BOTANICAL COMMUNITY WORKSHOP

With the announcement from government officials that all homeless squatter families living in the nearby cemetery complex must vacate the property permanently, the more than 60 families living there moved out and most relocated at a nearby squatter area called "Botanical."  These homeless squatters have become a community of their own.  Located right next to the largest hospital in Makati City (Makati City one of the several connected cities that make up "Metro Manila") called Makati Medical Center, this small but extremely overpopulated squatter area for the homeless is only two streets over from ASCM.

Having spent much time establishing relationship and trust among the former cemetery residents, ASCM is now in the process of following them over to their new and much more populous location. This is a small and very narrow strip of land that runs along a small creek that runs through the city.  There are hundreds of men, women and children living on top of each other in shanties as they try to earn enough money day to day to feed their families and make it through the day.

ASCM has already establish initial contact with the "leaders" of the Botanical community. In our process of establishing relationship, we are building trust among them that we are not there to exploit, rather we are there to minister. In our process of bringing community transformation, we will seek to work with the people of the community to identify their needs, begin a process of meeting those needs (immediate and long term), while sharing the love of Jesus Christ.

As a result of this process, our first full activity with the Botanical community was October 11, where we invited them to ASCM and offered a training workshop for the purpose of creating business opportunities. Selected individuals, mostly mothers received training on how to make various kinds of soap like powder detergent, dishwashing liquid, and fabric softener. Knowing how to properly make these items gives them a product that they can sell to the public to generate income for their families.