In San Pio Village, Cebu, young children play happily in a playground that they themselves helped to design. It is a world away from the rubbish tip where they used to live and play, and it is just one of many sights in the Village that causes Sydney man, Ron Natoli to give thanks to God for a dream that has come to fruition.

Ron and his wife Maria, with the Divine Word Missionaries JPIC (Philippines) and many partners and benefactors, have worked together to fulfil a dream of moving local families off the rubbish tips and into housing – a project which is now a reality in the form of San Pio Village.

In April, the last of the houses (pictured below) were handed over to their home-owner partners, in an official ceremony attended by local people and dignitaries, including Archbishop Jose Palma and SVD Superior General, Fr Heinz Kuluke, who worked in the Philippines for many years and was a big supporter of the project.

In his speech at the ceremony, Ron said that everything starts with a dream.

“One morning I had a dream,” he said. “It was of a village full of people celebrating a new home and a new beginning; children attending school and playing in a park.

“Today I am seeing that dream come true.”

He said many good people had been involved in making the dream a reality.

“So we thank God for dreamers, but thank God so much more for the people who make the dreams come true.”

Among those who worked hardest to make the dream a reality were the home-owner partners themselves.

Not only were they required to assist in building various parts of the village, but they were also asked to attend two training sessions a week to help them build the necessary life skills and attitude to leave behind the negative aspects of their old life on the Smokey Mountain rubbish tip and embrace their new opportunities. Job training and education also form a big part of the Village project.

“For some years, prison chaplains Fr John Iacono and Fr Heinz Kuluke, began to realise that a lot of the people from Smokey Mountain (pictured right) ended up in the prison population, and that this was because they had to fight over the garbage to survive, so there were a lot of fights, a lot of death, and eventually, for many, prison," Ron says.

“So part of what we’re doing with the Village is to take them from that mindset to a mindset of ‘Paying it Forward’, of receiving this opportunity for a new life and then paying that back by supporting the community.”

A key focus of San Pio village is a statue of Padre Pio, which has become a quiet centre of meditation not only for the people in the Village, but also for outsiders, who come to spend time there.

“Padre Pio certainly had a lot to do with this Village coming to fruition,” says Ron. “So many things fell into place through his intercession and I know he’s looking over it.”

Another central feature of the Village is the playground, which was designed by the Village children themselves, during a two day retreat.

“These kids who used to play on the rubbish tip actually designed their own playground, drawing and sketching the things they would love to see there, like swings and slippery dips,” says Ron.

“And what was wonderful was that they also started working out amongst themselves how they were going to pay for it, through fundraising.”

Every child in the Village attends a local school (see photo above), many on a scholarship, and the home-owner partners are also required to work and earn the money for their modest home repayments.

“And the result of that is that all the people are very protective of what they’ve got there,” says Ron.

“They have a real sense of ownership and gratitude for the opportunity they’ve been given to change their life.

“It’s really wonderful to see.”