Urban Leadership Foundation

The first eighteen months in Pajo were a "baptism by fire". Ian and his family were constantly sick, suffering from amoebic dysentery, asthma, an ulcerated eyeball, kidney stones, and worms, at times requiring hospitalisation. The three children missed the fresh air, trees and open spaces of the relocation area they had come from. Four-year-old Peter was overwhelmed with the large number of new neighbours and hated the way they fussed over him. The children saw life at its most raw - alcohol abuse, stabbings, and babies dying of measles. Filthy water flooded their riverside house to four feet, and once they discovered a poisonous cobra in the kitchen cupboard. However they enjoyed having their father around during the day, and the trials brought the family closer to one other. Over the dinner table they discussed why poor people suffer and yet remain so happy, and how God heals sick people.

Then the whole community lost their (illegal) power for three months in the hottest season of the year. Temperatures rose to 38°C, and humidity reached 95 percent. Without fans the heat was intolerable. Being without a refrigerator and lights added to the discomfort and stress of the whole community. Incidences of domestic and community violence increased. One man was stabbed to death on the Williams' doorstep. Then land disputes began - the community was under threat of demolition from one of the Marcos clan.

As Ian and Elaine's family shared in the suffering of the community, they became accepted and loved as part of it, and strong bonds of solidarity and friendship were formed.

The initial community development project was a basketball court. Basketball is the national sport in the Philippines so having a court is high on the agenda of any squatter community, a focus of entertainment as well as exercise. Local competitions held within slums require competitors to raise community funds for complete uniforms. Star players are local heroes. 

Some men approached Ian, saying they wanted him to cement their muddy basketball court. He asked them to prepare a budget and raise money for the project. The community contributed 40 percent of the budget, and SERVANTS donated the remaining 60 percent. However the men had underestimated the cost, and the court sat unfinished. When fan offered to supply the remaining funds, the leader of the group said, "No, just watch and wait." Ian found it hard to curb his impatience and wait for the men to act, but slowly they organised themselves, and after a couple of months they had completed the whole court.

Ian noted important features of this early project: Being an insider, and living in the community was significant for relationship building and for understanding community dynamics; Ian knew the people he was working with and they knew him. The residents were prepared to invest their time and money in a project they had identified as a priority, not something outsiders had judged to be the most pressing need. The success of this first, small project, encouraged them to attempt a larger one. The project benefited the whole group, not just one individual. Church members helped non-church members.

The success of this project also inspired people in other areas to organise themselves. The felt needs in these places were cement walkways. Approximately one third of all Pajo now enjoys the fruit of this work. Church members worked with community leaders. The barangay leader remarked to Ian, "I have been here nine years, and never before have seen the community so unified."

Willie Tan, a leader in the Living Springs Church, worked with Ian on the basketball court project, and with community leaders on the walkways. He caught the vision for community-based projects. He next worked with community leaders to get legal electricity for the area. Fifty families benefited from the initial meter wall, and this wall became a model for the rest of the community. The community, including Ian and his family enjoyed life without blackouts! All the meters are still in use today.

Willie then worked with the youth group to tackle the problem of refuse. No garbage truck had been seen in the area for a long time. Willie made frequent telephone calls to the local council until a delegation arrived. They promised to arrange for a collection, and asked to do all negotiations through Willie. A letter arrived addressed to Attorney Tan. Willie laughed - he was a pastor, not an attorney! However no garbage truck arrived. Next Willie took a photo of the refuse clogging the river, and organised a church petition letter requesting regular pick-up of the garbage. Progress is being made slowly.

Five out of the seven elders of the church became part of local community organisations. Two, including Willie, were members of the local barangay youth council. Two were members of the Home Owners Association. Efren Roxas, key elder in the church organised the "Bigasang Bayan" project or government-supplied rice. In November of that year, the most serious coup attempt to overthrow President Cory Aquino was staged. Towards the end of 1989, the price of rice escalated, due in part to the political turmoil. In response to the rice shortage, the church bought and sold government supplied rice, the cheapest available. The local community now had a readily available and less expensive source of rice Church members managed the business. In June, 1990 Efren Roxas was chosen by the church to succeed Ian as pastor. Efren also initiated community development projects with his church elders.

When the people in Militar, Efren's neighbourhood, faced demolition so that high rise buildings could be erected,  Pastor Efren began prayer meetings on the local basketball court. Those that gathered prayed for God's intervention. After the first prayer meeting, the local Barangay Captain, threatened by their efforts, called Efren and Ian communists. Four weeks after the prayer meetings started, the contractor went bankrupt, and demolition ceased for another two years.

Efren and some church members had another vision for the community. They were concerned at the number of young children not attending their first years of school. Anxious parents couldn't afford the expenses necessary to send children to school, even the public school, so the church began a school.

The church building by this stage housed the pre-school, the rice project, and served as a garage for tricycles. It also was used for a medical clinic, and as a relief and evacuation center during flooding. Community meetings would also be held here. A television was set up on the church stage for an important basketball game, so everyone could watch together. The city government used the building for its courses in hairdressing, electronics and sewing. Although the same building was also used for regular church meetings including the weekly fervent prayer meeting, some church members found it very difficult seeing their "sacred" church building used in "unspiritual" ways. They felt it inappropriate that pre-schoolers' art work was displayed on the church walls, or that the church was used for tricycle repairs. They felt the church should be separate from the community, a sacred place of retreat from the difficult world outside. They also though that projects organised by the church should be for the members only. This tension can sometimes still be felt.

Ian believes that SERVANTS needs to emphasise community organising as opposed to community development. He explains: