St. Hannibal Empowerment Centre

St. Hannibal Empowerment Center (SHEC) is a religious organization of the Rogationists of the Heart of Jesus. It is a community of Spirit-led persons which aims to follow Jesus Christ in his union with his Father and in his proclamation of the kingdom of God. It is an inserted community among the squatters. The goal of SHEC is to empower the poor people of Metro Manila, Philippines, through housing, livelihood, education, health, waste management, youth and values formation.

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Location: Pasay City, Metro Manila

Mission: Its mission is to empower the poorest of the poor and catalyze an integral Christian transformation of urban poor communities in collaboration with the local Church by a holistic process that addresses concerns on housing, livelihood, education, health, environment and sanitation, justice and peace, youth formation and values formation. The goals of SHEC consist of assisting in alleviating poverty among urban poor communities in Pasay and other cities in Metro Manila; and building the foundation of community transformation through intensive values formation. Its objectives are, specifically, to facilitate the organization and formation of people’s organization that are self-sufficient and empowered, facilitate the values and spiritual formation and capability building of urban poor leaders, to assist the urban poor / informal settlers of Pasay and other cities in Metro Manila in realizing their dreams of achieving security of tenure through in-city relocation, to facilitate the implementation of economic programs and basic social services in urban poor communities, and to facilitate access to formal education in favor of the poor and deserving students.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

SEPTEMBER 2013 HIGHLIGHTS

Rogate: Living Mary’s Completeness. This September, we celebrate Mary’s birth. Reflecting on Mary, Pope Emeritus emphasizes Mary’s completeness, that is, as body and soul in her Assumption, Mary joined her Creator. Benedict’s idea teaches us to be sharply aware that the body is important, that temporal concerns are essential. In other words, salvation ought not to be focused on matters of the soul only. In this case, Christians are exhorted to give much emphasis on working for integral (human/social/ecological) development. For what is salvation if not for the total person (body and soul). Particularly, this means salvation from miseries like hunger, sickness, injustice. Salvation appears this way because the body is essential. If it were not, Mary would have just been taken into God’s bosom as solely soul.
Mary’s completeness is dubbed by SHEC as total salvation. Being Marian in the light of St. Hannibal’s spirituality, SHEC continues to work for total salvation among the poor.

Community Orientation on CMP. To enhance the housing program along Manila waterways, Fr. Orville R. Cajigal and 20 leaders attended the orientation on the Community Mortgage Program (CMP) of the Social Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC) for the Informal Settlers Families (ISF) living on top and along said area. Indeed, basic for humane living is a decent home which is why SHEC, with Mary’s intercessions, focuses on its housing project. The orientation took place at the St. Hannibal Training Center last September 13, 2013.

Relocation Survey. 6 leaders of SHEC assisted in the survey of the relocation lot of St. Hannibal Association Phase 17 last September 14, 2013. Small steps like these pave the way for big triumphs, like the World Bank’s choice of SHEC as model of low cost housing.

Marriage Recollection. Mary is a mother, and she is a model of a wife who looks after the promotion of love in the family. In the light of gospel values dear to Mary, and to deepen their knowledge on Catholic married life as well as to appreciate the importance of mutual respect between husband and wife, 6 couples listened to Fr. Orville Cajigal as he facilitated a marriage recollection last September 22, 2013. Indeed, where else should love in the family start if not from the husband and the wife themselves.


Forum on RCJ PQP Charitable Institutions. Around 60 participants composed of religious priests, brothers, sisters, seminarians and lay participated in a forum organized by Fr. Dexter Prudenciano, RCJ, SHEC Executive Director and Councilor in charge of charitable institutions last September 28, 2013. The goal of the forum was to finish the draft of the Directory of the Charitable Institutions of the RCJ Philippine Quasi Province (PQP).

Wednesday, November 06, 2013

AUGUST 2012 HIGHLIGHTS

Rogate: Witnessing to Jesus’ Loving Heart. One remarkable characteristic off St.Hannibal is his passion to witness to Jesus’ loving heart. No wonder, his congregation of priests is called the Rogationists of the Heart of Jesus. But it may be asked, “How does the loving heart of Jesus beat? There could be 101 answers. But the Gospels are clear: Jesus has compassion to the poor and the oppressed. Accordingly, St. Hannibal embraced the poor in their struggle for decent and humane life.
It is St. Hannibal’s witnessing to Jesus’ love which continues to inspire SHEC to witness to the same love, especially this August 2013.

Beneficiaries’ Meeting. Ongoing dialogue establishes the kind of communication which builds relationships and in which problems are smoothly solved. Such is the needed spirit of Christian brother/sisterhood, especially when solidarity for the common good needs to be fostered. Guided by this principle, SHEC management, represented by Fr. Orville Cajigal, RCJ, met with the latest batch of beneficiaries last August 9, 2013 in order to agree on the payment and terms of the sweat equity scheme.

Back to Basics. Acts chapters 2 and 4 speak well of the life of the early Christians. They lived as sharing communities. Nobody was poor among them because the richer ones shared, and each got according to need. This is a basic picture of Jesus’ loving heart as translated in the lives of believers. Accordingly, SHEC puts much emphasis on the aforementioned aspect of Catholic tradition, which is why last August 17, 2013, some BEC leaders of phase 2 and phase 15 underwent training for Basic Ecclesial Community (BEC) leaders. Indeed, it is best at times to go back to the basics, of which a core dimension is the person of Jesus who loves the poor and oppressed.

           
Regaining the Self . Often, life’s challenges leave us confused and shattered. And in our brokenness, we need to regain ourselves. Regaining…re-assembling…collecting again or recollection—these have same meaning, i.e. spending quality time with God for he alone can heal our brokenness. Aware of this, SHaCC and PABANAL leaders attended a recollection in order to nourish their connectivity with God. This momentous event of being in God’s embrace took place last August 31, 2013.