Women's Shelter Project

Program Description

Volunteer in a women’s shelter and help rehabilitate and empower some of the most disadvantaged and abused women in the Philippines.
The Women's Shelter that VFV works with is officially called Regional Haven. It is a social welfare residential centre run by the Department of Social Welfare and Development. It was set up to provide responsive intervention and rehabilitation programs to women who are victims of or vulnerable to gender-based violence and all forms of abuses and exploitation.The centre aims to enable these women in difficult circumstances to resolve their problems. It also aims to restore the women’s normal social functioning to regain their self-worth and dignity. These are achieved through the provision of protective and rehabilitative services. The centre provides temporary safe haven to women from 18-59 years old and to those below 18 years old if they are pregnant upon admission to the centre. Most often the women institutionalized at the shelter bring their dependent children. They are provided with basic and vital services such as residence, medical, psychological/psychiatric, livelihood skills development, legal, formal and non-formal education, and other relevant services.

Highlights

The volunteer’s role is basically to empower these women by organizing activities that can aid in restoring their self-worth. Empowering can be in the form of education, awareness of their value as human beings, and livelihood and skills training. The volunteer should always incorporate fun and relaxing activities. The objective is to prepare them for reintegration into the community. They must be prepared mentally, socially, and physically to be able to function normally again. They must have skill sets in order for them to be self-sufficient and independent.

Qualifications

No formal training is required though it is important that volunteers be compassionate, non-judgmental, and adaptable and driven with a strong desire to help. Knowledge or experience in the fields of Social Work or Psychology would be very useful. Prospective volunteers who had similar life experiences should have received counseling for themselves as working in this type of setting may result in the surfacing of painful, unresolved personal issues. Minimum stay of 4 weeks is required at this placement. Minimum age requirement is 18 years old unless accompanied by or has secured permission from parents or legal guardian.

Volunteer Types

Women

What`s Included

Airport pick-up and drop-off, accommodation with a local host family with 2 meals a day (breakfast and dinner), program orientation, waray-waray (local dialect) language lesson, volunteers' excursion, project tour, and 24 hour local staff support.