Background and Objectives

The Focolare Carpentry Training Center (FCTC) is a social project of the Work of Mary or Focolare Movement for Men, Inc. - an international non-stock non-profit religious organization which aims to provide opportunities for out of school youth as follows:

-To learn employable skills particularly Furniture Carpentry
-To raise their functional literacy
-Develop proper values and attitudes

This is accomplished through an intensive theoretical and practical on-the-job training. The program is integrated with Christian values which develop young people to be concerned individuals, aware that he will be responsible tomorrow for what he does today. Aware of the potential of the Filipino out of school youth, FCTC envisions skills training as a means to improve their lives and at the same time to provide not only skilled but value oriented manpower for the industry.

In 1989, the Italian NGO "Azione per un Mondo Unito" (AMU) recognized the need to assist in the construction of a carpentry shop and training center in Cainta, Rizal to enable the Focolare Movement to accommodate more of its clientele. The permanent center now houses a carpentry shop and training center building, a dormitory building with 60 bed capacity, dining kitchen and recreational areas.

The training activities were coordinated with the Bureau of Non-formal Education of the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (BNFE-DECS) until late 1995. They are likewise co-signatory with FCTC Training Director in all trainees' certificates. FCTC has a very specialized line of skills training, thus it was endorsed to the Technical Education and Skills development Authority (TESDA), the official government agency accrediting and monitoring vocational and technical schools and training centers in the country. In October 8, 1997 the FCTC received its accreditation as a training center for Furniture Carpentry and Metal Working.