CHRISTMAS FOR SALE

          CHRISTMAS... the festival celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. This Yuletide season opens with a series of misa de gallo or rooster's mass. Houses, streets and the church are brilliantly lighted and decorated with lanterns, Christmas tree, potted plants and streamers. The choir sings Christmas carols accompanied by tambourines. Carolers now go around singing and asking for money. From the midnight mass, people return home for the traditional midnight supper. Friends, relatives and neighbors sometimes drop in but the guests are few because every family has its own celebration.
          Christmas Day is called Pasko ng mga Bata - meaning that it is especially dedicated to children. They wear their best clothes. Children receive the most attention; for,  as it often happens, Christmas is the only day of the whole year when they have a chance to visit their relatives and sponsors of baptism - their ninong and ninang.

          Truly we have a form of giving, but not the spirit of it. Today, Christmas has become a shopping season. Christmas is over as soon as the wrapping paper has been set out in the trash. Poor Jesus! For on His birthday, we give earrings to mom, shirts to dad, and toys to siblings, but nothing to Him.. We yearn for possessions and not for Him. We seek out appropriate gifts for all our loved ones except for Him.

          Do something good everyday not just on Christmas day. Help others, give to others because Christmas is a season of giving.  The life lesson in giving is that one can never run out of giving because something always comes back to you, which you can give out again.  Givers are one of the happiest people on earth. And children love being happy and giving is an attraction to them. No matter how tight the budget is, we all give gifts to the special people around us. Wrapped gifts are fun to open, but toys and things fade, deteriorate and break. I believe giving out to lots of valuable hugs, kisses , laughters and giggles have more lasting impact in the life of a person.

          Give without expecting something in return. I have researched these priceless gifts that can help us capture the real spirit of Christmas...
Give yourself the gift of realistic expectations. So many of us understand others are human and imperfect, but forget the same is true for ourselves.
Give the gift of time. Go to lunch with a friend you haven't seen in along time. Take time for yourself.
Give the gift of laughter. There is plenty of pain and suffering in the world and laughter helps us cope.
Give the gift of an open mind. Listen carefully to someone who disagrees with you or listen to the words of a song you have always ignored.
Give the gift of love. Tell the important people in your life how much they mean to you.

          Christmas is just a few days away. Why not make this season a time to think of other children, who have less? Share your blessings, share the gospel, include them in your prayers.. Give them money/gifts open up your home to them. Let us detached from things of this world hat we cannot take when we go to our heavenly home..
 

      

        Life's basic foundation is giving. We have a life because God gave us life. We are able to give the good life to others by giving ourselves to them. Celebrate giving, not only on Christmas but on every single day.  And remember who is the real birthday celebrant!


        This year, why not let Him be the guest of honor of your party?

ORGANIZATIONAL PROFILE

ORGANIZATION NAME: ANCOP
ANswering the Cry Of the Poor

CFC Ancop Tekton Foundation Inc
29 Evergreen Drive,
Capitol Green Village,
Tandang Sora, Q.C.
Official Website: http://cfcancop.org

Mr. Ricky Cuenca-President and CEO
Email Address: rickycfc@rogers.com
Phone #:   939-5734

ANCOP
      is a Christian, Catholic non-profit organization that dedicates itself to proclaiming CHRIST, and the Christian faith, by uplifting the plight of the poor.  It is a program founded by Couples of Christ, now a duly registered entity under the name CFC Ancop-Tekton Foundation Inc., and was made for the purpose of consolidating CFC efforts in building the church of the poor. ANCOP is a licensed Social Welfare Agency by the Department of Social Welfare & Development.

ANCOP Vision:

ANCOP is the CFC arm leading a global network that builds the Church of the Poor through defense of life and creation, social justice, and work with the poor.

ANCOP Mission:

Answering the Cry of the Poor by sharing Christ's love as an instrument for healing, addressing their Relevant needs (material, physical and emotional) and fulfilling their Yearning for a better future through personal and  family transformation that leads to a just and caring society and a life of dignity for all.

ANCOP Principles

• Christ is the center and mover of the work
• Moved by the Holy Spirit
• One with the Catholic Church
• Attract others by being witnesses, and by example of Christ’s love and service
• Members are their brother’s keepers, and where brethren live and experience the fullness of God’s love

ANCOP Programs

ANCOP CHILD SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM (CSP)

The Child Sponsorship Program or CSP is a one-to-one sponsorship of a child or youth by a donor. Child and youth are pre-qualified from the funded areas of the ANCOP network of donors and from target marginalized and disadvantaged poor in covered CFC ANCOP areas all over the Philippines. CSP includes a specially-designed HOLD Adopt-a-Scholar Program designed to address the educational needs of poor children of or members of the Handmaids of the Lord (a single parent, widow or separated married woman).  This special program was created to provide them access to college or vocational/ technical courses.

