The Mervin Parana Story

Turbulent Early Years. Mervin Parana, 31, grew up in Pagsanjan, Laguna, the second child in a brood of six. His parents split up when he was about 12 and for this reason he was unable to study beyond first year high school. Soon after, he went to Pampanga where he worked as a 'boy' (a lowly-paid helper) for an uncle.

Learning Masonry. At about the age of 20 he returned to Laguna and found a job as a laborer on construction sites. Within the next two years he gradually learned the work of a mason and soon grew confident enough with his skills to walk into construction sites and ask a foreman if there were any openings for a mason. From 2002 to 2009 he worked at several sites ranging from low-cost, one-story residential buildings to high-rises. 

All those years he also brought his 'bisyo' (vice) to the construction sites. He would join drinking sprees with co-workers and end up in brawls with them. Occasionally he would be unable to work because of a hangover.

A Changed Life. Then in 2009 he found work at what was to become the Center for Community Transformation-Training and Development Institute campus in Magdalena, Laguna. All workers were required to attend devotions (an hour of reading and meditating on God's Word) before the start of work each day. On Saturdays they attended corporate worship, a service patterned after Sunday services of Christian churches.

His employment with CCT brought him to other construction sites such as the retreat center in Tagaytay, the boarding school for children in Puypuy, Laguna, and the resettlement village for transformed street dwellers in Cabanatuan City. “In Cabanatuan we had devotions in the mornings and in the evenings,” he said. “In the beginning I would join simply for the sake of work but over time I began to look forward to reading the Bible and to listening to the preaching.” He has since given his life to God and his life has been wonderfully transformed. “During my teen years and my twenties I never went to church,” he says. “I prayed but when I did, there seemed to be something missing with how I talked with God. I've since learned how to come to God in prayer.” His drinking habit no longer has control over his free time. “I used to be hotheaded when dealing with co-workers. I have more patience now.”

Family Man and TESDA Exam Passer. Today Mervin is a hardworking father of four (his children range in age from eight years to nine months). “My wife and I practice family planning,” he says. “I want to be able to send all my children to college so they can find good jobs and not experience what I went through.”

He is also one of 39 CCT-assisted masons who passed a masonry competency exam given by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) in February of this year. 

The workers underwent TESDA assessment as part of Sikhay sa Paggawa (SIPAG), a project  being overseen by CCT and run in partnership with TESDA , the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) with funding from the Alagad Party List. Mervin's TESDA certificate attests that he can work according to standards expected in the global workplace.

Tips for Fellow Masons. So what makes a good mason? Mervin says, “If you know you're working on a tight budget, you must be able work within that budget. One must be patient, because impatience and hastiness result in 'pingas' – chipped corners. And, a good mason has to be able to concentrate, must be systematic.”

For information on the CCT Group of Ministries, its programs and target beneficiaries,  please visit  www.cct.org.ph/new/.

SIPAG Workers Receive TESDA Certification

SIPAG workers from Pasay City take a fulfilling  first look at their TESDA certificates.

Seventy-five construction workers received certificates of competence from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) during the 2011 general assembly of the Kaibigang Maaasahan Multipurpose Cooperative and Covenant Community Service Cooperative. About half of the men are former street dwellers while are the rest are husbands, sons, or brothers of community partners in the micro-finance program of the Center for Community Transformation (CCT) Group of Ministries. They live in Taguig, Muntinlupa, Pasay, Manila and Quezon City.   

The workers underwent TESDA assessment as part of Sikhay sa Paggawa (SIPAG), a project  being overseen by CCT and run in partnership with TESDA , the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) with funding from the Alagad Party List. TESDA certificates are awarded only to workers who can perform to standards expected in the global workplace.

Former Representative Diogenes Osabel, president of the Alagad Party List, said the SIPAG project is a bridge between local home-owners and TESDA, DTI, and CCT. He said there is a demand for trustworthy workers in local communities. “Building the confidence and capacity of workers is part of our fight, by non-violent means, against poverty. We want to be part of shaping the future,” he said.

Alagad Party List President Diogenes Osabel

Atty. Ted Pascua, TESDA deputy director general for operations, said society must not look down on construction workers because, “We all have a place under the sun.” In encouraging the men to have a vision beyond their construction work he told the familiar story of the three bricklayers. “Be like the bricklayer who said he was building a cathedral,” he said. To CCT and SIPAG project workers he said, “Build on what you have started. Your efforts will be blessed.” 

Atty. Ted Pascua, TESDA deputy director general for operations

In a message based on the beatitudes, Pastor EJ del Mundo, head pastor for the CCT Group of Ministries,said “God wants to bless you spiritually, not just materially.” He told the former street dwellers, “Kung ikaw ay taong kalye nung dumating si Jesus, malamang kasama ka niya. (If you were a street dweller when Jesus came [to dwell among us], it's likely that you would have been among his companions.)” 

Pastor EJ del Mundo, CCT Group head pastor

KMMC members sing of God's love.

Charlie Galas, former street dweller who was certified for masonry and carpentry skills, said he would do his best to repay the kindness shown him by CCT. 

For information on the CCT Group of Ministries, its programs and target beneficiaries,  please visit  www.cct.org.ph/new/.

SIPAG Masons Pass TESDA Exam

All 39 CCT-assisted masons seeking certification from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) passed the competency exam given on February 9 and 10. Of these, 21 are former street dwellers who learned masonry on-the-job while helping build the Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center and the CCT Training and Development Institute in Magdalena, Laguna.  The rest are relatives of CCT community partners from Taguig, Muntinlupa, Manila, Pasay and Novaliches.  

The masons underwent the assessment as part of Sikhay sa Paggawa (SIPAG), a project  being overseen by CCT and run in partnership with TESDA and the Department of Trade and Industry. They range in age from 20 to 60. The project targets organizing  180 TESDA-certified workers into guilds by the end of a year.

Rolando Calimlim, SIPAG project manager, explained that the first phase of the project entails helping workers already skilled in masonry, carpentry, painting and plumbing to be TESDA certified and organizing them into guilds.

The second phase of the project will be spent training unskilled and partially skilled workers for these hands-on jobs.

Members of the guilds will then be organized into business enterprises such as cooperatives, single proprietorships or partnerships.

The rest of the allotted time will be used to equip the workers with entrepreneurial skills.  "Training the workers in entrepreneurship is the heart of the project," said Calimlim who has in the past trained hundreds of men for labor-intensive jobs.  "Someone with excellent hands-on skills but lacking entrepreneurial skills often ends up still jobless.  The workers will be taught how to market themselves, how to package themselves, how to write simple proposals, how to estimate construction costs, and how to close a deal."

"Having TESDA-certification gives the men an advantage when applying for jobs in the Philippines or abroad," said Froilan Parado, SIPAG general manager.

Joseph Alegria, guild organizer, added, "Hindi nagdadalawang isip ang employer sa pagtangap ng TESDA certified construction worker. (Prospective employers do not have qualms about hiring  TESDA-certified construction workers.)"

Funds for the project are from the priority development assistance fund of the ALAGAD party-list.

Justo Ferolino, TESDA assessor, orients the masons on how the exam will proceed.

Part of the actual trade test: measuring...

mixing,





 mixing,





and plastering.



Certification hopefuls take the hands-on test under the watchful eye of a TESDA assessor.

                               

Masons take the oral exam two at a time.