From Streets to Schools
Caltex’s continuing drive is to get children off the streets and into schools
By Maureen Macaraig-Martinez

Having been in the Philippines for more than 80 years now, Caltex (Philippines) – a member of the Chevron Texaco global organization – is witness to the country’s varied societal problems. It has taken particular interest in addressing the issue of poverty, specifically in the segment of society that is the most defenseless of all: children.

Caltex Fund’s long term goal: give street children a better future

Gauging the Need
There are an estimated 200,000 street children around the country, 50% of whom are in Metro Manila. These children, ranging from five to 17 years of age, beg for alms or sell cigarettes, newspapers, and sampaguita garlands to survive. The future for them is not a lucrative career in an organization. Their main concern is whether or not they will have enough money to buy food on a day-to-day basis.

Caltex saw an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of these street children, the most visible manifestation of poverty to their main customers – motorists. But Caltex’s plan never called for a dole out type of aid. Caltex wanted “to have a program that is sustainable and goes beyond providing temporary relief to a lingering social illness.” In 1999, the Caltex Fund Street-to-School Program was born.

The Caltex Fund’s primary aim is to finance the needs of street children in key cities of the country. Through the help of the government and several non-government organizations (NGOs), Caltex is able to ensure that the money it allots to the project is utilized in activities that lead to long-term solutions to the plight of street children.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development plays a key role in the campaign in that it links Caltex with NGOs that have the capability and expertise in the caring and rehabilitation of children. While DSWD helps in “cleaning” the streets of begging children, it does not have enough financial resources and manpower to attend to all of them and ensure they are kept off the dangers of living on the streets.

Caltex works with the DSWD in classifying the beneficiaries and picking out reputable NGOs that can provide for the needs of these beneficiaries – be it in education or in skills and livelihood training. The ultimate goal of the Caltex Fund is to make productive citizens out of street children – people who can be independent and empowered to face the challenges of everyday life and contribute to the country’s development in the future.

For its first year, Caltex partnered with two NGOs – the Tuloy sa Don Bosco Foundation and the Laura Vicuna Foundation – to assist a total of 100 street children. The seed fund amounted to more than P100 million. Three years after, the program has successfully expanded to the Visayas and Mindanao regions with more than P13 million budget allocation used in a diverse range of activities such as the construction of dormitories and residential facilities for children.

ERDA Tech students get on-the-job training at an Xpress Lube station

Going Beyond Financing
Caltex Fund has evolved since its inception in 1999. In December 2001, Caltex Fund extended its scope through the launching of the Caltex In-Plant Training Program (CIPT) in partnership with the Education Research and Development Asssistance (ERDA) Tech Foundation, Inc.

Caltex agreed to get a number of graduating students from ERDA Tech’s non-formal technical and vocational training program to do hands-on work in select Caltex Xpress Lube stations. Caltex also included trainees from Tuloy sa Don Bosco Foundation. These trainees are tasked to assist in automotive and mechanical jobs for several months at the Caltex Xpress Lube stations. This way, they are able to practice the skills that they have learned in a real work environment set-up and thus, gain competitive advantage in landing jobs.

Now on its fourth year, the Caltex Fund hopes to build a mark, not only in financing projects aimed at helping street children, but also in raising public awareness of the problem and urging the public to share their time and resources in solving it. Its call to help rid the streets of street children goes on.