Staff Blog

One baby’s smile is extremely contagious.  Multiply that by 17, that is the current number little cute babies at the shelter.

My wife and I are expecting our first child in the next few weeks.  In the past months I have been spending more time with the babies at the shelter.

Each little one is cool in their own ways.  One little girl loves playing “peek-o-boo.”  A little boy shouts out my name when he sees me.  Another girl has a squeal of excitement that goes along with a huge smile.  A little boy will talk to me when he wants to, not necessarily when I want to talk to him.  And another girl has been calling me “Auntie Joel” for a long time and last week she actually greeted me as “Uncle Joel.”

Just trying to take a picture of five little ones can be a great moment.  Smiles, silliness, seriousness, and shyness can all fill one picture.

God has created each child to shine on their own.  It is a pleasure and honor to get to know each child at the shelter. 

Hi, I’m Michelle.  It’s a blessing for me to be a part of Cebu Children of Hope School.  This is my second year working as an instructional assistant in the school ministry and I’m glad I am working here.

I’m Wilmar’s Math teacher.  Part of our studies in Math have been about spatial concepts like full and empty (just sort of a review), and for him to understand more about it.  For a recent lesson, I prepared one empty cup and one full cup of water.  (We had done this before and Wilmar drank the water!)  I pointed to the cup without water as I said to Wilmar, “This cup is empty.”   Then I pointed to the other cup full of water and said, “This cup is full of water.”  I was expecting Wilmar to drink the water, but to my surprise, he didn’t.  This young man has matured a lot.

Today new three new kids came to CSC.  It is another great day!  Of course these siblings are apprehensive at first, but are quickly warming up to the caring people that surround them.

Uncle Don Don is the house father of Eicher home where the new siblings will live.  Yesterday he shared with the child care workers, "We have three new kids coming tomorrow!"

Auntie Amy quickly bombarded him with questions.   "There are new kids Uncle?  How old are they?  Will there be kids in the nursery?"

Auntie Helen put it well, "Well, if we still have extra room, let them keep coming. Everybody is welcome!”

Uncle Don Don summed it up, "Of course!  These new kids are a blessing to us."

Most days in the Philippines are sunny and hot.  This past week a typhoon was passing by the Philippines bringing clouds and rain.  Only the edge of the typhoon affected Cebu City, so at the shelter the temperature cooled a little and it rained off and on for several days.

The kids wore long sleeve shirts to school to stay comfortable while studying and learning.  After school though, the activities changed from the normal routine.  The kids could not play soccer on the playground or climb on the jungle gym.  They had to stay inside, so they filled their afternoons with drawing, building boxes, reading and hanging with babies.

At CSC, we are blessed to have wonderful homes to shelter the children.  We are especially reminded of this whenever bad weather is threatening.  Thank you to all who help keep these homes safe and secure for the children.

Marbles is one of the traditional games played by Filipino children.

Last week, Level C2 kids read a story entitled “The Marble Champ” by Gary Soto. They were so excited to read the story! They wanted to know the rules and how to play the game. When I announced to the class about our upcoming marble game championship, everyone was frantic with excitement. At first, everyone was laughing because they had a hard time rolling the marble from their thumb to hit the targeted marbles. Good thing they didn’t give up! Whenever they had extra time, they spent it practicing. One of my students even asked me how to squeeze the eraser (that is the thumb exercise the main character of our story was doing) properly to strengthen their thumb muscles!

Friday came and the game began! They were divided into 2 sets with 3 competitors each. Everyone was taking the game seriously.

The winner of each set competed with one another in a new “arena”. Everyone was holding their breath and wondering who would win the game.

At last, the games ended and Level C2 kids announced their first MARBLE CHAMPION!

- Karen Faburada