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Atikha is a non-government organization that provides economic and social services to overseas Filipinos and their families in the Philippines. The organization aims to help address the social cost of migration and tap the development potential of migration.

The pilot areas of Atikha are San Pablo City in Laguna and Mabini in Batangas. It is estimated that around 20,000 Filipinos in the US, Canada, Hongkong and Middle East are from San Pablo City. About 5,000 overseas Filipinos, majority of whom are in Rome, Italy, came from the town of Mabini, Batangas.

Atikha was established in 1996. The founding board of Atikha was composed of Msgr. Jerry Bitoon, Mother Stella Cordero, and four Overseas Filipino returnees, Ma. Virginia Melgar, Rebecca Martinez, Serma Chozas and Mai Dizon-Anonuevo.

In the initial years, Atikha focused its work on addressing the social problems brought about by the separation of the Overseas Filipinos and their families. It conducted value formation, summer arts and crafts workshops for the children of overseas Filipinos in San Pablo City, Laguna. It also helped form self-help groups among the children of overseas Filipinos.

In 2001, Atikha did a research on the situation of the overseas Filipino workers, their families and communities. Some of the significant findings of the research were:

* Although overseas migration has raised the standard of living of families, it has not contributed substantially to the economic development of communities.
* Most overseas Filipino workers have no substantial savings despite years of work abroad. A big number of them are caught in the debt trap. There is a dearth of opportunities in their place of origin and in the country as a whole.
* Overseas Filipinos are on the look out for viable enterprises that will support them when they retire or enable their families to have additional income. Unfortunately, most of the business endeavors that overseas Filipinos have established failed. Top

Atikha has developed programs and services that address the economic concerns of the Overseas Filipinos. It helped form Koop Balikabayani International, a credit cooperative organized by overseas Filipinos, returnees and their families. Atikha also organized Batang Atikha Savers Club among the children of the overseas Filipinos and other members of the community. Entrepreneurship workshops and business opportunity seminars are held for the Overseas Filipinos and their families and relatives.
Atikha hopes to create an enabling environment for Overseas Filipino investment and development in its pilot areas. It enjoins the OFWs, their families, the church , the government , the schools and other sectors of the community towards addressing the social cost of migration and in tapping the development potentials of overseas migration in the area of San Pablo City and Mabini Batangas.

In the next three years, Atikha will be working on the following:

* mobilizing overseas Filipino resources for the development of the Overseas Filipinos, their families and communities;
* establishing Overseas Filipino Centers that would provide economic and social services to more Overseas Filipinos, families and members of their communities; and
* assisting in developing enterprises for Overseas Filipino investment .Top

You can visit our offices located @

San Pablo, Laguna :
SPC Women Family and Overseas Filipinos Center
Main Ave. Green Valley Subd. Brgy. San Francisco, San Pablo City
Tele/Fax #: (049)562-3156 /800-0082
Website : www.atikha.org
Email Add : atikha@atikha.org

Mabini, Batangas :
89 J. Panopio Street, Poblacion Mabini, Batangas 4202 Philippines
Tele #: (043)487-1038
Email Address: atikhamb@digitelone.com

PROGRAMS AND SERVICES

SYCHOSOCIAL SERVICES

Family and Peer Counseling

Theater and art workshops and other group activities are employed to enable the children to share their problems with their peers. Children’s self-help groups are formed to enable them to assist one another in confronting and finding solutions to their problems. Family counseling is also done to enable them to better understand their situation and help them cope with separation from their loved ones who are working abroad.

Overseas Filipinos/Seafarer and Family Orientation Seminars

The one-day seminar is conducted among prospective migrant workers and seafarers together with their families prior to migration. It includes lecture- discussion on the common problems people have to contend with when they work abroad. Sharing on the issues and concerns that affect the overseas Filipinos and their families and identifying ways of coping are integral parts of the seminar. The following topics are also dicussed: financial planning, budgetting and goals setting .

Batang Atikha Savers Club Capacity Building Program

Atikha conducts value formation and skills training for children of overseas workers and other children in the community. The Capacity Building Program consists of Hagdan-hagdang Pangarap, Life Skills Development and Skills Training. For parents who would want to enroll their children in the Batang Atikha Savers Club and Capacity Building Seminars please email batang-atikha@atikha.org or call Atikha at Tel. No. 049-8000082.

