El Nido, Palawan - El Nido Población Day Care Center

Palawan is an archipelago of more than 1,700 islands on the western part of the Philippines. It has the most concentration of islands but is the most sparsely populated region in the country. Because of its scenic landscapes and high bio-diversity, Palawan is known as “The Last Ecological Frontier of the Philippines”.

It is here where the Municipality of El Nido is located.

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/ecological-sciences/biosphere-reserves/asia-and-the-pacific/philippines/palawan/

El Nido Población Day Care Center

The Day Care Center is a a center for children from 3 to 5 years, before they reach school age. The center is part of the local government unit and is funded nationally. It is also connected to UNICEF.

The center offers diffenrent activites as cooking, arts & crafts, sport, learning (maths, languages...), playing and it also offers protection for the children. All the activities and most of the materials are for free.

Most of the children come from low-income and educationally deprived families. Their parents and relatives don't have time or resources to take care of them, to prepare them for school, or to cook for them.

In the pictures below you see the different areas of the center:

At the moment, there are 80 children attending the center (39 girls and 41 boys). One social worker, one religious educator and some volunteers are running the center.

The workers were interested in my own work in an intercultural center for girls in Vienna. We found similarities in the structures of both organizations.

There is an out-door playing area also for older children right outside the center.