Nearing Completion

It is said that: "A picture says more than a thousand words". 
I believe that is true -  so this blog will be more of a “pictureblog”

We last left off from my previous blog on September 9, when the roof of the new Ministry Center was poured. The building was all gray, with scaffolding all around. It was difficult at that stage to imagine that it would be just like a gem in front of the majestic mango trees. But follow the picture sequence and you will see…

Decorative stones are being added to the front

The inner yard taking shape

Scaffolding all around

Now beginning to see the end result

The back side of the building is still a mess

 ...but now things are starting to happen on the inside as well

The first camp with 140 cildren takes place in October

More and more is being completed, like the entrance from the patio

Tess Subido is giving well needed water
for the newly planted decorative flowers

View from inside the property

Ready for occupancy!

This building project has been an interesting journey. From the first contact with 
Swedish donors, lengthy discussions in the Board-rooms until the Swedish Auto 
retail company BILTEMA (which now greatly diversified its products) decided 
to be the main sponsor.

Its been a project where every one has pitched in. From the Mayor of Rodriguez, 
who approved the project, to the positive contacts with the Municipal Chief Engineer, 
our contractor - Kedaca Construction, our main architect Mark Bagasbas and 
many others ...to the Armed Forces of the Philippines who after proper permission 
from CENRO helped us to cut down some of the mangotrees to make room for 
the building. Lastly the Electric Company MERALCO went out of their way to 
energize the building.

A big THANK YOU, to all who all have been involved in big and small ways.

To God be the Glory!

We are now looking forward to continue with the rest of the project. 
Check out this blog from time to time and you will see interesting developments.

Thord Dahl

BUILDING THE FOUNDATION...

and then the rest.

Nothing is so boring but yet so important as a buildings foundation. It is nothing you can admire or show for interested onlookers. It is and will forever be buried in the ground.

When planning for the so called Main Building, -that will house the Maternal and Child Health Care program, the Missions offices and a big multi purpose hall-, the most important question was the foundation. 

Manila is unfortunately situated on a Continental Plate “Fault Line”. We often wonder what will happen with all the tall buildings in downtown Manila if the stress on this fault line will be too great.

In our case, when constructing the Main Building of the project, we wanted to build in all precautions possible, safeguarding for earthquakes.

After the excavation the tedious work of setting the foundation began. Week after week the big holes for the pillars were dug and finally it was time to pour the cement. Under the watchful eye of our controller, Engr Ayo, the steel reinforcements were made in the right dimensions and the cement properly mixed to withstand the calculated stresses. – And finally it was time to pour the cement – truckload after truckload.

After this, things started to move fast and "suddenly" the ground floor was there

And the second floor as well

And finally the third

-but as you well understand, many small and big details had to be fixed along the way.

So if you want to see more - just follow my blog.

Thord Dahl

Hills of Grace - A Vision turned into reality

Vision turned into reality - a recap.

September 25, 2009 is a day that I probably will never forget. I was in the city of Cagayan de Oro on the island of Mindanao way down south in the Philippines. I had been there a couple of days to see what the Scandinavian Children´s Mission had done there in the past.

A few weeks earlier I had sent a project proposal to Sweden for a Children´s Village to be built in Manila – a long time vision of mine – to someone that I actually did not know. Well I knew to whom I sent the proposal but from there I had no clue. …to make a long story short, there in Cagayan de Oro I received the information via a mail that more than 50% of the total projected cost now was secured.

The Vision is now little by little turning into Reality.

After this things started to happen fast. We found a plot of land suitable for our purposes. After several weeks of bargaining we finally agreed on a price and the property was legally ours some time in April the following year (2010). Buildingplans were fast-tracked and in August the Board of the Mission approved a Master Plan which just a few weeks later was submitted to the Authorities for a Building Permit.

The Building Permit is ours

Groundbreaking.

Mid December the Building Permit was granted and already by mid January 2011 heavy equipments started to move in.

Unfortunately trees had to come down

The first excavation along the main road.

A lot of soil is trucked away.

