Non-profit | Volunteer for the Visayans
About the Program
The Boys Rehab, officially called Regional Rehabilitation Centre for Youth, is a social welfare residential facility run by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) which provides care and rehabilitation to male children in-conflict-with-law aging between 9 and 18. However, there are some boys above 18 years old who are still residing at the centre due to extended services that are still being provided.
Although it's hard to believe, all these boys have pending cases being tried in court, some are serious offenses like crimes against property (robbery, theft) and against persons or the public (murder, homicide, rape).
The main purpose of the centre is to modify the behaviour of the boys and turn them into better and law-abiding members of the society. They are provided with both specific and overall programs and services that include social (group counseling sessions, therapy), home life (chores, personal hygiene), productivity (skills training), educational (non-formal and formal education, alternative learning system), spiritual and psychological.
Your Role as a Volunteer
The volunteer will be working alongside a staff composed of social workers, houseparents, and support staff. The centre chief is a registered social worker. The volunteer is required to work at this placement five times a week, from Monday to Friday, even on holidays since the program is always open. Usually the required number of work time is only 4 hours but volunteers would usually render more than 4 hours.
Due to the fact that the boys have assigned tasks, there are a certain periods in the morning and afternoon in which they are free and these would be used for the activities organized by the volunteer. The volunteer’s responsibility is to assist the staff by organizing activities in line with its programs.
Basically the volunteer’s goal is to meet the objective of the centre to help modify the boys’ behaviour and prepare them fro reintegration into the community and their families. Due to the nature of the boys’ cases, many of them are not able to attend formal school.
It is of great importance that they continue learning, and that’s where the volunteer comes in, to conduct non-formal lessons in Math and English. Training in life skills such as baking, computer literacy, hair-styling, and other areas are also helpful to these young boys. The boys also enjoy sports, music, and dance. The centre encourages volunteers to share and impart their skills, talent, and knowledge on these fields which proves to be an effective way to have an impact to these young lives.
Dress Code
To conform with the Filipino conservative culture and to look professional, volunteers must dress modestly. The volunteer must report to work wearing the appropriate clothes. Top must consist of shirt of blouse or t-shirt with sleeves. No singlet or tank top. Top should not have plunging neckline. Bottom wear must be long pants or knee-length skirt. Footwear must be shoes or sandals. Outside work, a volunteer can wear more comfortable article of clothing such as shorts and tank tops and wear flip flops.
Transportation to the placement
During placement, volunteer will take any of the following public transportation vehicles, depending on his/her destination: jeepney or multicab. Patience is required when traveling to and from placement.
Typical day
A typical day for a volunteer at the Boys' Rehab starts as early as 5:30 rising up from bed to have breakfast and prepare to leave for work.
At 7:00 am, the volunteer should be already on the road riding a jeepney going to the rehabilitation center. The volunteer will be working alongside social workers and house parents who also rise up early for their daily routines with the boys.
The volunteer is required to work four times a week, from Monday to Friday. Usually the required number of work hours is only 4 hours a day but volunteers commonly render more than 4 hours.
As a rehabilitation facility, the volunteer’s role is basically that of a support staff. Aside from helping the houseparents and social workers facilitate the overall programs, the volunteer can also assist the in the individual management programs being provided like counselling. A day is usually spent playing sports with the boys, teaching basic education lessons, or providing skills training. Due to the large number of the residents, the volunteer usually divides them into groups for better output.
The center also provides the boys with alternative learning system education and skills training so the volunteer on some days needs to adjust his/her schedule and coordinate with the social workers to avoid conflicting schedules. During lunchtime, the volunteer is free to leave or may choose to stay for extended work in the afternoon. The volunteer should however be heading back to his/her homestay before 6 pm which is dinner time.
Details on Arrival
Volunteers can apply and join the program anytime the whole year round. They may choose to arrive at anytime of their convenience and a volunteer coordinator is always available to pick them up at the airport.
Pre-departure information is sent during application process and an in-depth program orientation is also conducted upon arrival. The project may start at once the following day after arrival and the minimum working hours required is 4 hours a day, Monday to Friday.
Free-time activities
Our volunteers can use their free time either for their personal activities or for organizing side projects with our sponsored kids, with the Boys and Girls Club or with the moms under our Laura's Craft and Mother's Club.
The former may include a trip to some of the beautiful white-sand beaches and sandbars, islands, waterfalls, underground river, surf camps, and caves found in the region while the latter can include baking sessions with the local moms, dance tutorials with the teens, or teaching any other craft or life skills to the locals.
Our volunteers would usually organize those activities as a group during long weekends or holidays. We also have our Volunteer's Lounge which has wi-fi and where volunteers can hang around with fellow volunteers. They can also use the lounge for a movie night once a week.
Program Requirements
Included Services
Before your journey
On-site services
Included in the Program Fee are the following:
- Airport Reception and Drop-off
- Accommodation with Local Host Family with 2 meals a day (breakfast and dinner)
- Comprehensive Program Orientation
- Basic Waray-Waray (local dialect) Language Lesson
- Volunteers Excursion
- Project Tour
- 24-hour Local Staff Support
Upon arrival in Tacloban, a coordinator will meet you at the airport and introduce you to the rest of the VFV staff and your homestay family. After this you will be provided with a full orientation on Volunteer for the Visayans as well as a short comprehensive health and safety briefing.
Following this, you will be escorted by one of our coordinators and shown how to use the local transport system. You will be shown how to get back and forth from your volunteer placement as well as being briefed on how to get to a variety of different points of interest.
Volunteers assigned to our Tacloban area projects will be placed with homestays in Bliss, where we are located. Bliss is a congested, low-income neighborhood but it has a low crime rate and is safe. There is strong community cohesion and pride, and the neighborhood homes and surroundings are relatively well-maintained. Our community center is located in the middle of Bliss.
An adjacent basketball court area serves as a gathering place for the community. Here you’ll see youth playing basketball; tethered cocks staking out their territories on the sidelines; children keeping busy; adults sitting on benches, exchanges stories; slabs of meat being cut on portable tables; and vendors selling their wares.
Most of our homestay families have been with us for many years and are experienced in working with international volunteers. They take pride in their role and view the volunteer as a valued member of the family. They want volunteers to experience Filipino culture and participate in the family’s daily activities as well as special celebrations that come up.
All homes have electricity and running water. You will have a private bedroom for you alone or that you share with another volunteer, and you will sleep under a mosquito net. A fan will be provided as none of the homes are air-conditioned. There is just one bathroom in the house that is shared by all family members. Your home will be safe, clean and comfortable, but living conditions will be much lower than in developed country.
The bathroom accommodations, in particular, are very basic and volunteers will be taking cold water, bucket baths. Because the weather in the Philippines is tropical, volunteers typically say that the cold water baths have been refreshing. However, each person needs to consider whether these conditions will be acceptable.
There will be other things to adjust to, including the neighborhood roosters who will announce the start of a new day with pre-dawn crowing. You will be taken out of your comfort zone, at least initially. Most volunteer report they adjusted fairly quickly to these conditions.
You will eat the same local food as the family (though the homestay parents know what foreigners typically enjoy). Homestays can cater to the special dietary requirements of some volunteers, so please include this in your application form. You will also be provided with filtered water to drink, as it would be best for travellers to be cautious and not drink tap water.
You will be provided with two meals a day (breakfast and dinner) by your homestay. All meals will be served with rice and typically include fish, chicken or pork.
Local café’s and restaurants can also be found all over the city, with most meals costing from around 2 USD to 6 USD. Bottled water is also available in most food establishments and in grocery stores.
Program Fees
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