Northern Samar

Maribel Carceller rscj with students of St. Anthony’s Academy

The Sacred Heart Institute for Transformative Education Foundation (SHIFT)

Samar, Philippines

The Religious of the Sacred Heart or RSCJ’s started their mission in Catarman, Northern Samar in the year 1986. This was in response to the invitation by the Bishop to start the ministry for the youth both in formal and non-formal education.

These past years, together with their lay ministry partners, RSCJ worked as Campus Ministers in the University of Eastern Philippines, took over the management of St. Anthony Academy, a Diocesan High School in the town of Mondragon, and took charge in the management of the socio-pastoral programs of the Diocese of Catarman whose thrust is the formation of Basic Ecclesiastical Communities.  

In response to the call of the General Chapter of 2000 to continue the original educative mission entrusted to them by the Church through the charism of their foundress, St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, the RSCJ re-focused their ministries and mission in the Diocese, centering their work on children, women and youth.

The General Chapter went on to challenge their way of life:

Thus the RSCJ in N. Samar have reflected on their presence in the Diocese of Catarman for the past years in the light of the mandate of the 2000 General Chapter.
 
The focus on the education of Children, Women and Youth, calls for an integrated approach in their mission which they now refer to as their service of Transformative Education: working within the context of local communities, the local government, and the Church especially in the work of teaching and formation and in other activities for human development and the promotion of justice, in pastoral work and guidance in the faith. (Const. #13)

The  mission of the RSCJ is expressed as an Education that transforms. RSCJ are called to participate in God’s work of transformation of persons and societies and to renew their commitment to the service of education which is confided to them by the Church, are called to live their service of education with a strong corporate sense, and are called to collaborate in reciprocity with all the people with whom they share life and mission.

The desire of the RSCJ to be in close collaboration in the continued implementation of the diocesan pastoral thrust as mandated in the directives of the Diocesan Pastoral Assembly of 1996. This orientation involves working in close collaboration with the Church and their lay ministry partners as envisioned in that same General Chapter and the Diocesan Pastoral Assembly.

For this purpose the RSCJ have established the Sacred Heart Institute for Transformative Education Foundation (SHIFT).

Lydia M. Collado rscj
District of Philippines

Gigi M. Tupas Various activities at the SHIFT Center Photos by SHIFT Foundation and Lolín Menéndez rscj

An Environment of Service: the Sacred Heart Institute for Transformative Education (SHIFT) Foundation

Low-income communities have always been viewed as recipients of services rather than providers of services. In our modern time, institutions and individuals should see community members not just as recipients of services but as agents for renewal and partners in development.

I am currently on my 4th year as a volunteer in a faith-based institution, the Sacred Heart Institute for Transformative Education (SHIFT) Foundation, here in Northern Samar. As a volunteer for visual communications, much of my time here is spent around computers and technology. Although my interaction with people is limited, the sense of community is very much felt around here. People are helping people… ‘Bayanihan’ in our Tagalog tongue. Although people do not see it as volunteerism at its concrete form, they have been volunteering all their lives… for survival. Neighbours bringing excess food to other neighbours. A father helping build his neighbour’s dilapidated house. A mother lending a hand in babysitting while her neighbour goes to work in the market to sell fish. Their son helps out in repairing their neighbour’s ‘pedicab’. If a neighbour helps out, they are repaid by helping them out too. But service at its precious context is not evident in this form of volunteerism where an exchange of favours is expected. Service is without expectation of compensation or return. Service in the context of volunteerism is a way ‘of’ life, not a way ‘to’ life (survival). This I believe is what SHIFT Foundation and its Volunteers are trying to model to the people of Northern Samar…service in its purest form. This makes the foundation distinct from other non-government organizations that provide services here. And I and my fellow volunteers of the foundation embrace this vision with all our hearts.

Our community of volunteers has grown throughout my stay here, from four full-time volunteers to seven full-time and eight part-time volunteers who live with the Religious of the Sacred Heart (RSCJ) sisters who founded SHIFT Foundation. Volunteers from outside (national and international) the Foundation also spend their time of service with us. It is a joy to be here among peers with a servant’s heart. Volunteers from different backgrounds and communities added a mix of passion and strength to the work entrusted to us here and in some way affirmed our life of service and volunteerism. Our student leaders in the Campus Ministry Organization (CMO) of the University of Eastern Philippines (UEP) has developed into a pool of potential volunteers for the foundation. I have constantly expressed their blessing of being exposed to such an environment of service in their college years for I was exposed to such an environment after my college years. How I wished I was able to live this kind of life when I was in college.

I have been part of the Program Team headed by Sr. Lydia Collado, RSCJ and was blessed to be part of the development of formation programs towards this goal. I strongly believe that the environment of service that I am exposed in constantly has affirmed in all ways the life I chose today. I thank the RSCJ’s for saying ‘yes’ to volunteerism. I thank the Lord, our God for working through our lives. And I thank my fellow volunteers for allowing God to work through them. This much I owe to them, without all these elements, I would not be here serving with a passion God Himself planted. My community has watered me with love and affirmation.

To those who in their hearts, have expressed a desire to serve, I encourage you to surround yourself with people of the same heart and mind. You’ll feel an affirmation from God through them in so many ways.

Syd Baradi
SHIFT Volunteer

Listening To Voices, Building Bridges

A mother asking food for her children…a farmer losing his crops after a typhoon hit…children on the streets begging for money…an elderly woman lost and wandering…a little girl dying because of malnutrition…a young man confused of his sexuality…a young boy being abused by his father…a family losing their home to a flashflood…families asking assistance to preserve their community…a battered woman asking for help…abandoned children…a pregnant teenager…a young man working hard to finish his studies…

These are the voices of people that the RSCJ – SHIFT Foundation in Northern Samar hear in our community development work.  Some are loud cries, but others are silent whispers of anguish...a community development worker has to have sensitive ears to be able to listen to these voices.

Real community development work should be able to respond to the needs of the community being served. It is about building bridges within the community and the larger society.

Building bridges means training a mother to provide food for her children…offering alternative livelihood to fisherfolks…initiating community-based health programs…accompanying young people…environmental education and protection projects…making available scholarships for young people…offering capability building programs and scholarship programs...providing spiritual formation. 

But above all, building bridges means journeying with the people and allowing them to discover their own gifts and strengths… transforming them into persons who know their own voices and can build their own bridges within their communities…but always in the Heart of Jesus.

Gigi M. Tupas
SHIFT Volunteer

You can also download and read: Two stories (English) Paper Roses     Mana Conching       Document (English) H.E.A.R.T.S- Formation of Volunteers in Mission