THE ORDER OF THE PIOUS SCHOOLS THE PIARIST FATHERS IN ASIA

1.10 The Calasanz Cultural Center
Philippines
Community & Formation Houses
Parish
Calasanz Cultural Center
Vocation
Lay Fraternity

Associated with the House of Formation there is always from the beginning the idea of creating a small school or something similar, to serve the children of the neighborhood. Possibly, the model of Aroor City, India, visited by Fr. Imanol and known by Fr. Jose, has influenced this desire. The idea is taking form during the year 1997, in such a way that when the house was inaugurated in January 1998, the first stone for the future Cultural Center was already laid down. For its construction is used the available space at the entrance of the house, in such a way that it has some independence regarding the house. The space is not so big, 150 mē, in two-story-house. The idea is to construct three school rooms for helping the children in their studies during the first years of the primary school in the neighborhood, and a library so that they could come to study or to consult materials for the older children. During the weekend, they will serve for other types of after-school activities. The three rooms on the ground floor can be converted in a big saloon where on Sundays the Eucharist is celebrated for the people in the neighborhood. It has a capacity for about 150 people.

 

Fr. Rafael is in charge of the project. Together with the tutorial or Learning Center , on Saturday there are carried out different religious and artistic activities, together with games prepared by the novices many months before hand. A group of volunteers help also in theses activities. During the Easter Week of 1999 is carried out in Mantalungon, in the southern part of Cebu Island, a summer camp for the children of our neighborhood and those of that locality. It is a really ambitious and very well conducted activity.

 

With the Cultural Center are sought several objectives: help to the children in need, educational practices for our candidates, orientation for other teachers, with the vocational consequences it could have and formation of other young people, adults, and parents of our students.  We pretend that it would function with a possible budget, looking for the own supporting, and for trying that the Center should ask for financial help from those organizations that promote this kind of education. We want also that this work might be in the future in full charge of the lay-Piarists. In reality, we believe that we can establish a new model of educational work according to our Charism and adapted to the particular circumstances of our time and place we encounter here, and like here, in other many countries in a developing process. We have to wait to see if the reality corresponds to our desires.