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You are never alone or helpless,
the force that guides the stars, guides you too!
BFI has three (3) main departments providing services to the marginal sectors of
Mindanao:
THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
The Community Development Department runs the Institutional Building,
Cooperative Development, Environmental Resource Management and Community
Advocacy programs. It seeks to improve the quality of life of communities served
by BFI. It has given hope to communities, enabling them to rely on their own
resources, shape their future and develop their potential by means of active
participation in programmes and cooperatives
The Community Development initiatives - serving the marginal sectors of
Philippine society, in particular the southern Mindanao archipelago - were the
vanguard of BFI’s development services.
a) The Institutional Building and Cooperative Development Programme
The Programme’s main task is to set up cooperatives in the urban & rural
Mindanao area, focusing in Region XI, which covers the cities of Davao, Digos,
General Santos, Panabo, Tagum, and the provinces of Davao del Sur, Davao del
Norte and Davao Oriental. Moreover, the programme organized the
institutionalised Federation of BFI Assisted Communities or FEDBAC, with a total
membership of twenty-seven (27) organized cooperatives. The organized primary
cooperatives are engaged in different economic activities such as the operation
of consumer stores, savings and credit for members, native crafts production,
agricultural production and marketing. Through BFI's technical and financial
assistance, participating cooperatives are on the verge of becoming
self-sustaining and independent communities.
b) The Environmental Resource Management Programme
The program integrates environmental - friendly methods and practices;
addresses environmental hazard issues by means of advocacies; and improves the
productivity of farmers. It suggests the maximum utilization of farmers’
resources and provides technical supplies of advance sustainable and natural
farming technologies. It has developed fifty-two (52) model farmers, replicating
technological transfer to their respective communities in the areas of Davao
City and Davao del Sur. The programme promotes organic and natural farming
technologies.
3) The Community Advocacy Program
The Community Advocacy Programme seeks to develop sensitivity to gender in the
community, and promotes women empowerment and participation in local
organizational leadership and entrepreneurial activities. Moreover, it advocates
multi-sectoral active participation in community development, transparent local
government, and the development of a proper justice system and legal practices
in local barangay councils. The main goal of the Community Advocacy Programme is
the development of progressive local leadership and the reform of communities.
THE INSTITUTIONAL SUSTAINABILITY DEPARTMENT
The Institutional Sustainability Department generates income for BFI’s
operations, programs, and services. Moreover it promotes entrepreneurial
activities, livelihood projects, the enhancement of business capabilities,
marketing assistance and linkages, agricultural technology showcases, and
community development. The department runs the following programmes:
1) The Enterprise Development & Micro-Finance Program
In the past three years the Enterprise Development and Micro-Finance Programme
has served more than two thousand people. It runs the Developing Resources thru
Entrepreneurship and Alternative Management System Project (DREAMS) Project,
promoting entrepreneurship and enterprise development.
The DREAMS Project seeks to develop viable, self -sustaining community-based
enterprise and livelihood projects for the marginalized sectors of society,
equipping them with skills, knowledge and attitude with respect to
entrepreneurship management. It runs training sessions, provides technical
assistance and micro - finance. DREAMS Project provides soft loans and technical
assistance to small-scale business persons, small farmers, low income employees,
pensioners, solidarity groups and cooperatives, by means of the tried and tested
Grameen Bank approach - adapted to conditions in the Philippines - and other
micro-finance methods.
Most of its beneficiaries are small entrepreneurs engaged in home based
(backyard industry) and community based livelihood projects such as fruit and
vegetable vending, refreshment and food production, livestock raising,
handicrafts and furniture, transportation operation, among others.
2) The Integrated Marketing Program
The Integrated Marketing Project generates income for BFI, provides marketing
linkages, conducts market survey, and facilitates the trading of agricultural
products in remote rural communities. The project promotes the maximum
utilization of available resources in communities, encouraging the development
of the specialized community-based production of goods for the community. The
programme seeks to provide marketing opportunities to farmers, offering a fair
market price for their agricultural products such as copra,
corn, coffee, rice, vegetables and other agricultural products. Moreover, the
programme trades the basic commodities in local areas.
3) Institutional Farms Development Program
The Institutional Farms Development Programme showcases BFI’s sustainable
agricultural technologies, and instructs farmer-beneficiaries in alternative and
advanced natural or organic farming. Moreover, the programme provides farm
inputs and other farming technologies. The program runs a 2.4 hectare
Demonstration Farm in Barangay Malabog, Paquibato District, Davao City,
showcasing sustainable technologies. It also runs a 3.9-hectare rice farm in
Barangay Cabay-angan in Gov. Dujali, Davao del Norte, producing Organic Rice,
and an 8-hectare fruit farm in the Municipality of Laac in Compostela Valley
Province.
The Centre for Agricultural Development and BFI Demonstration Farm has
2.4 hectares of agricultural land, showcasing sustainable and organic farming.
It runs training sessions, seminars, and meetings, provides, among others, farm
inputs such as livestock, fruit trees, vegetables, and sells natural grown farm
products.
THE CHILDREN AND YOUTH DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
The Children and Youth Development Department seeks to improve the
quality of life of the children and youth beneficiaries of Baba's Foundation,
Inc. It runs the Early Childhood Care and Development, Youth and Children's
Educational Assistance and Children's Rights Advocacy programmes.
1) The Early Childhood Care & Development Programme
The programme was envisioned by BFI’s founders in 1987. It operates six
pre-schools with over two hundred (200) children. The pre-schools are run
according to a progressive educational system, promoting a holistic educational
background – known as the Neo Humanist Education System – in the framework of
the AMSAI (Ananda Marga Special Academic Institution) Project. The Ananda Marga
Special Academic Institution produces on average about 200 nursery and
kindergarten graduates a year, equipping them with a holistic preparatory
education. The school provides an early childhood education, developing the
physical, emotional, intellectual, creative, intuitive,
and spiritual potential of children. AMSAI School is the academic institution in
the South of the country promoting and providing a Neo-Humanist Education, which
unleashes infinite learning potential, expands students’ understanding of
themselves and develops students’ potential. The educational system focuses on
spirituality, creativity and love.
2) Youth and Children's Educational Assistance Program
Over the years, the Foundation has sought to assist local children and youth
seeking a quality education. It runs the Children's Educational Assistance
Project, providing a hundred elementary school children a year with a chance to
receive a primary education. Moreover, the project provides training and exposes
potential of children, encouraging physical, emotional, intellectual, and
spiritual growth and development.
Moreover, the programme runs the Youth Educational Assistance for Service &
Transformation Project (YEAST Project). It provides financial assistance to
local youth seeking a professional career, covering the expenses of secondary
and high school schooling. It promotes responsible students.
3) Children's Rights Advocacy Program
BFI is licensed and recognized by the Department of Social Welfare and
Development to operate as a social work agency, implementing community based
services to disadvantaged families and communities. Moreover, the Foundation
over the years has reached out to network NGOs and Alliances promoting
Children's Rights and Issues. Children's rights advocacy informs children of
their Basic Rights in accordance with the Geneva Convention. It is targeted at
young and needy children, providing them with sufficient care, love, and
guidance. It covers the basic needs, and supports the holistic growth and
development, of children.
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