Projects
People’s Recovery, Empowerment and Development Assistance (PREDA) Foundation is an organization dedicated to the protection of children and working for social transformation and a just and corrupt free society.
The projects, which are all outlined below, each have their own separate budget, bank account and bookkeeping for transparency and verifiable accountability.
1. Childhood For Children (CFC-girls) – Rescuing children and youth trafficked to brothels and helping victims of domestic physical and sexual abuse. The project provides residential shelters with best practices care, therapy and recovery for the victims. The Preda social workers rescue children from sexual abusive situations in home or in the streets and brothels.
This project is providing residential homes for girls complete with a therapeutic recovery programme with emotional expression therapy and family therapy counseling. It builds up the child’s self-esteem, confidence and personal dignity. It empowers them to stand for their rights and seek justice. There is also formal and non-formal education provided, values formation, rights training, all based on affirmation and mutual respect.
2. Legal services (Legal) – For children accused of crime, helping victims of physical and sexual harassment and abuse. Providing research and legal assistance in the prosecution of their abusers.
3. Rescue Every Child Today (REACT) – This team visits jails and works on the cases of children and minors in conflict with the law. Rescuing them from the sub-human conditions of prisons all over Central Luzon and Metro Manila where some are jailed with adults until they can prove they are minors. The project provides legal assistance and transfer by court order to the residential center. They start a new life with therapeutic activities, art trainings, non-formal education, skills training, organic farming, counseling and values formation in a non-detention, open “Home for Boys”. Clients remain by free choice, with 74% retention rate.
4. Public Education and Preventive Seminars (PEPS) – Provides specialised integrated workshops and training seminars by a team of four that conducts daily seminars through the provinces to elementary and high schools, teachers, social workers and community and church leaders for the prevention of child abuse.
5. HIV-AIDS Preventive Education – For youth through drug abuse and HIV-AIDS awareness building and education by using handouts, posters, video showing and direct youth participation.
6. Special Human Rights Education (SHARE) and Lobbying project to the Barangay communities, colleges and business on child protection and legal procedures in child abuse cases. Training volunteer “Guardians at Litem” (RA 7610) to be appointed by the court to be legal guardians of children in need of legal protection and help, lobbying for the Juvenile Justice bill, Cyber-law against child pornography and legal and prison reform.
7. Research, Advocacy, Information and Networking (RAIN) dissemination through articles, pamphlets, newsletters, public speaking engagements, global awareness building in the Philippines and abroad, through media (radio and TV), and working with journalists and broadcasters. By using the internet and networking with NGOs and other agencies here and abroad for lobbying governments, letter writing campaigns etc. the impact is multiplied. By mass mail outs and extending through other partner web sites and mailing lists and the media many hundreds of thousands are reached. International awards strengthen the credibility of the data.
8. Indigenous Peoples’ assistance community training (IMPACT) TREE PLANTING (a) helping organize Indigenous Peoples’ (IP) leaders for dialogue and community action for environmental protection and development. This project hosts meetings between IP leaders and government officials and military to meditate conflict over ancestral lands. (b) It establishes tree nurseries and provides a least a thousand (2 meter tall) saplings yearly. They are planted by the IP and youth volunteers on ancestral lands. There is educational assistance for the indigenous youth of the 3 communities participating in the project.
9. Youth organising and empowerment training (AKBAY) and Theatre training production – This project provides training in social and family values, leadership training and character formation through seminars, workshops, summer camps, and social projects done by the youth. One of the most successful outcomes is the formation of a theatre group that stages musical dramas with strong social and human content. (Mining, sex tourism, environmental destruction). The different groups toured in the Philippines and abroad for five years. (including Germany, Austria, Holland, Switzerland, Spain, Ireland, Canada, Australia and Japan)
10. Scholarship for Youth (SCHOLAR) – Specialised education in nursing assistance, social work, and computer training for disadvantaged youth and in particular Filipino-American youth. The computer training is a high standard course conducted at the Preda computer laboratory with 20 units and is certified by TESDA and Microsoft through the LEARN Foundation. It also provides learning opportunities for high school students and a preparation course for skilled computer professionals to take the Microsoft international qualification examinations.
11. Internet Safety Campaign (INSEC) – National and International safety advocacy campaigns for Internet safety. This project campaigns to persuade Internet Service Providers to block access to child pornography over the Internet and for computer companies to make their products safe for children by providing free powerful filters to protect children from being contacted by stalkers and pedophiles and from accidentally accessing pornography.
12. Preda Fair Trade (MANAGED UNDER A SEPARATE TRADING ORGANIZATION “PROFAIRTRADE”) – This is a nation-wide project assisting 26 village and urban based production groups making quality handicraft items that are exported by Preda. It helps farmers get a fair price for mangos and other fruit dried and exported by Preda Fair Trade. The sales provides counterpart funding for the projects. The project practices the Fair Trade criteria and gives interest free production loans, development loans and access to export markets. Village infrastructure projects (clean water systems, land purchase), product design and other family services are provided.
The project works with hundreds of small farmers and co-operatives in expanding Fair Trade fruit production, fruit puree and dried fruit processing for export to Europe through distributors. (e.g. In Switzerland, Caritas Fair Trade is the distributor). The product, which is dried chemical free mango, provide the farmers a fair price, access to expanding markets and promotes sales. The Fair Trade project helps control the price fixing cartels that exploit the farmers.
