Atikha - Economic and Social Services to OFWs and their Families
(Added Mar 3 2007)
Atikha is a non-government organization that provides economic and
social services to overseas Filipinos and their families in the Philippines.
The organization aims to help address the social cost of migration
and tap the development potential of migration.
The pilot areas of Atikha are San Pablo City in Laguna and Mabini
in Batangas. It is estimated that around 20,000 Filipinos in the US,
Canada, Hongkong and Middle East are from San Pablo City. About 5,000
overseas Filipinos, majority of whom are in Rome, Italy, came from
the town of Mabini, Batangas.
Atikha was established in 1996. The founding board of Atikha was
composed of Msgr. Jerry Bitoon, Mother Stella Cordero, and four Overseas
Filipino returnees, Ma. Virginia Melgar, Rebecca Martinez, Serma Chozas
and Mai Dizon-Anonuevo.
In the initial years, Atikha focused its work on addressing the social
problems brought about by the separation of the Overseas Filipinos
and their families. It conducted value formation, summer arts and
crafts workshops for the children of overseas Filipinos in San Pablo
City, Laguna. It also helped form self-help groups among the children
of overseas Filipinos.
In 2001, Atikha did a research on the situation of the overseas Filipino
workers, their families and communities. Some of the significant findings
of the research were:
* Although overseas migration has raised the standard of living of
families, it has not contributed substantially to the economic development
of communities.
* Most overseas Filipino workers have no substantial savings despite
years of work abroad. A big number of them are caught in the debt
trap. There is a dearth of opportunities in their place of origin
and in the country as a whole.
* Overseas Filipinos are on the look out for viable enterprises that
will support them when they retire or enable their families to have
additional income. Unfortunately, most of the business endeavors that
overseas Filipinos have established failed. Top
Atikha has developed programs and services that address the economic
concerns of the Overseas Filipinos. It helped form Koop Balikabayani
International, a credit cooperative organized by overseas Filipinos,
returnees and their families. Atikha also organized Batang Atikha
Savers Club among the children of the overseas Filipinos and other
members of the community. Entrepreneurship workshops and business
opportunity seminars are held for the Overseas Filipinos and their
families and relatives.
Atikha hopes to create an enabling environment for Overseas Filipino
investment and development in its pilot areas. It enjoins the OFWs,
their families, the church , the government , the schools and other
sectors of the community towards addressing the social cost of migration
and in tapping the development potentials of overseas migration in
the area of San Pablo City and Mabini Batangas.
In the next three years, Atikha will be working on the following:
* mobilizing overseas Filipino resources for the development of the
Overseas Filipinos, their families and communities;
* establishing Overseas Filipino Centers that would provide economic
and social services to more Overseas Filipinos, families and members
of their communities; and
* assisting in developing enterprises for Overseas Filipino investment
.Top
You can visit our offices located @
San Pablo, Laguna :
SPC Women Family and Overseas Filipinos Center
Main Ave. Green Valley Subd. Brgy. San Francisco, San Pablo City
Tele/Fax #: (049)562-3156 /800-0082
Website : www.atikha.org
Email Add : atikha@atikha.org
Mabini, Batangas :
89 J. Panopio Street, Poblacion Mabini, Batangas 4202 Philippines
Tele #: (043)487-1038
Email Address: atikhamb@digitelone.com
PROGRAMS AND SERVICES
SYCHOSOCIAL SERVICES
Family and Peer Counseling
Theater and art workshops and other group activities are employed
to enable the children to share their problems with their peers. Children’s
self-help groups are formed to enable them to assist one another in
confronting and finding solutions to their problems. Family counseling
is also done to enable them to better understand their situation and
help them cope with separation from their loved ones who are working
abroad.
Overseas Filipinos/Seafarer and Family Orientation Seminars
The one-day seminar is conducted among prospective migrant workers
and seafarers together with their families prior to migration. It
includes lecture- discussion on the common problems people have to
contend with when they work abroad. Sharing on the issues and concerns
that affect the overseas Filipinos and their families and identifying
ways of coping are integral parts of the seminar. The following topics
are also dicussed: financial planning, budgetting and goals setting
.
Batang Atikha Savers Club Capacity Building Program
Atikha conducts value formation and skills training for children
of overseas workers and other children in the community. The Capacity
Building Program consists of Hagdan-hagdang Pangarap, Life Skills
Development and Skills Training. For parents who would want to enroll
their children in the Batang Atikha Savers Club and Capacity Building
Seminars please email batang-atikha@atikha.org or call Atikha at Tel.
No. 049-8000082.
Hagdan-hagdang Pangarap
This is a five- session seminar for children of overseas Filipinos.
