In 1993 literacy classes for children and adults were established with ESSC assistance in Bendum. After a long process of coordination and advocacy, Apu Palamguwan Cultural Education Center (APC) gained formal recognition from the Department of Education in 2004 as the first culture-based school for Indigenous Peoples.

apc.essc.org.ph

Sitio Bendum is a community situated in the Upper Pulangi Watershed in Mindanao with around 300 inhabitants. There are about 50 families residing in the area, more than 75% of whom are of indigenous Bukidnon-Pulangiyen origin.

Through the assistance of ESSC, the Cultural Empowerment Center (CEC) was set-up in Bendum in 1993. CEC's main objective was to provide a venue for child literacy and adult education, community livelihood activities, health program, resource mapping, community management training and documentation of their ancestral domain claims.