Staff Blog
It is no secret that there was an earthquake in the Philippines on Tuesday. There has been a lot of information shared over facebook, some of it an hour by hour update on our experience. Many people have spoken about the fear, the pain and the sadness they, or others they know, experienced.
I did not comment much about it then, but would like to say more now.
It is a very unnerving feeling to have every surface you are touching rumble and move beneath and around you. There is nothing to grab onto, there is nothing that can steady you. Also, the power shut off at the exact time the quaking began, so there is that shock to the senses. And then there is the noise. There is the rumble of the movement of the earth, some have described it like if a construction site were right outside your home. Then there is the noise of your fragile possessions crashing to the ground and breaking or the stones of your house falling from above. Scary. And it seems to go on for so long. Maybe because from the moment the shaking starts to when it stops you are unceasingly praying for it to end. And then after the shaking stops, you begin to hear the shouts and cries of the people and the dogs. In my neighborhood, the dogs had much to say.
You are really shaky yourself and you feel kind of weak, it takes a while to get your bearings. I had heard from Sandy---she, Marlys and Jenny were okay. I tried to reach Mitch, but there was no answer. I then went outside to check on some of my neighbors---everyone in my compound was safe, Shari and Marcel too, which was wonderful!
I returned home to some disarray and with the strong desire to get up to the shelter. My television had fallen from its stand and laid in pieces, a vase had met a similar demise. I left them as is, moved any other breakable items to a safer place and headed out, unsure what state I would find things in as I drove.
People were everywhere in the streets, there was an accident at the base of the road the shelter is on, so people and vehicles filled the space. I actually saw one of our house fathers there on his motorcycle. He couldn't hear my shouting over the din of everything else. I found out later that his wife, one of our house mothers, was out shopping with some of our older girls when the earthquake happened and he was going to locate them. Terrifying.
I made it up the road easily and quickly. The construction site next to our land even seemed to have made it through the quake alright. I honked once outside our gate, the door opened and I pulled into safety. I immediately saw Mitch's van and saw him walking around---all of us were safe and accounted for.
I was anxious to see how all of the kids were doing, so my heart was racing, but there was also just an overwhelming peace. I could see the kids outside on the grounds, gathered together, many of them crying. They ran and hugged me tightly. I didn't have enough body to go around. I moved around through the groups, checking them, checking for injuries, checking for tears, checking that they were okay. All of our house parents were also safe and accounted for. The house mother and the three girls who had been shopping during the quake had made it back safely---the girls were crying and one of them had lost her slippers in the panic---but they were back!
I stood in the middle of the yard and looked around and the buildings, the windows, the plants, the ground---everything looked as it had the day before---seemingly untouched by the 7.2 magnitude quake that had struck 20 minutes earlier. Praise the Lord!
I have said this many times in my 2+ years at CSC, but since I first stepped foot inside the gate I have felt God's hand on this land, on this ministry, on these kids, on these workers, on us. He always provides, He always protects, He always sustains.
The aftershocks continued the rest of the day, some feeling almost as strong as the earthquake, though they lasted less time. We kept the kids outside for the morning until everything could be checked, but they napped inside in the afternoon. For quite some time that day, every time an aftershock was felt the kids would run to the middle of the playground.
We had no power, so the generator ran all day, a noisy machine, but something we were grateful for. We lost water for a period of time in the afternoon as the continuous running of the generator overwhelmed the water pump. But that problem was solved quickly once it was understood. The nurseries were moved to the living rooms in the homes and all of the children slept downstairs for that night. The aftershocks continued through the night, the next day and the next and I am pretty sure I have felt some yet this morning.
While it remains a bit unnerving and you feel somewhat on edge---yesterday when I heard a loud rumbling noise, I looked for the nearest sturdy object to dive under should the shaking start, and it was really just a low-flying plane---there is no need to fear. God is good, ALL THE TIME! All the time, GOD IS GOOD!
August is Buwan ng Wika
August is Buwan ng Wika (Language Month) in schools throughout the Philippines and each school puts on activities at the end of the month. The theme this year was Filipino: Wika ng Pagkakaisa or Filipino: Unity in Language. We had our activities at school on August 22 and the day was filled with fun, games, language riddles and Filipino food.
Since I am new this year, Buwan ng Wika was my first all day school activity. In the morning, we had indoor activities like bugtongan (riddles in Filipino) and groups presented cheers in Filipino. We had a lot of fun thinking of cheers using the Filipino dialect. It was hard because our first language is Cebuano, not Filipino. After the activities inside the school, we went down to the shelter to have a snack and continue playing Filipino games. Some of the games were jack em' poy (rock, scissors, paper), takyan (a kind of home-made hacky sack), rubber band throwing, and a cat and dog tag game. After a lunch of Filipino food, we returned to school for student and teacher presentations. Some groups performed dances with costumes and props while others did a skit.
The students' faces showed their enjoyment throughout the day. I also enjoyed the activities not only because of the fun games, but because of the bonding and fellowship we shared with the kids and teachers. I'm looking forward for more fun and exciting activities!
