Construction Workers Honored at Community Center Dedication

Willy Ada and Nestor Siddayao, construction workers who helped build the Payatas Community
Center;  Geoff Osborne,  Australian lawyer supporting projects to alleviate poverty; and pupils of the
Visions of Hope Christian School cut the ribbon at the facility's dedication on December 2, 2014.  

Workers who built the Payatas Community Center were honored when the new facility was  dedicated to the Lord recently. Two of the men took part in the ribbon-cutting ceremony and shared their testimonies in the formal program that followed. “Here, I felt that what I do is of value, something I never experienced at other construction sites where I’ve worked,” said Nestor Siddayao, 51, a welder.  

SIPAG 2 and KMMC construction workers sing: "Parang
 kailan lang, ang mga pangarap ko'y kay hirap abutin. Dahil
sa inyo napunta ako aking dapat marating. Nais ko kayong
pasalamatan kahit man lang sa awitin."
Photo: Roselyne Ko & Therese Keirulf of WTRC

The men who built the newest community center of the Center for Community  Transformation (CCT) Group of Ministries are members of either SIPAG 2, a program that provides unemployed or underemployed men with construction skills training, or of the Kaibigang Maaasahan Multi-purpose Cooperative, an organization of skilled workers, many of whom are transformed former street dwellers. They sang a song of gratefulness during the dedication program.   

Geoff Osborne of Wholistic Transformation Resource Center, major supporter of the SIPAG II program and visionary for the Payatas Community Center, told the construction workers that they are “chosen by God to be forerunners of men in the Philippines,” and challenged them to be courageous.  

“Because you know Jesus, the Light of the world, you are also lights to the world. This country needs men who will be courageous, who will take the place God has for them in their family, church and community.”   He explained that while visiting communities in the Philippines, Asia and Africa, he has always asked himself, “Where are the men?”  He expressed hope that CCT community servant leaders in the future will not just be almost entirely women, but will have many men as well.

Also attending the ceremony were board members, management and staff representing the programs and services offered by CCT, WTRC board members and staff, microfinance recipients and community servant leaders of the CCT Credit Cooperative,  pupils of the Visions of Hope Christian School, and Arch.Manny Dacanay and engineers of the M.C. Dacanay Architectural Design Office. WTRC is the main partner of CCT for the construction of the community center.

Ruth Callanta, CCT president and founder, recalled how ministry to poor residents of Quezon City began, and challenged CCT staff on three points.  She said, “First, we pray all who come to this place will find rest in the Lord Jesus Christ – so everyone who comes here should be prayed for.  Second, we should not forget to be thankful, to always remember that this facility was not built with our own efforts but by the grace of God.  Our hearts should always be grateful for what God has done, what God is doing, and what God will still do.  Third, because we see God’s work, we will serve as Jesus served.  Because of His love and grace we cannot help but respond to Him, and because of this, we must serve others the way He served.”

Steve Mahnken, main partner for the newest  CCT
 Waterhope station, cuts the ribbon at its dedication
to the Lord.  Also in photo are Josie Barotilla (left),
WTRC chief financial officer, and Atty. Weena
Mendoza, WTRC executive director.
Photo: Roselyne Ko & Therese Keirulf of WTRC

She also challenged beneficiaries to “show how people in a community center should work.”

A new CCT Waterhope water station was also dedicated to the Lord. The water station will provide clean, affordable drinking water to the surrounding community, and additional income to water dealers and delivery workers. Steve Mahnken, main sponsor for the project, expressed thankfulness for the partnership with CCT. Waterhope is a social enterprise which provides  drinking water to communities where access to this basic human need is challenged.

The new community center has a total floor area of 556 square meters. It houses a clinic, classrooms, the water station, and offices on its ground floor, and a multi-purpose hall and more offices on the second floor. The lower ground floor will be used for storage purposes and as transient quarters for staff.  It is located in Dona Nicasia Subdivision, Barangay Commonwealth, just beyond the boundary between Commonwealth and Barangay Payatas which is home to its main target beneficiaries.  

CCT has been ministering to the poor of Quezon City for about two decades. Its program and services include microfinance, pre-school education, provision of access to government social services, skills training, and spiritual development, among others.  It serves urban and rural poor communities as far north as Abra and as far south as General Santos City.  It also has community centers in Taguig City, Cavite province,  Sarangani province and in 24 other locations in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.  

Photo: Roselyne Ko & Therese Keirulf of WTRC.

Geoff Osborne encourages SIPAG 2 and KMMC members
 to be courageous leaders of their families, 
churches and communities. 

Ruth Callanta: "Our hearts should always be grateful
 for what God has done, what God is doing, 
and what God will still do." 

Nestor Siddayao speaks of the transformation 
God has done in his life and of a calling 
to become a pastor in his home province.
Photo: Roselyne Ko & Therese Keirulf of WTRC 

Ruth Callanta and Geoff Osborne with David Bussau,
 founder and president of Wholistic Transformation
 Resource Center, longtime ministry partner of CCT.