Actually these are not visitors, but family
members coming back home. We have a
fairly constant flow of visitors coming to CSC,
we have people who find us online and want to visit to see if we are who
we say we are, we have supporters who
make a once in a life time journey to see where their money has been going all
these years, we have adoptive families
coming to claim their long awaited son and/or daughters from us, many other mission groups in Cebu enjoy
bringing their visitors to see us, we
have our own biological family members come to visit…the list goes on and on.
The best kind of visitors for all of us is when our own CSC KIDS come back home to CSC. This has been happening a lot and is always a wonderful time.
Siblings Joe, Roxanne and Carlo are here with us now! They left us for adoption 11 years ago and are back to visit us as well as their birth family. We also have Erna, another one of our own CSC kids back here working in our school for a couple of months. We all love seeing our kids come back, but it is an extra special blessing for all the CSC aunties and uncles to see the kids return. I get to see many of our CSC kids when I am in the States, but our Filipino aunties and uncles only get to see the kids if they return here. It is so fun to see their faces when they see the kids that they cared for many years ago back in the home that they lived in while at CSC. It was hard for them to say goodbye many years ago. These kids return visit helps our aunties and uncles to be able to continue caring for the kids here now, and to keep saying goodbye…we need our CSC kids to keep coming back!
We have had lots of kids come back, some of the things that they remember are precious, some are embarrassing and some are just plain funny. I only recently learned that Joemar (who has lived with us almost 30 years) was the willing recipient of quite a few of the kid’s vegetables; no wonder everyone loved Joemar; he was eating their vegetables for them! We have certainly noticed common reactions and comments for kids coming back; we hear many things like ”I remember the playground being bigger than this!” and “I am taller than the aunties, did they shrink?”
What a blessing our CSC kids are…we hope they keep coming back home to visit!
The Day After Christmas At CSC
Enjoy some smiles as the kids use their new Christmas gifts!
4 Stars! (We do it right.)
We just got a letter in the mail from Charity Navigator, and we are celebrating. Charity Navigator's assessment of our integrity in finances, transparency and governance has led to a 4-star rating for the fourth year in a row! Just 9% of nonprofits can say the same.
We only do this work because people support us, and we are proud to use your money in a way that both honors God, and meets with the approval of places like Charity Navigator. Here's to four stars four times!
Wrapping Gifts
Have you guys wrapped your Christmas presents yet? Already stocked those stockings? If you haven’t, it is still two days before Christmas so you still have time.
Right now, there are 84 kids at CSC which includes our Teen Home residents. That means, we wrapped 84 gifts and stocked 84 stockings. Whew! Honestly, it is a lot of work! And I have not even mentioned shopping for these gifts yet. But when you see the beaming faces of the kids when opening their presents, it is worth all the work.
I know you are all eager to see new pictures of cute little faces at CSC—whether at Facebook or in the website. But, for this blog, let me show you cute ADULT faces. Here is a glimpse of the behind the scene of the Christmas wrapping party—we call it a party just because!
Thank you all for your generosity this past year and continued generosity even for the next year. You may not be here with us during Christmas, but know that you are one of the reasons why we see cute little beaming faces at CSC everyday! Merry Christmas!
Homework
Homework can be such a drag....even for the kids at CSC. And can I please get a refresher on genotypes? I mean really, who needs that in social work? I recently was asked, "Auntie Megan, do you know how to do this one?" A worksheet gets shoved in my face and I'm staring at a grid of four boxes with a few capitalized "A's" and a few lowercase "a's." Umm...no. I barely made it with a passing grade when I had to learn that years ago!
One
night recently, when I was on duty, multiplication was a prominent feature in the homework department. I was helping
one girl who was struggling with 2-digit multiplication. I actually
don't think she was having that difficult of a time, but was
more annoyed that she had makeup work due to missing class the day
before. So 2x the homework (see what I did there?) in one evening. But
together we worked through it...even after about 30 minutes of her
splayed out on the floor, crying, pushing herself and her chair outside,
or hiding under the table. Perseverance friends. When it was bedtime,
I had to convince her to stop, put the assignment away, and that she
would need to finish in the morning since she wasted time whining about
her homework. I think this was just a ploy to try staying up later.
The
next time I was in that house as bantay? Division here we are! This
was much easier and definitely faster. Other kids occasionally have it
easy and don't have homework. They tend to spend their evening hanging
out, reading, or playing games. Most of the kids are pretty good about
focusing, but there are still bouts of distraction and avoidance. Gotta
take the good with the bad and just try to make the most of it! So
here's to brushing up on my math skills and renewing my ability to find
patience and negotiate!
Christmas Fun at CSC.
Nothing in the world is as much fun as Christmas at CSC. Thanks to all who help make this possible. Your gifts put smiles on many faces.