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.
Teachers Learning
Teachers put in years of hard work learning in college to prepare themselves to step into the classroom to teach. There are many attributes which can characterize a good teacher—knowledge, preparation, enthusiasm, connecting with the students, patience, and on and on.
The ability to learn is one of the attributes that can benefit any teacher. There are new curriculums, methods, approaches, and theories. And every year there are new students.
All students are different. Some are similar in the ways they learn and how fast they understand and absorb knowledge. Others have a different pace and others need alternate explanations. A teacher’s ability to learn the best learning style, process, and pace for each student in the class is instrumental in helping the student understand the lesson.
The Children of Hope School teachers are impressive. There is a range of learning styles represented in the student body and the teachers have been working hard at understanding each student.
Here is one example. Wilmar is an active teenager who is still learning the sounds of each letter. His focus is easily broken and he sometimes has a hard time sitting still. However, he is enthusiastic about most things and is great at memorizing melodies and lyrics of songs. His confidence in front of a group of people has helped the adults around Wilmar to realize his learning capabilities and potential.
Wilmar’s class needed to put on a presentation for Buwan ng Wika, just like all the other classes. They chose to do a dance. Wilmar has trouble following set choreography and usually makes up his own moves. How does a teacher handle a student who struggles to follow set steps of dance, but is great in musical settings? Watch to see Teacher Alfie’s solution to help Wilmar’s class put on a good presentation with the participation of all students.
From big performances to basic classroom instructions, the teachers of Children of Hope School are meeting the students each and every day, learning how to guide them.
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Group 1 Girls
Individualized Instruction (II) at CCHS is an intervention that helps students improve their academic skills, especially in reading. But teaching II with Group 1 has been a bit different since it is a group of lively little girls rather than a one-on-one session. They practice their beginning reading skills by reviewing their story selections and high frequency words. After that they choose a book from the classroom mini-library and I read it to them. The girls take turns choosing the book for the day. Recently one of the girls chose the book Why? by Miriam Frost. This book is full of “why” questions, so it’s perfect for building reading comprehension skills.
The conversation while reading the book with
the girls went something like this:
Question: Why is the snow cold and not warm?
Answer: Because it’s ice.
Question: Why do we fall down but not up?
Answer: Because we slide.
Question: Why do bats sleep upside down but not right side up?
Answer: Because the bats don’t have hands to hold. That’s why he sleeps that way.
Question: Why do we stand on our feet but not on our hands?
Answer: Alangan! matumba manta if mag tindog sa atong kamot. (English translation: We will fall down if we use our hands.) This was said in a tone of voice implying, oh come on teacher, you know the answer!
The girls are very cute! My prayer is that they will continue to love and value books as they grow up.
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"BER" Months and Kid Volunteers
“Ber” Months and Kid Volunteers
September, October, November and December are known in the Philippines as the “Ber” months for obvious reasons. When these months arrive, Filipinos begin to get excited. These months herald the arrival of a celebration that most Filipinos love, and that is Christmas. Christmas music is played at times as early as the first few weeks of September.
Like most Filipinos, the children at the shelter are starting to think about Christmas. The kids who had experienced the month-long celebration at the shelter already told the new kids the fun things that happened last year. Some have already asked when the progressive dinner will be and some have started to wonder and ask what Santa will do for fun on Christmas eve.
One fun thing that happens at the shelter during December is the party for outreach kids. This year it will happen on Saturday, December 12. Two or three of the older kids usually help with the party by being on the registration table. When that is done, they help the other older kids by helping give away candies and other sweets while games are going on. Then they help distribute the snacks when it is time for that. Then when it is time for gifts and give-aways to be given, they also assist Santa with the distribution.
Julieto bagging give-aways.
Registration table
Girls having fun after helping the outreach party.
It is fun to see the kids helping other kids in need. And it is always fun when they volunteer themselves to help when help is needed.
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Roles!
Workers at CSC have different roles. Some are childcare leaders, teachers, nurses, house parents, therapists, cooks, guards, and so on. Sometimes though, we go beyond our roles.
Uncle Ondoy is a house father at our Teen Home, but every now and then you see him sewing costumes for the kids’ school presentations.
Marwin is a Physical Therapist. Once in a while he dresses up like he’s Irish and serves Irish food. Therapists work between the shelter and school and they help in some school programs—like United Nations Day.
Roselyn is one of our adult residents at the Teen Home. She is now working at our school as a teaching assistant. Roselyn is also good with braille. She helps Arleen—also one of our adult residents—with transcribing words into braille.
Uncle Edwin is one of our trusted drivers. He knows which roads to take to cut distances. Sometimes you see him being silly on the playground with a toddler.
Everyone knows Joemar. He works at two branches of McDonald’s. Joemar also assists the janitors at school. But beyond that, he is a kind and loving friend to Ginda and Jacob.
And that is how we rock our roles at CSC!
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United Nations Day
Friday was an exciting day at Cebu Children of Hope School! The kids got to travel to Russia, Spain, Albania, Ireland, and England. They presented their passport and had to answer questions in order to enter each country. Once admitted into the country they learned about their culture, famous attractions, did an art activity and sampled a food from that country.
In the afternoon two representatives
from each country dressed in their countries native attire. They were asked to
give a greeting from their country and answer questions in front of the
audience. Select students performed dances from some of the various countries.
At the end of the day the representatives from Russia were crowned Mister and
Miss United Nations 2015. 
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