The Situation

Philemon Academy has operated as a registered school in an abandoned hotel premises for nearly 15 years in Las Pinas, Philippines. The majority of the students families are underemployed and poorly educated. Crime and violence has been a problem in the community and most parents place a low value on education, often sending them to beg or wash cars for income.

Education has been deemed a priority for these children and strategy for building up the community. The project hopes to strengthen families and children's situations and prevent their future exploitation, while also transforming the community through education. The Philemon Academy school will support education for 150 students from Kinder 1 to Grade 12, from the Tropical Palace Hotel community with an extracurricular focus on performing arts. All children will have the opportunity to participate in music and drama classes, run in the afternoon after regular classes have been completed. The project will also include some livelihood and skills training for the families of enrolled children and surrounding community, to increase the communities’ capacity to generate income.

The Objectives

1. Provide quality education for 150 students from poor communities with an extracurricular focus on performing arts through grades 1-12.
2. Increase independence and standard of living in families from Tropical Palace Resort squatter community through community livelihood trainings and programs.