Youngsters waiting for "Jigsaw Kids" Club outside the Visayas Family Centre (Photo: © The Lees/CMS) Etched in sharp relief against the sheer scale of human misery in the Philippines is the work of
Kate and Tim Lee with slum and street children.
In 2005, a country report on Human Rights Practices estimated that there were 250,000 street kids in the Philippines, according to UNICEF.
It is estimated by Action International that there are over 75,000 street children in Manila alone, while the Lees themselves estimate that over 75% of the population live below the poverty line as slum or squatter-dwellers without the security of a home or even the most basic human rights.
Many children are unregistered (have no birth certificate), which makes them extremely vulnerable to trafficking, child labour, neglect, physical, mental and sexual abuse, exploitation, hunger, disease and death. They are so-called nobodies, who are deemed pests to society or a commodity.
Kate and Tim Lee minister to some of the children in extremis in Manila.
Three children, from a squatter camp, who come to Jigsaw clubs(Photo: © The Lees/CMS)The Lees, together with members of a local squatter church, founded Jigsaw Kids Ministries in 2003 to share God's love with vulnerable children such as these.
Jigsaw runs family centres in four areas: three in Metro Manila and one in Angeles City.
They care for between 850 to 900 children – some of the faces change but the number remains constant – in a catchment area including 2,000 families.
The family centres are set up and run on five principles, advocated by Dr Keith White, author of
The Growth of Love and director of some children's homes, that need to be in place if children are to feel loved and grow: security (a secure base), boundaries (consistent and moral), community (peers, associations), creativity (opportunities to make and play) and significance (identity, recognition and self-esteem).
Jigsaw's main programme is one of play clubs that give youngsters chances to play, have some fun and time out from the everyday grind of hard lives, discuss life issues and learn about Christ.
Another programme covers school sponsorship for children, who have had to suspend their education for various reasons but want to finish their schooling.
Sharing a meal at the Visayas Family Centre(Photo: © The Lees/CMS)Others include a feeding programme three times a week, special needs classes and a basketball club for older street kids.
In September, Jigsaw will start its latest programme: literacy classes for illiterate children, who have not been able to go to school for financial or social reasons and are now too old for formal education.
The literacy classes are intended to restore their self-esteem and build relationships. They can also offer opportunities to share the Gospel.
Jigsaw is run and staffed by a team of 22 from the deprived communities in which it serves.
Training staff and giving work to people, who would otherwise be unemployed, is another part of Jigsaw's overall vision, which is to transform individuals and communities by modelling community.
One life changed is that of Rico, who is nine years old. He has been coming to the Jigsaw centre near his home for over four years.
Two street boys trying to sell merchandise to Tim Lee at a traffic-lights stop(Photo: © The Lees/CMS)When staff at the centre first met Rico, he was malnourished, dirty and spent most of his time begging on the streets for a local syndicate. Occasionally, he went to school.
Rico would come each week to the kids' clubs and, for two hours, his harsh life would be filled with fun, activities and, most importantly, love.
Staff talked to him and asked about his life, hopes and dreams; for those two hours he wasn't being ignored.
Rico also came along to the feeding programme and gradually put on weight.
Sometimes, Rico would not be seen for weeks and then reappear.
This year, Rico was released from the exploitative syndicate for which he worked, which took all he earned and left him with a pittance on which to live. The power of prayer played a part in that, the Lees believe.
Rico now has a Jigsaw sponsorship to go to school. He was overjoyed to get his first pair of new school shoes.
His problems have not just disappeared overnight and his life is still harsh, but he has a skip in his step and knows that he is loved, which is, after all, the most important thing.
Rico is more than a statistic.