Program Components and benefit package for sponsored children and youth

• Educational Support (Tuition fees, School fees, Uniforms, Shoes, School Supplies, School Allowance and other School Expenses)
• Supplementary Education – Tutorials, summer educational activities like camps, creative arts and sport clinics
• Values Formation and Spiritual Enrichment
• Health & Medical Care
• Parent Involvement and Partnership

Target Poor Sector or Group

• Marginalized and disadvantaged children/ youth
• children of prisoners, migrant workers (domestic helpers, laborers, unskilled and semi-skilled)
• children of poor fishermen, farmers
• children of CFC members who will qualify in the screening
• physically challenged children.

ANCOP COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM - SHELTER & HOUSING

ANCOP Community Development Program (CDP) is one of our two major projects aimed at directly helping the poor by providing them shelter or housing. Our beneficiaries are not left to fend for themselves after moving to their new house. Couples for Christ members and volunteers teach them Christian values, livelihood projects and health education. CDP is unique because poor beneficiaries themselves build their homes. Neighbors in slums who used to not care for each other, are now working side by side building their new homes together with their own hands. We call this "sweat equity" where a poor beneficiary puts in the effort, with the assistance of their neighbors, our partners and volunteers. When they have finished building their home it gives them great pride and a feeling of ownership. Having also received assistance from their own neighbors strengthens their community bonds. We build colorful, durable and secure homes for the poorest of the poor and transform entire communities together.                                         

   

For the poor, the fruits of their labor give them great pride and joy because with their own hands they begin to regain their dignity, self esteem and self worth. After their homes are built, many beneficiaries continue to provide further sweat equity to other ANCOP villages, where they come to help the residents of that village and propagate the charity and love that was previously extended to them. The poor who once could not help themselves now are helping others. This is how we sustain the momentum and drive of our shelter program. The shelter program not only provides housing, but also other physical structures such as path walks and drainage systems, water and toilet facilities, a school, a livelihood center, a multi-purpose hall and a clinic. In some areas, other structures such as basketball courts and libraries are also constructed once basic infrastructure needs are set up by the residents. Anyone can do great works of charity. The challenge is sustaining the work. We work with the help of anyone and everyone with big willing hearts. Our donors, partners, volunteers such as architects, engineers and carpenters, doctors, nurses, midwives, dentists, teachers, writers, people from all religious, social, and academic backgrounds, local government and the private sector --- come together with one purpose: Answer the Cry Of the Poor.

Organizational Profile (PROJECT PARANOIA)

      What is an organization? In what kind of organizations we belong? What skills are needed to have an effective organization?

ORGANIZATION - is a coordinated unit consisting of at least two people who function to achieve a common goal or set of goals. It enable society to pursue accomplishments that can not be achieved by individuals acting alone.

We must first study and analyze our organizations..

     Last Saturday,  December 4, we are assigned to solve a mystery puzzle,  it is like a crossword puzzle cut into stripes. We are divided into two groups and then each group will try to solve the puzzles. As we go on, I notice some things that really matter. Individual performance, characteristics, and individual motivation are very essential, because it leads to a sense of personal responsibility and meaningfulness of the organization. As groups function and interact with other groups, each develops a unique set of characteristics including roles and processes. While working on the puzzle , we found out that it is very hard to solve so we think of a strategy and execute it but unfortunately we didn't do it.

     Talking about strategy, guidelines, principles or concepts, there are some certain behavioral processes that gives life to an organization: communication and decision-making.  Like what we've done in our activity each of us are communicating through transmitting and receiving of information. In decision-making, it depends on selecting proper goals and identifying means to achieve them. These two can contribute to the effectiveness of organizational performance.

     We all belong in an organization, which has either common or uncommon themes that help explain the behavior and effectiveness of each individual. In our class, I can say that our organization is quite competitive and zealous. We have potential leaders that can establish direction, willing to learn new ways, and engage us in some activities intended to plan, organize, lead, and control behavior. As I've red the book, it says there that the major factors in determining individual and group behavior are task and authority relationships.  

Project paranoia: is a brainstorming, mental-exciting yet fun activity, we can learn more things especially the challenging ones. So we should prepare for it.

arigato!!

To Mr. Miranda,
     Thank you for letting me join you in your class in BSOAD.. I'm happy to be one of your students and I know I will learn a lot from you. God Bless you always!

welcome!

hi everyone.. nice posting!!