Staff Blog
How can people be so heartless?
How can people be so cruel?
Easy to be hard, easy to be cold
How can people have no feelings?
How can they ignore their friends?
Easy to be proud, easy to say no.
Songwriters: Ragni, Gerome / Rado, James / Mac Dermot, Galt
The words of this song from the late 60s were brought to mind recently when a 12 year-old boy was referred to us. His story reveals the heartlessness and cruelty of people, and the ways that some children have to suffer at their hands. We'll call this boy Roberto and his younger brother, Michael.
Roberto and Michael were brought to an orphanage in Cebu City when they were babies. The orphanage, which was connected to a Protestant church, was not a good place. When the boys were older they were abused. Punishment was severe, sometimes cruel. The lady who was in charge of the place was the one dealing out the beatings. Luckily, the place was closed down and the children were parceled out to other child caring institutions. CSC got three girls from that place, but we did not have room for boys at the time, so Roberto and his brother, then nine and 10, went to live at a home for children on a neighboring island. Shortly after there arrival there, one of the boys threatened Roberto. (The home catered to older kids, and their residents included some who had lived on the streets and were used to fighting and intimidation.) On the second night they were there, Roberto decided to run away. Michael was afraid to go out into the dark night, but Roberto was able to find a young boy, just five years old, to go with him. The gate was always left open so they had no trouble getting away.
Roberto only knew one place to go, back to the church where he had lived. He didn't know that it was 18 miles from where they were starting out. And they had to cross a long bridge that led to Cebu island. But he knew he wanted to leave that place, so off they went into the night.
It took two days and nights to get to the church. They slept
along the road, wherever they could find a spot that looked safe. On the second
morning Roberto woke up and discovered that his little companion was gone.
Without a trace. All he could do was keep going. When he finally got to the
church he found that it was closed up. The gate was locked. One of the former
orphanage workers said that he could be their family's houseboy, but that didn't
last for long. One day that family packed up and left, and Roberto had no place
to go.
Out of desperation, he found a big piece of cardboard which
became his bed for the 
next months. He slept just outside the locked gate of
the former church/orphanage. He would look for food wherever
he could find it, in garbage cans or occasional handouts from neighbors. Other
times he would steal food to feed his hungry stomach, which enraged people in
the community. He was often beaten by neighborhood boys. One family took pity
on him and would stop the boys from beating him, and would give him food. Life
was hard for Roberto. No place to live. Nobody to take him in. He missed his
brother and worried about the boy who had disappeared along the way. How can
people be so heartless? How can they be so cruel?
One of the compassionate neighbors knew about CSC and informed us about the situation of Roberto. We get lots of referrals and can not respond immediately to all of them. Eventually our social worker and counselor went to visit Roberto and hear his story. They were overwhelmed by the things that had happened to him. In the next few days we made contact with the place where Michael was staying and arranged a meeting with their social worker. Two of our social workers, Chris and our new Social Worker Director, Klaris, and our counselor, Eldie, made the trip to the neighboring island to discuss the boys' case. Michael was relieved to hear that Roberto was okay. He hadn't heard anything about him for a year and a half. Both boys wanted to be reunited and it was determined that this should happen the next day at CSC.
The reunion was so sweet for the boys. They were more than a
little amazed at the facilities of CSC and the course of events that had
brought them back together. After more counseling and some medical
tests, and a talk with a representative of the place where Michael was living,
our staff made the decision to admit Michael and Roberto. The boys would no
longer be separated and Roberto's days of homelessness would end. It was an
exciting day for all of us. They boys needed to go back to their respective
places, get the few things they owned, and say goodbye before becoming official
CSC kids. But first we brought them to Jollibee, a fast food restaurant near
CSC. It was so much fun to watch the boys eat and laugh. It must have seemed a
little surreal to them to be together at that place with a group of adults who
were concerned about them and wanted them to be together in a nice and safe place.
Roberto was not able to finish his chicken and we were surprised when he asked
if he could have a bag for "take-home."
When they got to the place where Roberto had been staying, he ran to one of the houses near the church, the place where one of the people who had protected him from the cruel boys lived. This was the first person who had shown concern for him, maybe in his whole life. Roberto wanted to give this guy the leftover chicken from Jollibee! It was one of the most touching things that we have known about in our many years of working with kids. A few acts of kindness had made a huge difference in Roberto's life and he wanted to say "thank you" in the only way he knew how.
Later that day the boys were
officially admitted, and spent the night in the infirmary while 
we waited for
their lab results. The next morning they moved into the Cherne Home, where
house parents Tarex and Pureza and the children welcomed them. It was the
biggest day in their lives, so far. And there are many big days ahead. They
will be making a lot of new friends and will soon be enrolled in our Children
of Hope School. They won't be apart. They won't be hungry. If they are sick
they will be provided with the best medical care available in the Philippines.
If they are sad they'll be comforted. And they will get the chance to learn
about a loving Heavenly Father and a friend and Savior who will never abandon
them.
