CCT Opens New Community Center in Cavite

CCT President Ruth Callanta and GMA Mayor Walter Echevarria Jr.
cut the ribbon to mark the opening of the CCT Community Center
in GMA, Cavite. 

The CCT  Community Center in General Mariano Alvarez, Cavite, CCT's newest community center, was formally opened and dedicated to the Lord in a joyful celebration on August 3, 2014.

Highlights of the ceremony were an inspiring talk by Ruth Callanta, president and founder of the Center for Community Transformation  Group of Ministries, and a message from God's Word shared by Anjji Gabriel, CCT executive officer.

The occasion was graced by the presence of GMA Mayor Walter Echevarria Jr..  Also taking part in the program were leaders and staff from the various CCT programs and services being offered in GMA, and servant leaders of the Covenant Community Service Cooperative.

Located at CSB Building, Governor's Drive, Baranggay San Gabriel, the new community center offers services in micro finance, savings, spiritual development, skills training, basic medical help, and an after-school program for children called Kinabookasan.  Basic education for pre-school children will also be offered soon.

CCT's community centers are envisioned to be places where community partners will grow in their spiritual walk with God as they fellowship with other believers, serve others, and evangelize and disciple fellow community partners and other community members. CCT also has community centers in Pasay City,Taguig City, in Batasan and Payatas in Quezon City, in Magdalena, Laguna, in Malungon, Saranggani, and in several poor communities across the country.

The town of General Mariano Alvarez, more known by its acronym GMA, used to be  part of the municipality of Carmona, Cavite.  During the late 60s it became a resettlement site for informal dwellers relocated from Quezon City and, for flood and fire victims  from Quezon City, Makati, and Manila in the early 70s. It was inaugurated as a town in 1981.  Today it has 27 barangays,  a population of 139,000, and is recognized as a first-class municipality.

Mayor Echevarria chats with Ruth Callanta and with
Lyn and Angelito Gabriel before the dedication
ceremony begins. 

Staff and guests sing the well-loved Filipino Christian
song Dakilang Katapatan.

A dedication prayer is read in the community center's
receiving area. 

Photos: Ralph Parado 

TEE Attendees Visit Taguig Community Center

Participants in the Transformative Economic Empowerment training session held  October 2013
listen as Shiera Ondangan(above, right) and Pastor Ruel Castino (below, in brown shirt)
 talk about the programs and services offered by CCT at its community center in Taguig. 

Micro finance workers from  nine different countries visited the Center for Community Transformation (CCT)  Group of Ministries  community center  in Taguig City as part of their learning activities during the third Transformative Economic Empowerment (TEE) training session held in October 2013. The visit allowed the TEE participants to talk with staff and beneficiaries about the programs and services offered by the community center. 

  

The TEE attendees are from Sri Lanka,  Peru, India, Moldova, Zambia, Kenya, Thailand, Uganda, and the US. The weeklong training session they attended was a collaborative activity of CCT and the CCT Ka-Partner Network, a consortium of US-based organizations ministering to the poor through partnership with MF institutions or churches in other countries. The members of the CCT Ka-Partner Network are Hope International, Peer Servants, endPoverty, and Five Talents. 

The Taguig Community Center offers micro finance services, pre-school education, basic medical check ups, and Brigada Bata training.  Worship services of the CCT-Taguig community church are also held there. 

CCT branch offices throughout the country which at the moment simply offer micro finance services will gradually be converted into community centers over the next several years.    

Special Partners' Day Held In Taguig

CCT gives high value and importance to its community partners*. The reason we are in the community  is to serve them and to offer programs that meet their needs. This is a serious business. But of course CCT knows how to have fun and with that reason, CCT marked a special day just for them -- Partners' Day.  

 CCT branches in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao held Partners' Day to recognize community partners who have loyally stayed with CCT for  five years or more.  They were given certificates and several special privileges to encourage them and to let them know that CCT appreciates partnership with them.  

The CCT Taguig branch highlighted their Partners' Day celebration with a  Nanays' pageant on June 2, 2012 at their community center.The program had the theme Ulirang Ina and was attended by 111 community partners, staff from that area, as well as by some support office staff. 

Pastor Ruel Castino speaks words of encouragement  from Proverbs 31 . 

Some fellowship groups showed what they've got. 

Here and in next photo, fellowship 6 members do an interpretative dance.

Team Servant Arlene Ordinario (right) and Covenant Community Builder Kristie Laurenciano   happily call  partners to the stage to receive their certificates. Seventy-five partners were given a certificate of appreciation.

"We are all hoping for more years of partnership with you," says Arlene Ordinario, team servant.

Here and in next photo,
Grace Cayabyab,  peer servant  for  IT, MIS, and Audit,
congratulates some partners. 

 

 Fifteen nanays joined the pageant. Here are some of them:

 

 The contestants showed their talents through song, monologue, dance and drama. 

Some of the Nanays had  fun dancing with student intern from
 HOPE International,  Josiah Meneghini.

Just as in any other pageant, winners were chosen and awards were given out. 

Maharlika Moron, number 11, won the title Mrs. Photogenic. 

The Best in Talent title was awarded to  Delia Marzan.
She was escorted by A.B. Albania from CCT's support office.

Nanay Francisca Roca received the
  People's Choice and Best in Filipiniana awards. 

 

Nanay Jacqueline Valderrama, hands-on Nanay:
  winner of the Ulirang Ina title! 

Partners' Day is a day the Taguig nanays won't forget -- a day of inspiration, encouragement, appreciation, and fun.  

