Barangay Bagong Silang, Caloocan City, the largest barangay in the Philippines.

Many generations of participative pool of child leaders have been produced by the BCA in Bagong Silang. Most of the officers of their association are now in college, assisted by the ERDA Foundation starting from when they were in elementary school. They are involved in planning innovative events to voice out their advocacies of quality education for children and children’s rights and protection.  They are also the go-to group of the local barangay to participate in the Barangay Council for the Protection of Children or the BCPC. Refreshingly, the parents of these student-benefactors of ERDA also formed an association of their own, one in each phase area of the barangay complete with elected officers. From this association, they have also become very active in local governance.

Gratitude to ERDA Foundation, Bagong Silang’s ERDA Program Officer Ate Malou and founder Fr. Tritz was expressed by the parents through an emotional group discussion. “Malaki ang pasalamat ko sa ERDA dahil kung hindi dahil sa kanila, baka wala pa akong anak ngayon na nakapag-graduate na sa pag-aaral” (I am very thankful to ERDA because if not for them, maybe I still don’t have a son/daughter who has graduated from school), says one mother who already has 2 college graduates assisted by the EAP of the foundation.  “Kaya lagi kaming nagbabahagi sa mga kapit-bahay namin na marami na talagang natulungan ang ERDA sa pamilya naming” (That’s why we always share with our neighbors that ERDA has really helped a lot in our family), she continues. “Syempre tinulangan kami ng ERDA, dapat lang binabalik din namin [ang serbisyo] sa mga taong nangangailangan. Sana ipagpatuloy talaga nila ang nasimulan ni Father [Tritz] kasi sa totoo lang kahit na maraming beneficiary na pumupunta dito [sa barangay] na tintutlungan ng ibang center ay iba pa rin ang [tulong] sa amin kasi marami kaming natututunan” (Of course, ERDA helped us, it’s just right for us to return the service to those in need. I hope they really continue what Father Tritz has started because in truth, even if there are a lot of beneficiaries who go here in the village helped by other centers, the help provided to us is still better because we learn a lot), adds another parent. At this point, emotions were already filling the small pre-school classroom we were at.

“Alam namin na maraming matutulungan na bata na darating pa. Pangarap rin po namin sa ERDA na bigyan pa po si Father ng mahabang buhay kahit 100 years na. Tapos po yung mga social worker namin – good health at ligtas sa mga [kapahamakan]. Tapos po yung mga nakatapos na, na naging maayos na ang buhay, mag-donate din naman sila para kahit papaano in return, mas mabuting mag-bigay tayo. At ang mga social workers na humaba pa ang buhay nila, napagtiayagaan nila kaming mahihirap, sa edad namin, sino pa ba ang makikinabang sa amin? Sila lang. Mahal na mahal namin sila” (We know that a lot of children will still be assisted. We also wish for ERDA a longer life for Father even if he is already 100 years old, also good health and safety for our social workers. To those who have graduated, for their lives to be better and for them to give donations in return, it’s better to give. We also wish for the longer lives of the social workers, they have been patient with the poor and aged, who will still benefit from us? Just them. We really love them”, shared Nanay (title for Mother) Prima in a cracking voice and tears beginning to fill her eyes.

The jolly old man sits on his cushioned seat in a cold, cramped room inside the unpainted stone building. “I could go home if I want to. But I don’t want to go home. My work is here, my life is here. There is still so much to do here!” he exclaims. Father Tritz giggles in delight, having the memories of his deep and positive impact to the lives of the thousands of people he has helped kept alive in his very being.

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Leah Sasing is a graudate of the University of the Philippines, Diliman with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology. She has been working in the education sector for three years and is currently an elementary school teacher. Leah was one of the volunteers who participated at CODE-NGO’s Young Writers’ Summer Camp in 2013.