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Laura
Last week Laura came to visit us at school. Laura taught at our school for six years as an instructional assistant, working mainly with preschoolers and individual students in one-on-one tutoring sessions. Laura is a lady with a story to tell, a powerful story of transformation.
When Laura first started at CCHS, she was shy and new to the world of teaching. She gained confidence with experience and the encouragement of her colleagues. Laura was a also a seeker, intrigued by the message of God as her personal saviour. She asked a lot of questions and eventually sought to have Christ as the guiding force in her life. This desire transformed Laura giving her new purpose and a confidence she had not had before.
Serious trouble arose in February of 2012 when Laura was diagnosed with cancer. She had surgery to remove as much of the cancer as possble, but she was also frightened of chemotherapy, so she chose to try alternative therapies in an attempt to arrest the spread of the disease. When these therapies were not successful and she was again faced with the decision to try chemotherapy, Laura realized her fear of chemotherapy had been the driving force of her decisions rather than her faith in God's promises.
Laura decided to have chemotherapy and she is feeling better, but she is not cancer free. However, Laura is the first to tell others the promises of God are true and right. She is firm in her belief God will give her the strength she needs each day. She is bold and confident. She loves to tell her story of God's transforming power in her life, come what may.
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Great News!
Last March the National Achievement Test (NAT) for Grade 6 was administered by the Department of Education. This is a nation-wide test given to all students in their last year of elementary school. This was the first time we had any of our students take the national test because we had been exempt from taking it in the past. The rules changed recently so we had two students who qualified to take the test. To be honest, we did not have a good feeling about what the results would be because of a planning glitch in the Department of Education. We had not been informed of the exact day the test was going to be administered, so we had to scramble the day of the test.
The results of the test did not come out until about 6 months after they were taken. Cris Tabra, the principal of our school, was attending a private school administrators meeting a couple of weeks ago and she noticed one attendee looking at a print out of the results of the NAT. She started looking at the back of the list of results for private schools in Cebu City. When Cebu Children of Hope School did not appear on the back couple of pages, she kept turning forward to the first page. There was the name of our school third on the list! Our students had done well enough to rank third out of 98 private schools in the city. Wow!
The girls were excited they had done so well. Their efforts at school paid off in a big way. The teachers might have been even more proud and excited than the girls. What a great encouragement for all. As teachers we are thankful for the children's achievement. We are also very thankful for the reading and math curriculums we use. Both programs expose the children to a broad knowledge base and prepare them to think critically. Thank you for being a part of Cebu Children of Hope School, praying for the students and staff as we gather each day to learn and grow.
Our Third Place Girls!
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New Haircut Ladies
The children have lots of good people around them. The children look up to the aunties and uncles.
Recently, Auntie Yayang suggested an idea to a few of the girls—a cute, short haircut. The girls liked the idea, but had one condition. They wanted Auntie Yayang to join them in cutting their hair. She liked the idea, and could not say no to their persistent nagging. Auntie Yayang did the honors of cutting the girls’ hair into a cute new do. A few days later, she fulfilled her end of the agreement and came to work with a matching short haircut. She knew better than to leave her hair at the mercy of a bunch of young girls.
It is cute to see how an auntie and children bond over a few snips of a scissors.
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Typical day?
Visitors often ask what a typical day is like for those of us working at the shelter.
"Good question!," I usually respond with as I scramble for the words that can best answer that good, but complex question. And the truth is, there isn't one!
The beauty of CSC is that it is a vibrant place with a pulse. No day is the same as one you have had before. We all have job descriptions, but those go out the window when a need arises that has to be addressed. And sometimes that need was maybe never anticipated. So, you respond, you address the need.
There are common tasks for all of us: reports we should be working on, pictures we could be organizing, and blogs we should be writing... ;)
But there are other tasks that can become part of your day with little notice: spending time with adoptive families or visitors, meetings (in 1 week, I could attend 15 meetings!), taking children for appointments, being on duty (when a house parent is on their day off), sleeping at the shelter when the house parents will be gone overnight, attending birthday parties, taking notes during school conferences, organizing donations, attending school programs, assessing and admitting children, and the list goes on.
Every one of these tasks is just as important as the next. Attending a child's birthday party and praying over them as they start a new year in life is just as important as updating a report.
Assessing children for future admittance is just as significant as meeting with the house parents to discuss the health and behavior of the current children in their home.
During assessment:
Now:
The tasks before us on any given day are largely unknown! We can think we know what the day will look like, but God's plan for our day is usually different than ours. And that is okay. CSC is His ministry, He has made it what it is today and it is our job to just do what He puts before us. And truth be told, serving at CSC and being a part of these kids' lives is truly a blessing.
Life also seems to be a bit more exciting when living in a tropical country. Last week, during a house parent meeting, I happened to see an unusual shadow moving along the outside of our office. It was a snake! There were screams and excitement as we ran outside to see where it was going. The house father we were meeting with just so happens to like snakes (Thank you, Lord!), so he was eager to catch it. In fact, he decided to take that opportunity to practice a snake-catching technique he had seen before on TV! Amazingly, it worked. He was able to stop it and with the help of one of our guards they picked it up and put tape on its mouth---since it was actually poisonous!
There is never a dull moment here at CSC! Thanks for being a part of it all!
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