Through workshops and games, the children learn about realities of
life abroad and appreciates the hard work of their parents. Children
will realize the value of communication on family relations. They
will understand the consequences of their actions on their families
and gain knowledge on attitudes and values that they have to develop
to cope with migration of their parents. The children will realize
that achieving the dreams set by the family will require not only
their parents' but their cooperation as well. Top
Life Skills Development
This is a six- session seminar designed for Batang Atikha Savers
Club members in the community. The children learn about cooperation
and cooperativism, savings consciousness, self-awareness, environment
consciousness, social responsibility through exposure, field trips,
puppet shows, group games, role play and other creative forms of information
education.
Skills Training
This is a series of trainings on the skills the children want to
develop. The different skills training are the Young Entrepreneurs
Training, Arts and Crafts Workshop, Leadership Training, Facilitators
and Speakers Training, and Writers Training.
SAVINGS MOBILIZATION
Koop Balikabayani International
Atikha assists in the organizing of the Koop Balikabayani International
which provides savings and credit facilities for the overseas Filipinos,
their families and other members of the community. The cooperative
mobilizes the capital of the overseas workers and other members of
the community and invests such capital in the enterprises in the area.
Batang Atikha Savers Club
Batang Atikha Savers Club is a laboratory cooperative attached to
Koop Balikabayani International. Savings mobilization campaigns are
launched in partnership with schools with high concentration of children
of overseas Filipinos.
ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
Handog Kabuhayan Business Opportunity Seminars
This is a monthly seminar that tackles various business opportunities
in the area. The seminar discusses business opportunities in production,
preservation, processing and marketing. This undertaking is done in
cooperation with San Pablo City Council on Overseas Filipino Affairs.
Topics that are discussed in the Business Opportunity Seminar include
Hog Raising, Food Preservation, Virgin Coconut Oil Production, Pugo
Egg Raising, Organic Farming and other topics that have been identified
in the environment scanning. Top
Distance Learning Program on Leadership and Entrepreneurship
This a distance learning modular training on entrepreneurship, leadership,
organizing, social responsibility, life skills and other relevant
topics for overseas Filipinos, their families and members of the community.
This program was developed in cooperation with the Education for Life
Foundation.
Enterprise Development and Management Assistance
Atikha helps develop and manage micro and small enterprises in the
pilot areas of San Pablo City and Mabini, Batangas. It helps conduct
environment scanning and feasibility study of viable enterprises in
the areas. Atikha invests in viable enterprises to help jump start
these endeavors. It also help mobilize overseas Filipino investment
in viable enterprises in the pilot areas. Atikha also assists in the
management of enterprises it helped establish.
Counseling and Mentoring will be provided to overseas Filipinos,
their families and their communities. The counseling is offered to
those who are planning to invest or set up enterprises. Atikha will
provide an inventory of real estate investments, savings programs,
and possible enterprises. Atikha will also provide financial planning
services so that the overseas Filipinos and their families will have
an idea how much money they need if they are coming home for good.
This will ensure that they will have a realistic estimate of the time
they still need to work abroad.
ADVOCACY AND NETWORKING
Advocacy for Relevant Programs and Services for Overseas Filipinos
Atikha advocates for relevant programs and services for overseas
workers at the national and local level. It helped create the Philippine
Council on Overseas Filipino Workers Reintegration. (PHILCORE).
It also helped in the setting up of Coordinating Council on Overseas
Filipino Affairs in San Pablo City and Mabini, Batangas. The coordinating
council is composed of representatives of the Department of Agriculture,
Department of Science and Technology, City/ Municipal Social Work
and Community Development, Department of Trade and Industry, Office
of the Mayor, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, San Pablo City
Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Atikha and the Koop Balikabayani
International . The Coordinating Council on OF Affairs assists in
the formulation of a 5 year Enterprise Development Program in the
pilot areas specifically in areas for investment of Overseas Filipinos.
Atikha advocates for the setting-up of Overseas Filipino Center (OF
Center) in provinces with very high concentration of overseas Filipinos.
The OF Center serves as a one-stop center that will service the needs
of the overseas Filipinos and their families in the various stages
of migration. Top
Advocacy on Women’s Rights and Welfare
Women’s empowerment is part of the advocacy agenda of Atikha.
It helps in the formulation of the Gender and Development Program
in the area and assists in the lobby work for the approval of the
Gender and Development Budget of the municipal and city government.
Research
Atikha conducts researches on migration issues like the feminization
of migration, social cost of migration and reintegration. It conducts
regular community survey on families of overseas Filipinos.
Atikha will be doing a research on diaspora philanthropy and its
impact on community development.
For more and updated info, always visit their website at http://www.atikha.org/
ofw info hub 