Make a di!erence inthe life of a poor child.

Make a donation now.I would like to support the work of the ERDA Groupand wish my donation to be assigned to the:

ERDA Group Endowment FundPreschool Program (I-A-2)Educational Assistance Program (I-B-1)Technical High School Program (I-A-1)PALIHAN Program (I-A-3)Values Formation Program (I-A-5)for EAP bene!ciariesHealth Education Program (I-B-2)for EAP bene!ciariesAlternative Learning Program (I-A-4)for former child scavengers & OSY Rehabilitation/Reintegration Program (I-C-4) for street children in TUKLASAN Center Legal Defense Program (I-C-2)for CICL in jails and detention centersRehabilitation/Reintegration Program (I-C-6)for CICL in the BK-RESTORE Youth HomeTransportation Allowance Program (I-A-1a)for certain ERDA TECH students living far from schoolMeal Allowance Program (I-A-1b)for certain ERDA TECH studentsOther (pls. specify) : ____________________________

Enclosed is my donation of PhP________________________ Cash Check: Bank/Chk #. ________________________ Please issue check in favor of “ERDA Foundation, Inc.” Signature: ______________________________________

To arrange to have your donation and form picked up, call Tel. 732-4327 or 732-3198 (President’s O!ce, ERDA) or e-mail erdafoundation_inc@pldtdsl.net. Name ___________________________________________ Address _________________________________________ ________________________________________________

Tel/Mobile_______________________________________ E-mail __________________________________________

I F A C O M P A N Y D O N A T I O N Name of Company ________________________________ Address _________________________________________ ________________________________________________ NB: All donations will be issued ORs. BIR-authorized Certi"cates of Donations will also be issued upon request for company donations for tax purposes.

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ERDA • ERDA TECH • FAHAN • ASAP

THE ERDA GROUP*

Business Address c/o ERDA Foundation, Inc. 66 Linaw St. Sta. Mesa Heights, Quezon City 1114 Metro Manila, PHILIPPINES

Mailing Address c/o ERDA Foundation, Inc. P.O. Box 3600 1076 Manila, PHILIPPINES

Telephones (63 2) 732-4327 (63 2) 732-3198 (telefax)

E-mail: erdafoundation_inc@pldtdsl.net

Websites: www.erdafoundation.org www.erdatech.org

* A consolidation of:

• Educational Research and Development Assistance (ERDA) Foundation, Inc. • ERDA TECH Foundation, Inc. • Foundation for the Assistance to Hansenites (FAHAN), Inc. • Albert Schweitzer Association Philippines (ASAP), Inc.

ERDATHE

G R O U P

“To allow a child to go to school is to give him hope.”

CH • FAHAN • ASAP

Within the next 20 years, Fr. Tritz founded three more organizations: Foundation for the Assistance to Hansenites (FAHAN) in 1978, ERDA TECH Foundation in 1993, and Albert Schweitzer Association Philippines (ASAP) in 1995. Mobilizing family and friends in Europe and elsewhere for funding support, Fr. Tritz launched several programs and projects for marginalized Filipino children, with his organizations helping him carry out his humanitarian mission.

The organizations—ERDA, ERDA TECH, FAHAN and ASAP—have since consolidated into what is now called the ERDA Group. This brings together their various programs and projects of schooling, assistance and advocacy, for coordinated and more e!ective services to their bene"ciaries. Retaining their respective legal identities, these four NGOs continue to exercise their expertise, but now as members of a group with shared interests and common direction, an arrangement which promotes their working in synergy with each other and with partner NGOs, institutions and networks.

For the ERDA Group itself, Fr. Tritz continues to provide the inspiration, by the example of his own life of sel#ess, cheerful service to the very least among the people he had freely chosen to be his own.

Fr. Pierre Tritz, S.J.and the ERDA Group

AGROU P

It all began with Fr. Pierre Tritz, a French-born Jesuit, who was so moved by the plight of poor Filipino children who, unable to !nish school, were doomed to a life of poverty, that he took it upon himself to provide them access to education. This was to become his personal mission for the rest of his life.

Born in Bouzonville, France, in September 1914, Fr. Tritz entered the Society in October 1933 and spent twelve years of his early Jesuit life as a missionary in China, where he was ordained in June 1947. Assigned to the Philippines in 1950, he served in various capacities—as administrator, guidance counselor, chaplain and professor.

In response to a report published in 1965 on the alarming dropout rate in the public school system, Fr. Tritz started in 1974, at age 60, the Educational Research and Development Assistance (ERDA) Foundation. To work more e"ectively, he gave up his French citizenship in 1974 in order to become a naturalized Filipino citizen.

ERDA

Values Formation Program (I-A-5)The program includes conducting values formation sessions, developing Youth Catechists, and organizing recollections for graduating elementary students.

Catch-up Program (I-A-6) Children are helped to catch up academically with others in their grade or year levels, using: mobile schools, with specially prepared modules per grade level; or tutorials (in reading, mathematics or science), handled by student volunteers from private schools.

B. CHILD/FAMILY/COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE

Educational Assistance Program (I-B-1)Assistance (in the form of school supplies, bags, uniforms, miscellaneous fees, etc) is provided to children bene!ciaries enrolled in public elementary schools. Tie-up arrangements enable this program to be extended nationwide.

Health Education Program (I-B-2)The program works through the community health centers for monitoring the health of children bene!ciaries. It also provides health education for parents and other community members, and training of Community Health Workers.

Livelihood Program (I-B-3)Parents of children bene!ciaries and other community members are assisted with loans under the Community Socialized Credit System for livelihood projects.

