As you may or may not know, all orphanages in the Philippines are supported 100% through donations and foreign sponsorship and aid. The smaller orphanages such as Bethlehem House of Bread and St. Martin, are in dire need of supplies and overall funding.

Bethlehem House of Bread and St. Martin de Porres, are both in Bulacan, Philippines. Bethlehem houses 100 children (from infant to 18 years old). Many of the children do have parents, but come from large families where the parents can not afford to feed them. Some children are abandoned, have parents in jail or psych wards, or have defects such as cerebral palsy, mental retardation, blindness, or cleft palates. The population is growing and unfortunately they do not have enough resources. Food costs alone consist of a major part of the budget.

As for St. Martin, it is work in progress and houses 80 children. There, these children learn to be completely independent- they wash their own clothes, prepare fire three time a day to cook rice, and girls and boys are segregated for the most part and live in separate housing. The children receive a well-rounded education there as well which includes even music lessons.

St. Martin, however, does not have indoor plumbing. They have a spring where the children wash clothes, gather buckets for the toilets and bathing, and retrieve their drinking water.

Both these orphanages were started by Fr. Boyet Concepcion who also established a home for the aged and a home for drug users. He truly is a priest with a mission. He is very blessed and has been able to obtain substantial foreign funding for his projects. St. Martin is still being built but needs as much help as possible.

Defense Soap will be used at these orphanages to help bring the level of hygiene to acceptable standards and to prevent skin infections like MRSA, and ringworm.

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