Empowering the Poor For Life

Some thoughts and reflections on our work with ProLife and Gawad Kalinga, Helping the poor. These words were inspired when I was talking a FTW in the Philippines about GK and finding a secular understranding of this spiritual connection: I'm sure there is more to be added, but for me this has been quite a revelation in better understanding our work as Catholics. Please pass on to those that may be looking for a foundation of the work we do for the poor and for Life. God Bless

We must empower the poor to choose, to hope and plan for their future and to make the responsible choices for their lives and their children's lives, in turn this will provide a foundation for the culture of life, and creates a more aware and more accountable population that can plan accordingly to their needs within control, recognizing that the control is in the values, and not the governance..

If we can't change their viewpoint, then we have issues that won't go away, and the cure for this is not by limiting the population thru governance or human intervention, but through holding their hand, giving them hope and rebuilding their lives
"We don't need to limit their amount of kids, we need carefully discern the number of children God wants them to have"

When you talk with the impoverished women as to why do they get pregnant?

And they have answers like...

We weren't really thinking, we just needed temporary release that time and now I’m pregnant

OR My husband was drunk and I couldn't stop him

OR It's okay, the more kids we have the better chances that one of them will make it and get us out of poverty

Middle class families carefully plan out their familiesand there is some proof that it's among the poor that population can grow...so we must look to the poor. By creating the homes and relationships in GK, we are really creating with the values the foundation of the culture of life. Which in turn is raising a new generation of people that will be grounded in the values that God has shown us...So we restore the dignity of both the body and soul..

We also protect life through the opportunity of nurturing the poor, so countless of lives are not just saved, but also have seen witness of Christian work and can pass these values onto further generations.

More info on Gawad Kalinga can be found at http://www.gawadkalinga.org

or http://www.ancopusa.org (ANswer the Cry Of the Poor is the US advocacy arm of GK)