To help more street children to help themselves

Progress Report and Project Achievements (3rd Quarterly Report):

Childhope Philippines was in the first months of the activity implementation for the Phase 2 family and youth participants when the Community Quarantine has been imposed nationwide last March 2020. Undeniably, nobody expected and has prepared for it --COVID-19 pandemic had immensely affected the over-all implementations of the project. Since the pandemic began, most of the organization’s programs and services have also been suspended temporarily –this is because we need to follow the nationwide quarantine regulations and health protocols. Thus, Childhope had to plan and change the strategies on how to continue the provision of the services and implementation of the activities without sacrificing the health of everyone (service provider and beneficiaries).

It was May 2020 when the project team began to plan the transition of activity implementation. We have prepared some forms to serve as our tool in gathering necessary information from the participants. The project team spent two months in preparation and planning (including the data collection and capacity assessment) prior to the final transition from physical set up to virtual sessions, which has been completed in August 2020. Realignment of the budget and revision of the timetable for the different activities have been made as well.

In general, the project team has resumed the sessions (virtually) last September 2020 with (10) parents per area bringing the total number of 40 parent participants, and continued the sessions under Collective Youth Activities.

Over-all Assessment/ Conclusion:

This pandemic has changed many things worldwide, the daily lives, the educational system, and the way we communicate and entertain ourselves. It is truly a societal change and a big test to different social welfare agencies. Moreover, its impact on the project of our organization has been a big challenge since there are lots of limitations and health protocols to be followed, but the activities implemented online have served as a big help to the beneficiaries in adapting to the new normal and motivates them to learn during this time. Amidst this trying time, Childhope remained strong and true to their mission. It has not been easy to cope with the unfamiliar changes caused by this pandemic, and to this day we are still trying to better our services while taking risks. Gladly, we were able to plan and conduct some activities, whereas we admit that we still need time to improve our new normal ways to operate and render services to our beneficiaries. As for now, the implementation of the project is going well and most of the activities are being conducted accordingly to the timetable. However, given the age and interest of some of our team members (especially those who are not “techie”), we still need training and other related webinars to help us keep up with the growing demand of the online world and its different platforms.

Lesson Learned:

It has been a tough time for both the families and activity implementers to resume the implementation of this activity, admittedly because the project team was not prepared for this to happen. During the pre-lockdown phase, there were family issues that have been raised to the social workers and street educators. However, because of the sudden community quarantine, those were not properly addressed and this brings regret for the project team.

The project team is still trying to cope with the current situation and is still learning things to properly help the family without sacrificing the health of everyone.

Although this pandemic has been a big blow for all of us, it still helped us to realize that we have a greater desire to help those who are in dire need and this COVID-19 cannot stop us.

**Attached is the full 3rd Quarterly Progress Report of the Project.

• 3rd Quarterly Narrative Report (PDF)