Staff Blog
God's grace shows itself to me in many ways. Some are glorious and some are not. 
By the grace of God, for instance, I have enough to eat, a good place to live, money for my diabetes medications and meaningful work that provides many emotional, material and spiritual blessings. But just 0utside my office are children who go to sleep hungry, who wake up with nobody to say "good morning," and with only bleak prospects for having their basic needs met. This noon I drove to McDonalds for a late lunch and was heading back to the office to eat. At the stoplight a little boy approached my car, tapped on my window and held out a deformed hand to ask for money. He motioned to his stomach to indicate that he was hungry. In his eyes was a hunger that went beyond his need for something to eat to indicate a hopelessness at life in general. But he doesn't have the luxury of looking at his life reflectively. He was hungry, and was looking at the food that I had purchased at the drive through that was on the seat next to me, food that I could easily do without. I gave him a handful of fries and drove off. On other occasions I might have just shook my head and not given him anything. Nutritionists might say that he was better off with nothing than a greasy fry, I don't know. But as I drove away my mind came up with many questions that I have considered often in my 38 years in Cebu, questions that don't really have answers but weigh heavily on my heart on occasions such as this.
- Why does this little guy have nothing and I have everything? Is there a single thing about how I have lived my life that qualifies me for advantage? Has this little guy done anything wrong to deserve a withered arm and a hungry tummy?
- Why didn't I just give him my whole lunch instead of a few paltry fries? By suppertime I would be dining on a good meal and he would be hungry again. Likely, I just wanted him to go away from my car.
- What does he think about me and what I represent?
- If he ever does look to the future, does he have a shred of hope that things will get better for him? With little or no positive family or other adult influence, with no access to health care or decent education, and with daily exposure to the many dangers from living on the street, is there any chance whatsoever that he will? What will be different for him, his eventual children and theirs?
- What is life like without hope? Can I even begin to understand that?
The disparities of life in a country like the Philippines are hard to grasp. Living here provides graphic proof that God's grace has nothing to do with merit. Not a thing. That kid deserves a break much more than I ever do or will. All I can do, perhaps, is to think about why God called me to live much of my life here and not in the country of my birth. Some people think that, in choosing to live here, I forsook the luxuries of life for the difficulties of the third world. But I live in the lap of luxury here, too. I just have to pay an emotional price for doing so as I come face to face with people who struggle just to stay alive.
I've been dealing with these same questions for 38 years! At CSC we have been able to help lots of little guys like the one I saw today. We have taken in the hungry, the lame, the disfigured, the homeless. We have dispensed food, medicine, knowledge, even hope. But we aren't helping this little guy at all. Except for a fistfull of fries. Of course we can't help everyone, I know that. But that knowledge doesn't remove his image from my mind or, on the other hand, make his life one ounce better.
I pray for wisdom, to accept the things that I cannot change, to be an agent of positive change where I can, and to know the difference, even though knowing that difference does not provide emotional relief from the confrontations with hopelessness that are a part of life in a place like this. I guess the best way to accomplish the dictates of the above-cited Serenity Prayer is to focus on the things that I can change, not on what I cannot. On the tree, not the forest. But I'm very sure that there are things that I can change if I open my mind to them, to see people not as an inconvenience but an opportunity. Maybe I can use some of the incomprehensible advantages that have been bestowed on me to offer some measure of relief and, maybe, even hope to people like the little boy who I cannot get out of my head.
It's Field Trip Time!
My students (ten girls ages 11-15) were super excited! They kept on asking me when our field trip would be. Well, the time had come! We went on a field trip last Friday to Archival’s Eco-House in Talamban, Cebu City.
Recently in science class, we have been learning about Ecology. We learned about different environmental problems and solutions. My students learned about how the 3R’s (reuse, reduce, recycle) and composting can help the environment.
The kids were so amazed with the tour at the Eco-House. They kept saying, “Wow!” and “Chooya!” (That’s Cebuano for “wow”). We walked through the organic vegetable garden, saw the filtration system for used water, learned about goat waste converted into methane gas, sat on used crates made into various furniture, looked at the solar panels used to generate energy from the sun, and marveled at the reused materials decorating the main house.