C. ADVOCACY, CHILD PROTECTION AND OTHER SUPPORT

Advocacy Program (I-C-1)Information campaigns are conducted to promote public awareness of child-related issues. Groups of children are mobilized to actively support causes a"ecting them.

Legal Defense Program (I-C-2)Free legal assistance is provided to certain indigent CICL detained in jails and detention centers in Manila and Quezon City. Volunteer lawyers represent in court those above 15 years old who are detained for having committed petty crimes, with the aim of having their cases dismissed.

SABANA Project (I-C-3)An activity center—SABANA Center—is made available where former child scavengers are provided alternative ways of earning a living while allowing them to study under the Educational Assistance Program. Tutorial sessions and ALS review sessions are also o"ered at the Center.

TUKLASAN Project (I-C-4)At a halfway house—TUKLASAN Center—street children are provided residential care, integrated rehabilitation services including educational assistance and ALS review sessions, and processed for eventual reintegration with their families and communities.

ABK 2 Project (I-C-5)In this USDOL-funded project, children engaged in or at risk of the worst forms of child labor are placed under the Educational Assistance Program, with some of them availing of the Catch-up Program. Older children will be o"ered the ALS review sessions (for the A&E exams). Others will be provided Voc-Tech skills training.

BK-RESTORE Project (I-C-6)This synergy project provides for a halfway house—the BK-RESTORE Youth Home—where CICL released from detention through the Legal Defense Program are provided residential care, integrated rehabilitation services including educational assistance and ALS review sessions, and voc-tech skills training under the PALIHAN Program, before eventual reintegration with their families and communities.

BENEFICIARIESThe ERDA Group takes care of a variety of poor children,all needing some form of assistance. These belong to anyof the following sectors being served:

• School Dropouts and Potential Dropouts • Child Scavengers • Street Children • Out-of-School Youth (OSY) • Child Laborers • Children in Con!ict with the Law (CICL) • Children of Persons A"ected by Leprosy • Children of Indigenous People

SERVICESDrawing on expertise developed over years of working for and with poor children bene#ciaries and their families and communities, the ERDA Group runs several child-focused programs and projects in the following areas: a) education, b) child/family/community assistance,and c) advocacy, child protection and other support.

A. EDUCATION

Technical High School Program (I-A-1)This program is designed for poor but promising youth who wish to #nish high school and learn an employable technical skill at the same time. The #ve-year formal high school program o"ered at ERDA TECH allows students to specialize in a technical course of their choice during the third and fourth years, followed by in-plant training in a company partner’s workplace according to the Dual Training System duringthe #fth year.

Preschool Program (I-A-2)Community-based preschool classes are organized in depressed areas where regular half-day sessions per class are held for ten months,to help prepare poor preschoolers for public elementary education.Tie-up arrangements allow the program a nationwide reach.

PALIHAN Program (I-A-3)Designed for older street children and OSY, this one-year program consists of training in basic life skills and in a technical/vocational skill suited to the trainee’s aptitude, followed by in-plant training in a company partner’s workplace according to the Dual Training System.

Alternative Learning Program (I-A-4)Review sessions using DepEd’s Alternative Learning System (ALS) modules (on life skills and academic subjects) are conducted to prepare older children to take the Accreditation and Equivalency(A & E) examinations.

The ERDA Group

• Legal Defense Program (I-C-2) for CICL in jails and detention centers• Rehabilitation/Reintegration Program (I-C-6) for CICL in the BK-RESTORE Youth Home• Transportation Allowance Program (I-A-1a) for certain ERDA TECH students living far from school • Meal Allowance Program (I-A-1b) for certain ERDA TECH students

Being services for the poor, all the foregoing programs and projects are made available to the intended bene!ciaries for free. Some projects have major funders, but most of the ERDA Group’s regular programs must depend each year on the availability of program funds. For this reason, the ERDA Group has begun to build a common Endowment Fund. It is hoped that, eventually, the earnings of such a fund will be able to substantially help run the programs. For now, the ERDA Group continues to rely on the generosity of its benefactors, funding partners and friends. Here’s how much it will cost to help:

Annual Costs: FY 2008-09

• Preschool Program (I-A-2) To sponsor one preschool class of 25 children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... PhP 35,000

• Educational Assistance Program (I-B-1) To support one student in public elementary school . . . . . . . . . . PhP 2,000

To support one student in public high school . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . PhP 3,000

• Technical High School Program (I-A-1) To sponsor one !rst-year student (school fees) at ERDA TECH . . . . . . . . . . . PhP 23,023 (Information on school fees for the upper years available upon request)

• PALIHAN Program (I-A-3) To sponsor one trainee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PhP 15,000

The following programs also need !nancial support, although no amounts are speci!ed,as any amount of donation will be most welcome:

• Values Formation Program (I-A-5) for EAP bene!ciaries• Health Education Program (I-B-2) for EAP bene!ciaries• Alternative Learning Program (I-A-4) for former child scavengers, OSY• Rehabilitation/Reintegration Program (I-C-4) for street children in TUKLASAN Center

FUNDING

You may now help Fr. Tritz in his work by donating regu-larly--and conveniently. You can support ERDA by donating P5, P15, P25, P50 or P100 every 20 days.

To donate, text <keyword> to 357.

For example: ERDA 100 ON send to 357Use your mobile phone to help Fr. Tritz send poor children to school!

Amount of donation

Keyword

P 5 ERDA 5 ON

P 15 ERDA 15 ON

P 25 ERDA 25 ON

P 50 ERDA 50 ON

P 100 ERDA 100 ON

To allSMARTsubscribers:

Where will my donations go?Donations will go to the Fr. Pierre Tritz - ERDA GROUP Endowment Fund to sustain the programs/projects of the ERDA GROUP for the poor children in the Philippines.