Some of the treasures of the history of the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine of the Order of Augustinian Recollects and the environments and spaces where it has carried out its work throughout history and today.
Handumanan is a far-reaching social outreach project that began in 1993 at the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos, Bacolod City, which is the most populous city in the province with over half a million residents. This pioneering project in local volunteer work successfully integrated higher education with the promotion of social justice. University students learn and practice solidarity, contributing their time, knowledge, and skills. The project was conceived and implemented by Fray Antonio Ramón Palacios.
The project serves the neighbourhood of Handumanan, located about ten kilometres from the Recollect university. This area is home to many informal workers and those engaged in the precarious urban economy on the peripheries, who cannot afford to live downtown.
Initially, the project focused on the four major social needs of this marginalized population: housing, education, healthcare, and access to the formal labour market.
The significant number of substandard housing units, which lacked any conditions of dignity for families, prompted Fr. Palacios to initiate the project, seek local support, and obtain funding assistance from Spain. In the beginning, 108 housing units were constructed for families previously living in shanties. Later, in 1993, an additional 94 housing units were built for university employees who could not afford housing due to prohibitive costs.
The community has been urbanized and provided with all necessary infrastructure, including a potable water system, sanitation, and electrical power supply. Within the barangay, two essential services were established: a vocational school and the Saint Ezekiel Moreno Health Centre. Additionally, a community chapel, basketball court, and children’s playground were added.
Since 2010, the Siervas de María (Servants of Mary) have administered free healthcare services. A community of eight religious sisters tends to the health centre, continuing their charism of accompanying ill persons in their homes and humanizing healthcare in a district where compassion and concern from authorities are often lacking.
Handumanan also offers consultations in general medicine and specialized fields such as paediatrics, obstetrics, gynaecology, X-ray, and laboratory services. It features a in-patient clinic with four beds, a dispensary, and an ambulance. The centre has implemented programs for information, awareness, and treatment of common illnesses in the barangay, such as tuberculosis, malnutrition, hypertension, and diabetes.
