The Bahay Pag-asa Youth Center is a project of the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod City, the Philippines. Bahay Pag-asa, which means "House of Hope," is a facility that seeks to help young offenders in the criminal justice system to find their way toward personal and social stability and success and to prevent their suffering further deterioration from their incarceration. As the web site www.bahaypagasa.org explains, "The Philippine judicial corrections system places convicted youth offenders in penal facilities separate from adult convicts. This separation is deemed essential so that youth offenders will not fall under the company and influence of adult or "hardened" criminals, and so that during their incarceration, youth offenders can undergo a rehabilitation program under qualified and trained counselors and personnel who will process their problems, educate them, and prepare them for their eventual re- integration to their families and communities."

Bahay Pag-asa provides its residents, all males under 17, with education, spiritual formation, skills training, and a critical follow-up support program after their release from custody. The center, the first of its kind in the Philippines, drew its inspiration from similar Lasallian ministries in the United States, including the St. Gabriel System in Philadelphia and Ocean Tides in Providence, Rhode Island. The District of San Francisco, as a major benefactor of the center, was instrumental in its founding in 2001 and has been honored by having the chapel there dedicated in its name.

Each summer, Brother Dan Fenton, FSC, a De La Salle Christian Brother of the District of San Francisco, who teaches at San Miguel High School in Tucson, Arizona, journeys to Bacolod City to spend a month working with the residents of Bahay Pag-asa. Previous trips have brought telescopes and books to Bahay Pag-asa. In summer 2007, Brother Dan brought a new educational gift, a “Sky Scout”, a device that identifies stars and planets and provides an astronomical tutorial. Money to purchase the Sky Scout was raised by Brother Dan and his students at San Miguel High, Tucson.

Ben White and Jordan Winkel with Bahay Pag-asa resident Jason Tolentino

For his 2007 trip, Brother Dan was accompanied by two Lasallian alumni from the District of San Francisco, Ben White and Jordan Winkel, graduates of De La Salle North catholic High School in Portland, Oregon.

As Brother Dan tells the story, "It was a very good summer at Bahay Pag-asa. Four of the young men there graduated from Bahay Pag-asa and moved on to a new "halfway house" where they continue to work and study. Later this year, several more current Bahay Pag-asa residents will join them. A few days before we arrived, Bahay Pag-asa had been struck by lightning. It damaged the bell tower, blew up a lamp post, and destroyed a water pump. The residents were very lucky not to have been hurt or killed, because minutes earlier they had been playing basketball out in the rain. Engineers who looked at the damage told Brother Vince, the director, that since Bahay Pag-asa is in an isolated location, it is likely to be hit by lightning often, and without proper protection – grounding rods and lightning arresters – the residents’ lives are in danger."

Bahay Pag-asa residents with Brother Dan Fenton, FSC

Happily, says Brother Dan, the Lasallians of the District of San Francisco were able to help: "Brother Vince told me that the cost of such repairs would be about two thousand U.S. dollars. Thanks to the many donations Ben and Jordan and I had received from Brothers, Partners, and students, we were able, in addition to paying for our trip, to leave Brother Vince about eighteen hundred dollars for this project."

Using the astronomical teaching instrument Sky Scout

Jordan Winkel also says it was a very good summer for him: “After receiving my pilot’s license and completing a hard first year of college, I never suspected the following summer would be such a wonderful one. My trip to Bahay Pag-asa was a life-changing and humbling experience for me. The boys I met are tremendous inspirations to me. When I taught algebra, English, flight systems, and science, the boys’ capacities to learn in another language amazed me. Every day they rise at 5:30 and work and pray hard until bedtime. Each student in Bahay Pag-asa has his own story and each has had immense hardship in life. Whether it’s being falsely accused of a crime, or having to stay in jail for extended periods because hearings are canceled, all of these boys choose to go on; they choose education.”

Halfway House with four residents, one aspirant volunteer, and Brother Vince Fernandez, FSC

Brother Dan says, "Great credit is due to Brother Vince Fernandez, director of Bahay Pag-asa, and the Brothers and staff who work there. They are doing the truly heroic work there. I enjoy each summer working with the Brothers and staff at Bahay Pag-asa and, unless they tell me that I’ve worn out my welcome, I plan to help out again next June, hopefully with another small group of volunteers."

Brother Dan Fenton, FSC, can be contacted at brdan@sanmiguelhigh.com.
San Miguel High School in Tucson, Arizona, is on the web at www.sanmiguelhigh.com.
Bahay Pag-asa is at www.bahaypagasa.org.

Bahay Pag-asa resident Edsil Perez with Ben White