To help more street children to help themselves

It’s a fact that many of us are affected by the crisis brought by the COVID-19. In fact, a recent study showed that around 3.44 million Filipinos are jobless in March 2021. With this, many of us have tightened our budget to support our daily needs. Nonetheless, public and private sectors push more livelihood programs to help ease the problems brought by poverty. This is due to the fact that there are sectors in our society that had already been undergoing this kind of hardship long before this pandemic arrived. Now, they are having a hard time more than ever.

In line with this, how does Childhope Philippines fulfill its role? Read on to know more about how Childhope supports out-of-school youth in moving toward progress.

What are Livelihood Programs?

Livelihood programs seek to improve the state of life of the low-income sector by giving jobs and business chances, health care access, and other forms of assistance. These programs aim to enhance community capacity to address the issues of poverty. It may be in the form of making laws and plans or giving skills training to help the people become more productive members of society. Other program leaders may also partner with both local and private sectors to reach more audiences and gather sponsors.

All in all, these initiatives give people a chance to share efforts to build their households, making them active agents of change.

What is a Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP)?

A Sustainable Livelihood Program, or SLP, is a community-based program that provides income-generating activities to low-income households. The SLP seeks to curb and ultimately reduce poverty by giving jobs and training to people, as well as by moving highly low-income households into a viable means of support.

In the Philippines, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is the office that runs these projects. They have been doing SLP since 2011 for local groups throughout the country.

Childhope’s Livelihood Programs

As a non-government organization, the mission of Childhope Philippines is to promote welfare, uphold, and protect children’s rights. The team conducts projects such as the Street Youth Empowerment Project (SYEP). Last July 31 and August 1, the volunteers were able to teach free dishwashing liquid making and meat processing for 18 street youth.

In this training, the street youth learned about the basics of food processing and liquid soapmaking. After the session, they were able to produce homemade frozen meat products such as pork siomai. Aside from that, they also learned how to cook the meat products well. These skills are vital to helping them start their own soap and meat business ventures.

This livelihood program seeks to share knowledge on low capital businesses which they could pursue in the future. Childhope also helped the children sell their finished products through their online fair last August 30 through their Facebook page.

Impact of SLP on the Street Youth

Perhaps starting is the hardest part of any journey. However, gaining support and skills aid through SLPs makes it easier for our street youth to strive for progress. Through the SLPs, they were able to gain knowledge which they could use to make money for their needs. Moreover, these projects also help street youth to gain viable profit and provide for their families in the long run.

With the current issues that trigger problems for the poor, it’s easy for them to lose hope. But having groups like Childhope Philippines whose mission is to that provide help for the poor gives a glimpse of hope towards change. Help more street children have a better future! Join our cause by sharing a bit of your time, effort, and knowledge. You may apply as our volunteers or donate to create more livelihood programs for the wellness of street youth! Contact us today to learn more about us or our Facebook page for program updates.