Dalepaanen

The Dalēpaan is a place for basic human needs and relations. This is where children from neighboring villages and staff coming from downstream are housed, and many consider this facility a second home.

The Dalēpaan embodies the cultural values of safety, comfort, love and care for visitors. Dapēla is the sense of taking a rest during a long walk.  This place then is a place of rest and refuge. The culture also puts a particular value on caring for those who have no security, meaning orphans and widows. These values come together in people living here.  Coming from different places and doing different jobs, we are united by the schedule and common understanding of daily life in the dorm.  We become connected and show this connectivity by regarding each other as siblings. Students call the staff as Ate or Kuya.

Students who live in the Dalēpaan come from villages a day’s walk away and so stay here for the semester to learn. They are away from their family and for many months, and to keep them going in their educational pursuit, staff members guide and support them in their needs. The staff are also strengthened by the simple visions these children have for themselves, their families and their communities.