Hagdan-hagdang Pangarap

This is a five- session seminar for children of overseas Filipinos. Through workshops and games, the children learn about realities of life abroad and appreciates the hard work of their parents. Children will realize the value of communication on family relations. They will understand the consequences of their actions on their families and gain knowledge on attitudes and values that they have to develop to cope with migration of their parents. The children will realize that achieving the dreams set by the family will require not only their parents' but their cooperation as well. Top

Life Skills Development

This is a six- session seminar designed for Batang Atikha Savers Club members in the community. The children learn about cooperation and cooperativism, savings consciousness, self-awareness, environment consciousness, social responsibility through exposure, field trips, puppet shows, group games, role play and other creative forms of information education.

Skills Training

This is a series of trainings on the skills the children want to develop. The different skills training are the Young Entrepreneurs Training, Arts and Crafts Workshop, Leadership Training, Facilitators and Speakers Training, and Writers Training.
SAVINGS MOBILIZATION

Koop Balikabayani International

Atikha assists in the organizing of the Koop Balikabayani International which provides savings and credit facilities for the overseas Filipinos, their families and other members of the community. The cooperative mobilizes the capital of the overseas workers and other members of the community and invests such capital in the enterprises in the area.

Batang Atikha Savers Club

Batang Atikha Savers Club is a laboratory cooperative attached to Koop Balikabayani International. Savings mobilization campaigns are launched in partnership with schools with high concentration of children of overseas Filipinos.
ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT SERVICES

Handog Kabuhayan Business Opportunity Seminars

This is a monthly seminar that tackles various business opportunities in the area. The seminar discusses business opportunities in production, preservation, processing and marketing. This undertaking is done in cooperation with San Pablo City Council on Overseas Filipino Affairs. Topics that are discussed in the Business Opportunity Seminar include Hog Raising, Food Preservation, Virgin Coconut Oil Production, Pugo Egg Raising, Organic Farming and other topics that have been identified in the environment scanning. Top

Distance Learning Program on Leadership and Entrepreneurship

This a distance learning modular training on entrepreneurship, leadership, organizing, social responsibility, life skills and other relevant topics for overseas Filipinos, their families and members of the community. This program was developed in cooperation with the Education for Life Foundation.

Enterprise Development and Management Assistance

Atikha helps develop and manage micro and small enterprises in the pilot areas of San Pablo City and Mabini, Batangas. It helps conduct environment scanning and feasibility study of viable enterprises in the areas. Atikha invests in viable enterprises to help jump start these endeavors. It also help mobilize overseas Filipino investment in viable enterprises in the pilot areas. Atikha also assists in the management of enterprises it helped establish.

Counseling and Mentoring will be provided to overseas Filipinos, their families and their communities. The counseling is offered to those who are planning to invest or set up enterprises. Atikha will provide an inventory of real estate investments, savings programs, and possible enterprises. Atikha will also provide financial planning services so that the overseas Filipinos and their families will have an idea how much money they need if they are coming home for good. This will ensure that they will have a realistic estimate of the time they still need to work abroad.
ADVOCACY AND NETWORKING

Advocacy for Relevant Programs and Services for Overseas Filipinos

Atikha advocates for relevant programs and services for overseas workers at the national and local level. It helped create the Philippine Council on Overseas Filipino Workers Reintegration. (PHILCORE).

It also helped in the setting up of Coordinating Council on Overseas Filipino Affairs in San Pablo City and Mabini, Batangas. The coordinating council is composed of representatives of the Department of Agriculture, Department of Science and Technology, City/ Municipal Social Work and Community Development, Department of Trade and Industry, Office of the Mayor, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, San Pablo City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Atikha and the Koop Balikabayani International . The Coordinating Council on OF Affairs assists in the formulation of a 5 year Enterprise Development Program in the pilot areas specifically in areas for investment of Overseas Filipinos.

Atikha advocates for the setting-up of Overseas Filipino Center (OF Center) in provinces with very high concentration of overseas Filipinos. The OF Center serves as a one-stop center that will service the needs of the overseas Filipinos and their families in the various stages of migration. Top

Advocacy on Women’s Rights and Welfare

Women’s empowerment is part of the advocacy agenda of Atikha. It helps in the formulation of the Gender and Development Program in the area and assists in the lobby work for the approval of the Gender and Development Budget of the municipal and city government.
Research

Atikha conducts researches on migration issues like the feminization of migration, social cost of migration and reintegration. It conducts regular community survey on families of overseas Filipinos.

Atikha will be doing a research on diaspora philanthropy and its impact on community development.

For more and updated info, always visit their website at http://www.atikha.org/