During the tour, we learned about the vermin worm or the African night crawler that helps decompose biodegradable materials. While the tour guide was explaining, the students listened intently. Then suddenly, the guide asked the girls, “Who can tell me again the name of the worm?” No one answered. The guide jokingly said, “You can’t leave here if you can’t answer.” The girls panicked and started blurting out different answers. One student said, “Uhm, I remember it was Japanese, right?” Another student said, “I think it’s vermus, yeah, it’s vermus.” We all laughed about it and were thankful we did not have to stay with the worms.
It was an enjoyable and educational experience for the kids!
-Karen Faburada
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One on One
Most of the activities for our CSC kids involve groups. They eat together, play together and go to school together. But some of the most precious times at CSC involve them receiving one on one attention from a staff member, a house parent, a counselor or a teacher. At CSC we recognize the importance of providing one on one situations where our kids can experience having the undivided attention of a person that they admire, respect and enjoy being with. With more than 90 children to attend to, we cannot provide as many of these experiences as we would like, but as I go around the shelter and school, I am encouraged to see that they do happen, every day.
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American Studies
Have you ever tried explaining something that is native and normal to your country, only to realize how strange it really is? If you are an American, stop and think about, say, the way April Fool’s Day is celebrated. You get to pull tricks on people and get away with it all day! When you explain that to a foreigner, you would get a pretty confused reaction. In American Studies class, I have the privilege of doing just that: introducing children who are about to be adopted by U.S. families to American culture!
Before we get too far, I need to introduce myself. My name is Katie Elliott, and I began teaching American Studies at Cebu Children of Hope School when Teacher Tammy returned to the states. My husband and I moved to Cebu in January 2013 for his job at the business outsourcing office for his company and I have been volunteering at CSC since February of this year. American Studies is a course designed for the school-aged children of CSC who have been matched for adoption to U.S. families. In American Studies, we learn things like the pledge of allegiance, information about the state they’re moving to, national monuments, U.S. history, and American customs and norms. My favorite unit was holidays and seasons. It has been so funny to hear their reactions when I explain things like being pinched if they didn’t wear green on St. Patrick’s Day! Or a leprechaun trying to steal a pot of gold from the end of a rainbow...especially when the holiday is celebrating Irish heritage, yet you're moving to America! When we learned about winter, they were disappointed to hear that it might not snow every single day of winter, as they can't wait to build snowmen and go sledding. Check out our adventures in making pumpkin pie when we studied Thanksgiving!
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SWEET!
Every one knows that we have cute kids. That is one of our prerequisites for admission! But we recently found out that we have some pretty sweet kids too. We were in the midst of an emotional and difficult situation with one of our kids, we had to tell him that he would be leaving CSC. He is a great kid, we had just come to the realization that CSC was not the best place for him. Praise the Lord we found a good place for him in a family - but this was still a very difficult task that was weighing heavily on us. Literally, just a few minutes before Ruth and I had to have that conversation with the young man who would have to leave CSC, four of our darling young teen and pre-teen girls presented us with an artistic creation that they had done all on their own. I had seen them working on something earlier in the week, but they quickly hid it from me, I thought it was just a silly girl thing. It was not. These girls presented us with this work of art (from their heart) at the time that it could encourage us the most! It was the sweetest thing. They didn't know we were dealing with this especially tough situation at that moment in time. It was an encouragement and a reminder to us that God is using CSC to change hearts. I thank God for the sweet kids that he sends our way. And I thank these SWEET girls for being God's hands and voice to us at a time that we needed it!
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Its Conference time!
Last week was Conferences at the Children of Hope School. So on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, from 12:30-4:30, our hardworking teachers presented on their students to the staff and house parents.
It is so nice to be able to learn how each child is doing in their class, what their strengths are, what their favorite subjects are, what they like to write about or talk about most. Our kids are funny! And creative! And inspiring! It was a great time to hear from each teacher how we can encourage, support and praise our kids for the unique skills, talents and challenges they have.
What also stood out to me so vividly is the dedication with which our teachers approach their class and the unique students they have in it. We are blessed to have small class sizes at our school and most children are working at the level that best fits them. When children come to us they have had little to no schooling, certainly none of which was at all consistent. The gaps are significant. Our teachers make countless accomodations and modifications so that each of the children in their class is being challenged, but not overwhelmed. It is no small feat.
Check out some of their work below. I am sure you will find the short stories entertaining and the letters heart-warming!
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