CCT TDI Holds Second Commencement Rites

Forty young men recently graduated from TDI’s building construction and maintenance course, and 79 others were recognized for completing study hours and requirements for some of the subjects (masonry, plumbing, electrical installation and maintenance, and carpentry) composing the two-year course.

Eleazar Palma, son of a banana vendor from Davao, gave a speech on behalf of all the graduates speaking of dreams coming true.  He received awards for leadership, diligence and responsibility.  

How to Get to the CCT TDI Magdalena Campus from Manila

From the South Luzon Expressway: 

Leave the expressway at the Calamba exit.  Drive along Real Road then turn right at the Calamba national highway. Drive along this highway  passing through the towns of  Los Banos, Bay, Victoria, Pila, Sta. Cruz, and Pagsanjan.  About 1 ½ kilometres past the Pagsanjan welcome arch you will cross a small bridge after which stands an Iglesia ni Cristo church building on the left.  Turn right across from this church and drive straight ahead for the next four kilometres.  When you get to the unpaved portion (landmark: Von Welt gate) the campus will be about 200 meters away.  After a small paved portion and more rough road, watch for the CCT TDI wooden gate on the left.   

Note: If for some reason you miss the iron welcome arch and come to the stone welcome arch, simply turn around.  The Iglesia ni Cristo church will be on your right.  Turn left on the street across from the building and follow the rest of the directions above.  

TEE Attendees Visit Magdalena Campus

Participants in Transformative Economic Empowerment (TEE), an international training session for micro finance workers, visited the Magdalena campus of the Training and Development Institute (TDI) of the Center for Community Transformation (CCT) to get an overview and feel of CCT’s ministry among out-of-school youth and unemployed or underemployed males.  TEE is a joint activity of CCT and the Ka-Partner network, a consortium of US-based organizations ministering to the poor. 

 The TDI campus in Magdalena, Laguna offers a two-year vocational / technical course called Building Construction and  Maintenance with competencies in electrical installation and maintenance, masonry, rough carpentry, and plumbing.  It is also a boarding school for a second set of students – male, former street dwellers between the ages of 10 and 19.  (The boarding school for former street dwellers is being overseen by the Visions of Hope Foundation, which, along with TDI, is a member of the CCT Group of Ministries.)

Ruth Callanta, CCT founder and president, said the training session allows the sharing of CCT’s best practices and stories,  benefiting the poor of other nations. The TEE attendees were from Sri Lanka, Peru, India, Moldova, Zambia, Kenya, Thailand, Uganda, and the US. The main theme of this gathering was leadership and vision, and spiritual integration in micro finance. Speakers included CCT Chairman Bertram Lim, Ruth Callanta, and social anthropologists Dr. Melba Maggay and Dr. Miriam Adeney.   

The founding members of the Ka Partner network are endPoverty, Five Talents, Hope International, and Peer Servants. 

After viewing a presentation about programs and services offered at the campus, listening to the testimony of one  of the students, and touring the buildings, many of the guests enjoyed some shooting practice with members of the campus soccer team. 

The main venue of the training session was the Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center in Tagaytay City.   

Quezon City Men Graduate from CTDI, Receive TESDA Certification

Twenty-six men from Bagong Silangan, Payatas, Commonwealth, and Batasan in Quezon City recently graduated from a special short-term course on carpentry and masonry  at the CCT Training and Development Institute, Magdalena, Laguna campus.  Except for two, the men  passed assessment tests given by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, have received certification from the agency, and now have a better chance for employment.

The men are  husbands, sons, nephews, and in-laws of CCT micro finance community partners.

Graduation day, held in Bagong Silangan,  was a much-awaited and joyful event for the men and their families since many of them had never completed high school or grade school.

The course was run in partnership with the Wholistic Transformation Resource Center.  A second group of 30 men will start similar training this month.