Looking back - and forward

Hills of Grace

A brief history

In my last blog I wrote that there will be a lot of hard cement in this blog before we come to the soft part – the children…

And I want to start with a quote concerning history… and it reads like this:

History

 is the clue to why you are here.

-and knowing why you are here…

guides you to the future

Our center at West Crame, San Juan

The Scandinavian Children´s Mission, and the operating arm, the Leto Christian Center, came to the Philippines well over 25 years ago. It was registered as a non-profit, non political, charitable and religious organization. A few years after its commencement, the work had spread from Sultan Kudarat in the south to Baguio in the north. It´s first mission vision was to reach out to the needy, especially the children.

After a limited reorganization at the end of 1990 the work was more and more concentrated to the Manila region (NCR) and also downsized. As late as 2004, the Center for Temporary Care just outside of Manila was closed down.

Since then the Mission has slowly expanded its activities by including a Pre and Elementary School, Skills Training, Awareness and Microcredit Program, Maternal and Child Health Care, Feeding Programs with compulsory teaching for mothers and a very much expanded Operation Love – a Ministry for kids between 6 to 12 years old.

But there has been something missing in our pro child activities. A place for a child to stay when he or she, for different reasons been made an orphan, or simply been abandoned by his father and mother or has a very difficult social situation.  Simply speaking creating A FAMILY, where a child will have unconditional love, security and a place to stay while growing up.

This was a vision that started to form in the heart of the Mission Leader already 2005.

It took several years before the vision materialized. Through several unexpected turn of events our paths crossed with people who shared our vision. Subsequently in February 2010, after 6 months of preparation, the Mission could finally acquire the property Villa Alcantra, that we now know as Hills of Grace.

Hills of Grace is  the name of a 20 400 square meters adventurous terrain consisting of rolling landscape, a 50 meter hill and a djungel-like ravine.

A lush greenery with more than 60 Mango trees

The main activity on this property will be the Open Heart Children´s Village where the Mission envisions to give up to 100 abandoned children a Child Friendly Space to live… on a long term basis.

But this is not all… The Mission will from this place fan out to assist malnourished children, not only in immediate neighborhood, but also to the greater north-eastern part of Manila. This will be done through well planned feeding programs where the main emphasis will be to help mothers /guardians to cope with the difficult task of bringing up the new generation… when recourses are meager.

There will also be a Maternal and Child Health Care Center where the needs of pregnant women and children under 5 will be prioritized.

View from the top of the property

Acknowledgements:

The Hills of Grace has been made possible by the generous support of Biltema for the Children´s Village,  and a private supporter for the MCHC project.

Hills of Grace

Hills of Grace is the name we´ve chosen for the site where several new projects will be implemented under the Scandinavian Children´s Mission Phils. Inc.
Why "Hills of Grace"? Well, the property the Mission bought for these projects is -a Hilly area-, and we want to see the Grace of God being poured out from this place to needy young people here in the Philippines.

There are 60 Mango trees on the property

Our Vision:
1. The whole idea with this project is to build a Children´s Village that will be caledl "The Open Heart  Children´s Village". When complete we will find 10 houses, with a mother in each, that will give love and care to abandoned, neglected and abused children. Here, at the Open Heart Children´s Village, we will try to recreate the family setting that the child has lost.

2. A Maternal and Child Health Care program - when fully developed - will reach out to a whole Municipality in the north eastern part of Manila. The center of this medical work will be at Hills of Grace.
A pediatric clinic as well as pre and post natal care for young women will be set up.

3.The Mission will also shift its central administration from downtown Manila to the Hills of Grace.

4. Besides these projects we are planning a Church Hall and Multi Purpose area where a lot of other activities will take place.

Several structures are already in place

This blog envisions to give you an insight into the development phase of  these projects. Right now we are at the building stage so there will be a lot of "hard cement" in the beginning of this blog. But as the days go by children will start to move in and the whole Hills of Grace will become that wonderful Child Friendly Space it all along was intended to be, where God´s Grace will be ever present.