Mindoro- An overview.

What amazing work MWB are doing in Mindoro! I still can't quite get my head around all the projects that are going on to help the poor and needy and share with them the love of Jesus...It's just incredible! In this blog post I'll give you an overview of the work in Mindoro, then I'll write about some of the projects in detail during the next week.

Mindoro is one of the islands in the Philippines-the seventh largest island and one of the least developed places. It's situated just south of the island Luzon which is where I'm based in Cavite.  As well as being home to many Tagalog people, parts of Mindoro is the almost exclusive domain of the native Katatubo, also known as Mangyans. The Mangyan comprise eight linguistically similar tribes spread along the island's mountainous ground. They live a very basic life- most of them uneducated, and make their living from agriculture in one way or another. 

This is one of the villages. Some of the villages are lucky enough to have water supply-most however are not, so hygiene is not a word in their vocabulary. When asked about where their toilets are, they just give a shy laugh and point to the ground around them.  MWB are reaching out in many ways to both the Tagalog people and the Mangyan tribes in many different ways e.g giving farming equipment, building water systems and toilets, educational programs, emergency relief aid if there is a flood/fire in villages, medical support etc etc etc. I'll give some details another time!

I've been to Mindoro twice during my time here, and plan to go back at the end of the month.  Ministries Without Borders Phil. Inc. established a Community Development Center and Training Campus around 4 years ago.  On the campus (see the picture to the right) there is a Bible School. The students stay for 9 months to be trained and equipped to become missionaries, so that the Gospel is shared with the lost and reaches all nations.  

The small building on the right side of the picture is a school for children with special needs.  Often these children are deprived of education and ignored by the government and often their families, but MWB are working with the government to provide full time education to many children with disabilities and educational needs. 

The building you see in the center of the picture is called The Iselin Center. The story behind the Iselin Center is one of great sorrow and sadness, but has brought tremendous blessing to many of the poor people in Mindoro. The story deserves a blog post to itself, so you'll have to wait for that one! In short the Iselin Center is a health center; providing maternity, medical and dental care.  
 
The building in the left of the picture is a Livelihood Center.  Women from numerous villages on Mindoro come to the Center and are trained in livelihood skills.  They are taught how sew, make jewellery and soap. They develop new skills as well as being able to sell their products so that they have a source of income.

Scattered around these buildings at the base are cabins to accommodate the workers/ volunteers there.

That is just a glimpse into the Center and the work that MWB are doing in Mindoro.  But through all the different programs established there lives are being transformed, restored and hope is given to those who knew of only trials and despair.