THEY HAVE not reached the stars yet, but these children ? a mendicant Badjao, a scavenger, a parking boy, a young street toughie and a child deported from Malaysia ? have already begun weaving their dreams.

One of them, Sarah Latip, 16, a former beggar, recounts the days she had felt envy seeing other children go to school in neat uniforms and colorful bags.

?We grew up asking for money from other people. We also sell occasionally. I dreamed of going to school one day but never thought it would actually happen,? Latip says.

She had wished to finish elementary only, but she got more than that. She is now in third year high school at Zamboanga City High School in Barangay Tetuan in Zamboanga City.

Latip did not mind taking two rides in going to school every day from her home in Barangay (village) Rio Hondo.

Changing lives

The course of Latip?s life changed when several women approached her at the city?s Plaza Pershing here when she was in the fourth grade. ?They asked me if I wanted to learn how to read and write. I readily said yes,? she says.

Latip said she would never forget the day the women helped her through the education assistance program of Akay Kalinga. ?If they did not help me, I would still be roaming the streets today,? she says.

Latip is looking forward to becoming a nurse one day.

?Even Badjaos like us have dreams. We also dream of having a better life and not bother people forever,? she says.

Akay Kalinga is also helping 10-year-old Roselle Mark Amodio, a former scavenger.

A Math wiz and first honor in their Grade 2 class at Zamboanga West Elementary School, Amodia says he was determined to prove to everybody that education can help him succeed in life.

?I don?t want to go back to scavenging anymore,? he says. He has four siblings and his parents live separately.

Asked what he wanted to become when he grows up, Amodia said he has always dreamed of becoming a police officer.

Street toughie

For street child-toughie Alexander Bani, 15, his dream of becoming a military pilot might be tougher. But he is determined to finish high school so he can enter the Philippine Military Academy.

Bani also excels in mathematics and has finished elementary through the help of Akay Kalinga with full honors. Now on his first year in high school, Bani wants to help his family of 10. His mother sells cigarettes and could hardly afford to feed the family.

Loida Sapalo, in charge of Akay Kalinga, said the center is also helping children of Filipinos deported from Malaysia, or locally called ?halaw.?

?Akay Kalinga is a refuge or a shelter for kids who are deprived of food, education, shelter and love,? Sapalo says as she explains the center?s mission.

Akay Kalinga is one of the three major programs of the Church-led Katilingban para sa Kalamboan Inc., (KKI) (Community for Development).

Hundreds of kids

Currently, 54 children live in the center, but Sapalo says they have already helped hundreds since 1998.

When the group started its value formation and street education project, there were only a few children. ?We started with a handful, now we have almost 60 kids in school and more than a hundred still on the streets taking street literacy,? Sapalo says.

Akay Kalinga?s main thrust is to help less fortunate children pursue their dreams.

?We support them from elementary until the time they finish their college and can live independently, we help them harness their skills and talents,? Sapalo says.

The consolation the workers get is that ?many of the children really excel in academics.?

Deprived lot

Father Angel Calvo, KKI president, notes an increasing number of street children in the city. Only a few are helping although a lot of the children are deprived of the simplest basic human rights, like food, shelter, love and education, he says.

Unfortunately, the city government could not provide sustainable and concrete programs addressing the needs of street children, the reason the group decided to put up these programs, Calvo says.

City social welfare officer Francisco Barredo insists that aid is being extended to the children. The approach might differ, he says, because for the government, the main goal is to have the children reunited with their families.

For those without parents, finding them a foster home is also a priority.