Kababaihan Gabay ng Bayan
KaGaBay is a Social Development Non-Government Organization, organized in 2007 primarily to help government achieve its Millennium Development Goals/ Sustainable Development Goals. KaGaBay purposely opted to focus on assisting relocated families in government resettlement sites and urban poor areas in NCR, Region III & IV-A, due to the fact that these areas are in ne
ed most of basic services which NGAs and LGUs are unable to fully address. Taking into consideration the unique limitations and difficulty in community organizing in these kinds of severely underdeveloped communities, KaGaBay developed a two-phased strategy of intervention, first to respond to the unmet needs of children for pre-school education and supplemental nutrition, and second, to respond to the needs of mothers and women in communities to become empowered leaders and partners for developing their families, neighborhoods and communities. Early Childhood Care and Development
The first phase in its development strategy focused on the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Program that gave rise to the St. Marie Eugenie Learning Center (SMELC). This program addressed the need to provide children, aged 3-4 years old, with free but quality preparatory education that likewise included a daily feeding program (for up to 20 days every month for 6 months in the year) to combat moderate to severe malnutrition. To date, the ECCD Program of KaGaBay SMELC has graduated close to 3,200 students into the regular government-supported elementary school system. It is noteworthy that many of these graduates continue to have higher rates of achievements in their respective grade levels, and are able to sustain their interest in staying in school. Compared to their starting weight and height, KaGaBay’s program monitoring shows that St. Marie Eugenie pupils gain an average of 3 inches in height and 8.8 lbs in weight. Women In Communities
The second phase takes off from the St. Marie Eugenie Centers, which inevitably became centers of gravity for the mothers and women whose children were enrolled in these schools. KaGaBay’s Women in Communities (WIC) Program tapped the children’s mothers to participate in capacity building activities designed under a 4-K curriculum of Kabuhayan, Kalusugan, Kalikasan at Katatagan. Across the 8 years of the strategy’s implementation, some 3,000 mothers have participated in the WIC program. A large number have moved into their communities as leaders, while others have started their small. livelihoods from the trainings they received from the program. All of those who have participated in the program, however, received the full benefit of the K4 curriculum. On the average, some 500 new mothers enter the program every year, while other members continue their engagement with KaGaBay under their own respective women’s organization, the Katipunan ng mga Kababaihang Kabalikat sa Kaunlaran
(K4-Network), which the KaGaBay then supported as its vehicle for its macro-level women sectoral advocacy. KaGaBay establishes partnerships with various National Government Agencies, Local Governments Units, Non-Government Organizations, private and corporate donors, as well as the international donor community, to provide its services in the areas where it present. KaGaBay also supports other marginalized sectors that have long entered into partnerships with KaGaBay such as the Youth sector, the Senior Citizens sector, the Urban Poor and the rest of the 14 Basic Sectors specified under Republic Act 8425, or the Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act , also known as the NAPC Law. To date, KaGaBay operates in the following Project Areas:
1. Southville 7, Sto. Tomas, Calauan, Laguna
2. Southville 7, Dayap, Calauan, Laguna
3. San Nicolas III, Bacoor, Cavite
4. Abbey Road, Bagbag, Novaliches, Quezon City
5. Oro Compound, Bagbag, Novaliches, Quezon City
6. Upper Nawasa, Commonwealth, Quezon City
7. Bagong Silang, Caloocan City
8. Dela Paz, Antipolo City
9. Sitio Sumilang, San Jose, Antipolo City
