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BACKGROUND OF BUKID KABATAAN CENTER |
 Since the 1970’s, the number of children living in the streets of Manila and other cities of the Philippines has greatly increased. The problems of internal migration of families from the rural communities to the big urban centers and high unemployment have contributed to make it extremely difficult for poor family members to meet their basic needs. Thousands of children began to roam the streets in search of food and shelter. They were also prey for the numerous traffickers of children and were often physically or sexually abused. Many end up in prostitution dens. In response to this growing social problem, the Good Shepherd Sisters opened a small shelter for street girls in 1983 under the auspices of Caritas, Manila, and located in Pandacan, Manila. In 1989, also on the instigation of the Good Shepherd Sisters, a recovery and healing center for boys was opened by Caritas in General Trias, Cavite. The residential center was built on a 6-hectare land donated by Msgr. Francisco Tantoco, then Executive Director of Caritas, Manila. The center became known as Bukid Kabataan (Children’s Farm).
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In 1997 the girls in the residential treatment program in Caritas Manila were transferred to the Bukid Kabataan Compound and housed in a separate building. Both residences were integrated into a rehabilitative program. In the same year, it was licensed as a child-caring institution by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
The educational needs of the children were met by transporting them daily to a local public school. The arrangement was somewhat disruptive of the treatment program, so a school building was finally constructed within the BK Compound with funding from CASPAR, Japan. The BK school provides a special curriculum from Grades 1 to 6 for the benefit of the center’s children, 80% of whom are cognitively challenged and exhibit various behavioral problems.
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