Last December 17, our group went to Balayan, Batangas to conduct feeding and give slippers to 200 children of a poor barangay  of the town.

John Carlo Jackson was one of the 200 recipients of the new slippers we gave to the children of Barangay 4, Balayan, Batangas. The old one he was wearing was so worn out it makes you wonder why his mother has not bought him a new pair yet. I talked to his mother, Jacqueline and this is her story.

Her husband is a construction worker in a construction company but his work is on a per project basis. If the company has no project, he would also be out of work and it means no income for the family. And there are many days that her husband would be out of work, but he tries his best to find any job, even odd jobs he could find to support his family. In order to ease their situation, the mother  decided to let their three other children stay with her in-laws. Her husband reluctantly agreed. With that new arrangement, Jacqueline could now buy a new pair of slippers for her youngest son, John Carlo, the one staying with them. She decided she would bring her son to the local market on December 17 to buy the new slippers. A day before their scheduled visit to the market, they received the news from our local partner that Project Acts Mission Challenge is coming to their Barangay to conduct feeding and give slippers to 200 children. John Carlo received a new pair of slippers that day. What a joy to see the wide grin on his face. As for the 50 pesos Jacqueline saved for not buying the slippers, she said, “Now I can buy 2 kilos of rice. It’s a big help for us. Thank you.”