In 1994, at the request of a delegation of Manobo chieftains, Fr. Michel Lenzen, OMI, founded the Pangipasan Community School.  The school was

built to meet the needs of the Manobo tribal children in Panigipasan, Lampayan,

Matalam, Cotabato, Philippines as this was the ancestral territory of the Manobo tribe.  The Cotabato sponsor site is comprised of nine tribal sitios or communities, all within 25 km of the sponsor site. In 2001 the school was accepted into the Chalice family under the direction of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and currently assist over 600 children. 

Education is very expensive in this area; therefore it is the main focus of this site.  Children are supplied with the items necessary for them to attend school - clothing, hygiene kits, nourishment, and when necessary medical treatments.  It is the desire of site director Fr. Rizaldy T. Orola, and his brothers in Christ, that all children in their schools complete a basic elementary education.   Their objective is to create self-reliant, well-informed, reasoning individuals.  The Manobo children are permitted to wear their native attire to school every Monday, with school uniforms being required the rest of the week.  They are not only taught the modern day curriculum, but the beauty and richness of their inheritance. In the process, the site staff gains a holistic understanding of man and his environment through the sharing of knowledge with the tribal people themselves. The consequence of educating the children is the change of attitude in the tribe.  They now exhibit dignity and self esteem, standing for their rights and beliefs.

The children of this site belong to extremely destitute families that have experienced the conflict between the MILF and the Government forces.  It is estimated that 85% of the native tribes, including people from the slum communities, are without any primary education, with most never having seen a classroom.  The typical Manobo family consists of parents and four children.  They live in a small 2.5 x 3 meter home.  If the child must travel a great distance to attend school the family will build a hostel close to the school so they can remain together.  Community elders supervise the hostels to ensure the safety of the children.

Children that attend school are provided with lunch. Before they are dismissed for the day they are given supplies meant for their supper and breakfast.  The meals are provided to ensure a balanced diet and eliminate the occurrence of malnutrition.  In return for the benefits offered to the families, the community provides their services to the school in the form of free labour for the institution or sponsor site. Each individual school has a certain day that parents volunteer their services. Mothers are given a rotation so each will have the opportunity to cook for their children and monitor them in school. The community service is called "Communal Work".  All the field workers, teachers and community people work together for the site on specific projects.  One of the agreed upon activities is the maintenance of the school vegetable garden.  This is the main source of raw materials used for the school nutrition program and is tended by the parents and high school students.  The workgroups have also undertaken a massive tree-planting project. Through these activities the students learn the value of education and hard work.  The example the graduating students provide motivates the parents to register their children in school. 

The Cotaboto sponsor site is an excellent example of a community coming together to tend to the needs of their citizens as a whole.  Each level shares their time, talents and experiences, teaching the next the value of working together so all may live a more productive life in dignity and solidarity.