Yes, its easy to be heartless. Easy to be cruel. But its also easy to be kind. Easy to be a needed friend. Kids need a friend. Thanks to all who make it possible for us to say yes to kids like these two and the many others who need the love and care of our Shelter.
Books Galore!
During the summer months two retiring teachers and one charter school donated a BUNCH of books to the shelter and school. What a windfall! About 850 books (500 lbs!) were boxed and sent to Cebu in early August. All five boxes arrived intact at Children of Hope School in late September. We had a lot of excited kids and teachers when they saw all of the new (to us) books.
About half of the books went into the house mini-libraries at the shelter so the kids have new books to read at home. One fourth were added to the mini-libraries in each of the classrooms at school for the kids to read during the school day. And one fourth were catalogued into the school library so the kids can check them out from the library.
We are so thankful to the individuals and school who thought of CSC and CCHS for their donations of all the great books. There are a lot of happy readers!
| Show Comments | | | Leave a Comment | | | Category: | School News |
Hibiscus
Hibiscus are blooming outside the school library windows. Gold, yellow, red, pink, and white. These vibrant tropical plants flourish in this hot, humid climate. In colder environs like Minnesota where I live most of the year, some people buy potted hibiscus plants in the summer and nurture them along outside before maybe trying to keep them alive during the winter months inside. But here in Cebu they grow like weeds into lush large plants that bloom almost constantly.
I guess that is sort of like what we do with a lot of things in life. We nurture some things along that need more attention and we leave other things alone. And that changes over time. People, projects, jobs.
Sometimes it’s a bit tricky to know exactly how to tend to or nurture a person or situation. It takes prayer, teamwork and wisdom. Lately some kids have needed more attention during school hours as they wrestle with making choices in positive ways. I guess that’s s bit like Uncle Al (in the green hat) tending to the hibiscus plants. A little pruning here, a little pruning there. Something we all need every now and then.
| Show Comments | | | Leave a Comment | | | Category: | School News |
Can it be?
Can it really be that Carmelita Baya will not be working 
for CSC in a few weeks? Since 1985 she has been an integral part of our team here in Cebu. She is the first Social Worker we ever hired, and has been such a strong and vital advocate for our children for 31 years. She has traveled throughout the Philippines in managing the cases of our children. She has escorted children to the United States and been to Japan to represent CSC. Everywhere she goes she exudes love for our children and dedication and perseverance. So many of our children are in families today because of the work of Carmelita. For the past months she has been mentoring our new social workers who will strive to carry on the tradition of quality that she brought to CSC. She has so much knowledge and experience that it will be impossible to replace her. We thank dear Carmelita for all her great work over the years. She has inspired all of us here in Cebu.
| Show Comments | | | Leave a Comment | | | Category: | General News |
A Very Special Event
The night of the 23rd day of September was a special one for everyone at Cebu Children of Hope School. It was full of excitement and laughter. Teachers and students gathered together at the shelter for the Reading Challenge Culminating Activity. It started with games followed by the awarding of contest winners, s’mores-making and punch drinking.
The highlight of the event was the awarding time. The winners received books as their prize and all the students who met the reading goals got to throw a whip cream pie at their teacher’s face. It was REALLY fun for everyone, especially the students. It was also a GREAT experience for the teachers. This year’s Reading Challenge was a SUCCESS!
| Show Comments | | | Leave a Comment | | | Category: | School News |
Advocasy
When we take in children at CSC we become important advocates for them. We advocate for them in government offices, courtrooms and with social workers and others who have the power to decide whether they will be given the chance to be adopted. We attend meetings, write letters and affadavits and travel all around the Philippines in support of the children under our care. Our social workers, in handling the case management for them, are equal parts lawyers, counselors, writers and interveners. They work with the birth families, solicit support and cooperation from officials in the communities where they live, gather information, file birth registrations, write social case studies and letters, and attend many, many meetings.
We recently hired two new workers for our social work department. Neither Catherine nor Mardie came to us with exerience in our type of cases. Very few agencies do pre-adoptive case management, so there has been much for them to learn about the legal and procedural requirements in preparing our children's papers for legal adoption. Luckily, we have two veteran social workers, Carmelita and Chris, who have many years of experience advocating for CSC children. Carmelita is soon to retire so it becomes very important for CSC that she spend time mentoring our young and inexperienced social workers in the "tricks of the trade."
The head of our Social Work Department is Klaris, who is also new to CSC, though she has lots of experience as a social worker. She is learning very fast, and does much of the editing of case studies, serves as the liaison with government offices and assigns cases to our social workers.
Please pray for our Social Work team as they advocate for our children in many different ways and settings. They are on the front lines of service to our children and represent all of us with the people who have a lot of influence over their lives. They need perseverance, insight, tact, commitment, patience and lots of compassion for the needs of our precious kids.
| Show Comments | | | Leave a Comment | | | Category: | Staff Reflections |