*Microfinance recipients are generally referred to as borrowers or clients.  At CCT they are referred to as community partners because they as seen as co-workers in building God's Kingdom. 

CDO Community Center Holds Feeding Activity

Community partners and staff of the Center for Community Transformation (CCT) community center in Cagayan de Oro City recently held a feeding activity and Bible storytelling session for children living near or on  Gemini St., Barangay Gusa.  About 40 children were fed in what will now be a monthly activity of the community center.

Funds for the food -- arroz caldo (a savory Filipino rice porridge) -- were from community partners  (recipients of microfinance loans) who donate one peso each whenever they hold their weekly fellowship meetings, and from CCT staff who have made a commitment to donate P50 toward the feeding program every payday.

The community center  in San Pedro Village, Barangay Gusa is the hub from which CCT social welfare activities in the city are planned, coordinated, and held.  The center houses a microfinance office, clinic, pre-school, and a worship hall.  The community church that meets here holds two Sunday worship services -- one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

For more information on the work of CCT in poor urban and rural communities, please visit its website at cct.org.ph/new/.

Community partners help cook and serve the food.

Arroz caldo  -- rice and chicken simmered in chicken stock and flavored with

 garlic, ginger, and onions -- ready for the children. 

Marife Evidiente, coordinator for the Cagayan de Oro community center and community
mobilization program officer, and Pastor Mervin Oba lead children in singing
"This is my head...my shoulders...my knees...They move like this." 

Here and in next photo, children are all ears as they listen to the story of the Good Samaritan 
for the first time,  as told by Ryan Etarwa, covenant community builder. 

Some children start to eat while others reach out to catch candies tossed by one of the staff.

The protruding root of a tree serves as a stool for one hungry lad.

Cainta Community Center: Now Open

CCT Community Center Dedication: (left to right) Mike Salili, microfinance operations head,
Alice Pineda,  Business Development head,  and Episcopal Bishop Dixie Taclobao
 prepare to cut the ribbon at the formal dedication of the  CCT Cainta community center. 

CCT management representatives, Rizal community partners and staff, and Episcopal church leaders gathered for the blessing and formal dedication to God of the CCT community center at the Igorot  Village in San Juan,  Cainta, Rizal on December 17, 2011.

The newest CCT community center houses a pre-school, a microfinance office, and a clinic. It is a three-story building under a usufruct agreement with property owners Bishop Dixie and Rev. Juliet  Taclobao of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Philippines.

CCT has been serving the Igorot community of Cainta, the largest Igorot community outside of Mountain province, in partnership with the Episcopal church for the past 11 years.

The unfinished residential building  of Bishop Dixie and Rev. Juliet Taclobao,
 long-time supporters of CCT work in Cainta,
 was completed and converted into this new center under a four-year
usufruct agreement with CCT.  

CCT Rizal staff hold corporate worship every Saturday  at the Episcopal church
 in Cainta's Igorot village.  The church  is next door to the new community center.

Pre-school students coached by Teacher Grace Pailona
 do a dance interpretation of Tuloy na Tuloy Pa Rin ang Pasko.

"Magbalikatan tayo, magbayanihan tayo, magtulungan tayo.
We find meaning in service because we have faith, hope, and love.
 These are the marks of a Christian," said Bishop Taclobao
 in an inspirational talk. 

Alice Pineda, representing CCT President Ruth Callanta, tells of how the Cainta community center
 is part of the fulfillment of a vision of a network  of Christ-centered faith communities
where Jesus Christ  is honored and worshipped and where people live with dignity
and sufficiency in accordance with God's plan  for a just, humane, and caring society. 

Pastor Raffy Salonga preaches a message
 on peace of mind and gladness of heart  based on Psalm 127:1 - 5. 

A community partner sings Keith
Green's Romans 7: 

I want to love them all, the way you do,
I want to serve them, by serving you.
Yes, I want to be like you; Jesus I do.

Men involved in the construction of the new building attend its dedication ceremony. Most of them
are former street dwellers being ministered to by CCT's Kaibigan Ministry.

Pastor Raffy Salonga reads Solomon's prayer of
dedication on the top floor of the building.

Convergence: A Coming Together for God's Kingdom

One of the thrusts of the CCT Group from 2011 to 2015 is the convergence of its programs and services in a community center. Each community center is envisioned to be a one-stop venue where CCT community partners (such as recipients of micro-finance loans and their families) will be able to enjoy CCT's package of wholistic and transformational development intervention.


The CCT branches in the following communities are currently being converted into community centers.

• Intramuros, Manila
• Malibay, Pasay City
• Cabrera, Pasay City
• Taguig City
• Muntinlupa City
• Bagong Silangan, Quezon City
• Payatas, Quezon City
• Cainta, Rizal
• Magdalena, Laguna
• Aduas, Cabanatuan City
• Puerto Princesa, Palawan
• Mandaue, Cebu
• Tagum, Davao City
• Ulas, Davao City
• Malungon, Saranggani Province     
• Cagayan de Oro City
• Surigao

These branch offices have either relocated, rented additional space, or are being  renovated to be able to house the microfinance office, classrooms of the VOH Christian School, a clinic, and a worship hall/training room.


The community centers are envisioned to be venues where community partners will grow in their spiritual walk with God as they fellowship with other believers, serve others, and evangelize and disciple fellow community partners and other community members.

The Taguig City community center during its renovation period.

Projected design for Malungon Community Center
in Saranggani Province.

Construction of the Cainta Community Center
is expected to be complete by October.