Support Staff in Boys' Rehab

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. 

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.