Work

 

Ms. La-ao comes from a small rural community in the highlands of the Cordillera. Most of the people there are farmers, growing rice, legumes, and fruits such as mangos, avocados, cherries, and starfruit. Like her neighbors, Ms. La-ao’s family are farmers, raising poultry for eggs and meat, pigs, and various kinds of vegetables which they sell to the community at affordable prices. In addition to her work on the farm Ms. La-ao is involved in a Community Based Waterworks Project being implemented by the Episcopal Church of the Philippines. She helps disseminate information to the community about the project and its benefits and also takes part in planting trees – one aspect of this project to improve the watershed. She is also working in the Clean and Green Program being carried out by the local government, in which they are working to make the Lubon Barangay the ecologically cleanest in the region. “Nobody feels hungry if everybody works,” she maintains, summing up nicely her commitment to community participation. At ARI she is looking to improve her skills in organic farming and upon completion of the training program she will assist with the Saytan Demonstration Farm on Organic Farming of the Episcopal Church of the Philippines in the lowlands of Rosario, La Union, Philippines. There are also plans for her to work to establish a similar Demonstration Organic Farm in her hometown of Tadian in the highlands of Mountain Province.

 

Sending Organization

 

The Episcopal Church in the Philippines (ECP) began as a missionary district of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. It became a Missionary Diocese in 1965. On May 1, 1990, with five constituent dioceses, it was inaugurated as an autonomous Church Province within the Anglican Communion. The Episcopal Church in the Philippines is currently on a path of renewal, working toward being fully self-supporting in reaching out to proclaim God's love in the far reaches of the nation.

The Diocese of Northern Philippines is carrying out a number of community based projects in Mountain Province including:
• Community Waterworks project – installing pipes and facilities to bring clean water to the upland peoples and planting trees to improve the watershed
• Saint Gabriel’s Credit Cooperative – Working with local farmers to pool their money in a way that it will keep it circulating locally for the benefit of the community