Minahan Daycare Center

Sitio Minahan rests along the Marikina riverbank. It is part of the 138.03 hectare-land of Brgy. Malanday in Marikina City. This low-lying area is constantly flooded during heavy rains and high tide. People barely make ends meet by working as shoemakers, vendors, construction laborers, drivers and contractual workers.

Aimed to address the community’s concerns, women in Sitio Minahan organized the Pinagbuklod na Mamamayan ng Malanday, Association, Inc.(PMMA) in 2006. The organization was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission last July 19, 2006. It currently has 150 members.

The need to establish a daycare center was seen after PMMA April 2006 baseline data survey. This study showed that more than 60 children ages 3 to 6 years needed early childhood education interventions to prepare them for elementary education. Parents said that because their meager income could barely support their food needs, they could not afford to send their children even to government-run daycare centers that collect P3,000.00 per school year. With the establishment of the Minahan Daycare Center (MDC) that only collects a P200.00 enrolment fee and a monthly tuition of P75.00, parents are now able to support their children’s pre-school education.

The Minahan Daycare Center officially started extending its services in June 19, 2006 through the assistance provided by the Antipolo Seminary Foundation (ASF) and the Children’s Hour Philippines, Inc. (CHPI). It currently has 72 students from Sitio Minahan and other nearby impoverished communities of Brgy. Malanday. The two (2) teachers conduct three (3) class sessions daily. These teachers successfully completed the para-teacher’s course provided by the Tuazon Community Center of St. Scholastica Academy, Marikina City.

The student’s parents expressed their appreciation for the early childhood education and daily supplemental feeding interventions extended by the center to their children. The children were also given school supplies to make their schooling more exciting. One parent said that the feeding component and school supplies provided by the CHPI decreased the schooling expense of her child, thus enabling her to allocate more of their meager resources to their food needs.

Last July 29, 2006, 25 daycare parents attended a Nutrition seminar conducted by the foundation. Parents said that they learned the importance proper nutrition to the development of their children. They added that they learned to make nutritious yet low-costing recipes for the center’s feeding component.