Badjao kids treated to fun day

More than 200 Badjao children were treated to a party by Fusion Excel International at the Mambaling Sports Complex recently.

The company partnered with the Department of Social and Development in the activity that included games hosted by a clown and a meal of fried chicken and ice cream.

Employees of Fusion Excel also handed out school bags with notebooks, pad papers and crayons to all the school-age children.

“Our company has grown in the last few years. We believe it is high time for us to spread and share blessings to the least fortunate. Being the minority in society, and identified by the Pantawid Pamilya Program of the DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) as the poorest of the poor, these children are the least likely to experience funfare,” said Nimfa Alcordo of Fusion.

The outreach beneficiaries were the Badjao children of barangay Mambaling, Cebu City whose parents are being supported by the DSWD’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, a poverty reduction strategy of the government that gives conditional cash grant of P500 per month per household for health and P300 per child for a maximum of three children.

The program, however, requires parents to follow certain conditions to continue receiving grants for five years.

These include pre-natal and post natal check-ups in health center for pregnant mothers, immunization, de-worming twice a year and health check-ups for children dependents.

Parents must also attend development sessions on responsible parenthood, nutrition and family planning, among others.