Staff Blog
prog·ress
part of speech: noun
pronunciation: ˈpräɡres/
1. Forward or onward movement toward a destination.
2. The advance or development toward a better, more complete, or more modern condition
part of speech: verb
pronunciation: prəˈɡres/
1. To move forward or onward in space or time.
2. To advance or develop toward a better, more complete, or more modern state.
It is almost summer where you are, so bare with me on this journey through Webster's pages and this highly intellectual post! ;) Progress, the noun, is a thing most of us look for to determine the success or failure of an effort. It a measure of change, advancement, improvement---pounds lost, degrees earned, etc., toward a goal. It is something we want to see.
Progress, the verb, is the effort. It is the actual forward motion. It encompasses the sweat and tears involved in bettering oneself, finishing a degree, running another mile. Or as it says above, becoming more complete. It is a process requiring hard work.
Sometimes progress, the noun, is hard to chart or to see. The work is there, but it seems there is little to show for it. Thankfully, at CSC, this is not true.
Below you will see only a smidgen of the countless proofs of progress at CSC, in a series of before and after pictures. Children arrive to CSC usually in a bad state. They are often not healthy. They stay in our Infirmary for as long as it takes to rid their bodies of lice, worms or other illnesses. The evidence of physical progression alone is cause for rejoicing in God's goodness to improve the lives of CSC's children. However, their progress is much more than physical.
If you look at many of the faces in the before pictures, their is understandable fear and uncertainty registering there. Strangers are visiting them and talking about taking them from their home. Of course it is for their betterment, their progress, their health, but that is hard to fully communicate in such emotional times. But look at the faces in the after pictures. There is peace, happiness, and excitement.
Some synonyms for progress: make headway, get better, gain ground, improve, advance, develop, and make strides. For our youngest residents, they literally learn to walk and then run while in our care. Now that's progress!
Some other synonyms for progress: thrive, prosper, blossom, and flourish.
And that is what kids do at CSC. There are many hands working tirelessly for the advancement of these precious children. From nurses, teachers, therapists, social workers, counselors, houseparents, guards, missionary staff and childcare workers. Their effort contributes to the progress of the children. I don't want to leave out the effort put forth by our children though, because that is very real too. They take the risk to trust, and follow our instruction and learn to be a kid again. And finally, the investments made by you donors is effort, it's forward motion. Your effort can also be seen in the smiling faces above.
To me, this is what progress looks like.
Biking is Fun
Learning how to ride a bicycle is an early moment of accomplishment and freedom for a child. It is difficult to balance and pedal all at once while steering to avoid obstacles and other people. Of course a child will be proud of themselves when they learn how to put it all together to ride a bicycle down the driveway. Guiding the bicycle where to go starts to give a child an idea of freedom.
I enjoy riding a bicycle. I must confess; I have more than one bicycle. Watching a child wobbling along on two wheels finding their sense of balance brings a smile to my face. When they finally get the hang of it I will shout for joy along with them.
This little guy is learning how to balance without the complications of pedaling.
This guy is hesitantly figuring out how to start from a stand still.
This young lady took a few pointers from me and in an afternoon put it all together.
It is so much riding around! It is even more fun with puddles!
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Creatures!
Creepy, crawly creatures are everywhere here in this tropical climate. And everything that crawls seems to come in gigantic versions; big moths, big spiders, big geckos. The kids (OK it's mostly the boys) are fascinated with bugs and seem to go in seasonal cycles playing with different insects as the bugs hatch and find homes in the vegetation.
Recently spiders were all the rage with the boys collecting certain kinds and then conducting spider fights on the bristles of brooms. One day I drove by a large group of school kids at a roadside vendor who was selling something in plastic bags about the size of rulers with something small and black in each bag. The kids were buying the fighting spiders on their way home from school!
For the last couple of weeks the boys gravitate to the flowering plants as they enter the school gate in the morning. Praying mantises have been emerging and the kids want to see how many they can find. They don't use them to fight (thankfully), but are eager to carry the cool looking bugs around during the day. Impromptu mini-science lessons have happened with the appearance of these green creatures like learning that the female mantis eats the head off the male!
So if you are into bugs, Cebu is the place to be. Hang out with the kids for a while and you'll learn new and creative ways to play with bugs.
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Busy with Birthdays!
It’s a busy birthday week! Today is Tuesday in Cebu, we just finished birthday parties on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday nights. We have a small break and then, coming up we have two more celebrations on Thursday and Friday! Whew!
There are times (this week for instance) when I think it might be wiser to celebrate once a month for everyone who has a birthday that month but not most of the time. For these kids who have had very few special moments just for them, an individual birthday party, celebrating them seems more than appropriate. Here are a few photos...
Monday's birthday was especially exciting because the birthday girl turned 18. The picture below is of her reading a wonderful letter she wrote thanking her house parents, care givers, and God for the love and provision she's recieved while at CSC.
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Auntie Warlita Retires
Auntie Warlita has worked as a nurse at CSC since 1997. She has taken hundreds of children to the
doctor in the past 18 years. Lovingly taken care of and prayed for the kids and
the ministry of CSC. Her love,
dedication, and Godly example was a great encouragement to everyone she came
into contact with. All of us at CSC were blessed to have her be a part of our
lives the past 18 years.
On September 30th we had a farewell party and lunch for Auntie Warlita hosted by the nurses. Uncle Mitch shared about Warlita followed by a lunch with many of the CSC workers. A wonderful time of fellowship, laughs, and appreciation to Auntie Warlita was had by all.
Thank you for your ministry to CSC Auntie Warlita. May God bless you as you continue to serve Him!
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Reading for Everyone
The final activity related to CCHS's Reading Challenge was a trip to the Cebu City Public Library, so the kids headed out to visit the library one day last week. The trip was meant to be the kids' reward for doing such a great job during the Challenge, but another underlying purpose was to expose them to the idea of a public library. Unlike most communities in the United States, the existence of public libraries in the Philippines is rare, so most people have little or no opportunity to avail themselves of the multitude of services public libraries provide. The Cebu City Public Library is the only public library in the city of 870,000 people!
When we got to the library, the head librarian welcomed us and explained what a public library is. Then the kids were allowed to browse through the books in the children's section for about thirty minutes. Great fun! Most of our children have not had the opportunity to read books when they arrive at the shelter. The idea of being able to look at and read books whenever they want is a foreign experience, so they thoroughly enjoy our school library and the mini-libraries in the classrooms and houses. This was another chance to be exposed to books in a different environment.
While we were at the library, we learned about a program to bring books into the communities in the city. Books bags are distributed by the library to kindergarten and first grade students and their families for them to keep at their homes for one week. The book bags are returned after a week and the family is given another bag for the next week. It's sort of a creative revolving check-out system. Coupled with the book bag distribution are sessions teaching the parents how to read with their children. It was encouraging to hear the public library is reaching out into the communities in this way.
The kids are still pumped about reading and continue to challenge themselves by reading a lot. Right now they are into book series and books related to what they are studying in science class. Maybe that will shift to books about countries and people around the world since United Nations Day is coming up. We'll see...
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