Staff Blog
In response to the devastation on our island and on the neighboring island of Leyte, CSC has mounted some relief efforts to relieve suffering and give hope. Although we have not actively solicited donations for a major relief initiative, loyal and generous CSC donors have given. The outpouring of love has been amazing. Some of it comes from former residents and their families who want to help birth families. The rest comes from people who have heard about and seen the tragic results of the typhoon that hit our part of the country.
On Tuesday, November 19, Carmelita Baya, CSC's Senior Social Worker, went to northern Cebu to deliver food and water to families known to the CSC family. She and our driver, Edwin Martinez, brought mineral water, canned goods, rice, noodles and dried fish to three families of former residents. Although Cebu City was spared significant storm damage, northern Cebu got hit very hard. The families were thrilled to receive the boxes for good. Their only other option was to fall in line for hours at a government distribution center where they would only be given a small bag of food. One of the women that they visited was standing in the long line when someone came and told her that Carmelta was at her home. When she ran there Carmelita said, "You don't have to wait in line. We came to see you!" All three families have major damage to their houses which was assessed by Carmelita. We will try to help them with building supplies soon. We cannot help all the people who need assistance. We can't even offer aid to all the people we know personally. But we can help some and we are trying our best to do that. We are not a rescue or relief agency, just a group of people who want to help, even in relatively small ways.
The next trip will be tomorrow. Carmelita and three others will be going to Leyte, the hardest hit of all the islands. Again, we will be distributing food and doing assessments of houses of people we know. This morning we went to the supermarked in Cebu City and purchased food for ten families. This will be a three day trip and the team will be going to several towns with these goods.
Here are some pictures of the damaged homes of the families that we are helping:
The Sun
Every day at Cebu Children of Hope School (CCHS) we start our day with something called Morning Meeting. This is a "soft landing" time for our children which enables them to calm their bodies, practice social skills, and prepare for a great day of learning. Part of every Morning Meeting is a time for kids to share. Sometimes the question is about what they did over the weekend, sometimes the question is related to the day's lessons.
Teacher Chery and Teacher Mae lead the Morning Meeting for Level A1, our four energetic kindergarteners. Here is a conversation they recently had in their classroom, with the question relating to the day's science lesson.
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Teacher Mae asked, "Where do you think the sun will go during the night?"
Student 1: The sun goes under the sea at night because it goes under the line (he means the horizon).
Student 2: The sun is on the ground teacher.
Student 3: Hmmmmmm... the sun will go to bed and sleep.
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Even with their young minds, these children have great ideas that even surprise us adults at times. Each child at CCHS is surrounded by great teachers who have dedicated their lives to help enlighten and empower their students so they can understand everything from where the sun goes at night to understanding how the God who made the sun loves them unconditionally. Thank you for supporting the work that is happening every day at CCHS!
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Pag Ibig Award
Recently CSC received an award from the Pag-IBIG Fund, the Philippine government financial agency that is handling the mortgages for our 60 employees who are receiving Habitat for Humanity homes. The award recognizes the role of CSC in this project on behalf of our employees, who are all automatically members of Pag-Ibig.
This award is a testimony to the work of Paul Reasoner, who raised funds to help alieviate the financial burden for our workers and make their mortgages more affordable for them. We are an organization that values our employees and we have been concerned that they have decent housing. Many have lived in sub-standard houses prior to this project, and would not have had even the hope of having their own house and lot without the cooperative efforts of CSC, Pag-IBIG Fund and Habitat for Humanity. This award reflects that concern of CSC, and the partnership of the agencies who are all dedicated to getting deserving people into safe and affordable housing.
Pastor Fred Verdeflor, who is the husband of our CSC nurse Arlyn and President of the CSC Happy Homes homeowners association, went to Manila to accept the award on behalf of CSC.
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Life Cycles
All living things undergo different stages during their life. Some living things start as a seed, pollen, or spore. Other organisms such as animals start as a live young or an egg that sometimes needs to undergo the process of metamorphosis which completely changes their appearance.
In my Level B2 science class the students were able to witness the process of metamorphosis. We started in the caterpillar stage where the students saw how many leaves the caterpillar consumed. After several weeks it became a pupa. The students were very eager to look at the changes every day though it stunk when they opened the lid of the box. The day finally arrived when the caterpillar became a moth! We all went outside and set the moth free. The students were so excited to be a part of this process!
The whole activity took a lot of time and dedication but the result was very fulfilling. The students were able to learn not just how metamorphosis works but also about patience, perseverance, and having a love for nature.
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2018 Highlights
CSC Higlights of 2018
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Christmas 2018
Click to see pics of the different activities at CSC this Christmas. Our generous donors allow us to give lots of fun times to the children. God bless you all.
Junel's Box 2018 - Inayawan, Cebu City
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