Staff Blog
“Your story may not have such a happy beginning, but that doesn’t make you who you are. It is the rest of your story. Who you choose to be.” --Soothsayer, Kung Fu Panda 2
“I didn’t see my mother nor my father. I haven’t met them. No picture. No memories. I’ve been raised by strangers.”
“If only my father was gentle to my mother. They could have stayed together and we might not be here.”
“My mother left me. She even never said goodbye. I don’t know the reason.”
“The couple who fostered me and gave me home have shattered the very idea of home.”
Beginning. Once upon a time.
These are the stories of the beginnings of some of the older residents in CSC. Flipping the pages of their lives into the past would take a lot of courage and relationship. Some chose to seal those pages; while others are open about their once-upon-a-times. In counseling, children often share about their days, their dreams, as well as their past. For a child to paint these stories allows us to help them craft their life story.
“Life story is essential in developing one’s personality, values, and meaning. It’s the integration of reconstructed past and imagined future to provide life with some degree of unity and purpose.” --McAdams & McLean, Narrative Identity, 2013
Although this process may resurface the phantoms of the past, it helps the older resident embrace his/her whole story. By embracing his/her painful once-upon-a-time, it paves the way to acceptance and forgiveness. For some older residents, it was a privilege to hear them express how they acknowledge that no matter how painful their past was, it happened, it happened, it happened. It happened and they saw the collateral beauty of that pain. They are here. They are here with people who love them; who cares for them; who believes in them; who brought back the cape of their childhood; who gives them wings to soar the new horizon.
As our older residents navigate the new waters of independent living, they are more open to building bridges to their past. For some, they have birth families that they can return to; while others are starting to put together the pieces of their beginning. Their new journey is a navigation of mirth and melancholy; hopes and despair; and success and failures. They are now in the process of writing the new chapter, or perhaps, the sequel of their stories. Seeing the collateral beauty, they now have the power to restructure their future and have the power to direct their own narrative— narrative of an iridescent hope.
First Day of School
Everybody is excited when the schoolyear is about to begin. CSC kids love school!
On the fifteenth day of this month, school was officially opened to all the students of CCHS. The students walked to school with big smiles that told everyone how happy they were to be back at school and how ready they were to learn new things. They were accompanied by their house parents, aunties, and some members of the staff. The adults, too, were so glad to see all of the students march to school with cheer.
Upon arriving at school, the students were welcomed with wide open arms by their loving teachers. The teachers had thoughtfully prepared everything to give the students a great kick off for the schoolyear 2019-2020. True enough, the first day went really well. The teachers and students worked together to begin creating a positive community in which to learn.
At the end of the day the students went home feeling loved and excited again for the next day of school.
The Cebu Children of Hope School is an important part of the larger CSC ministry. Students not only gain academic skills but, with the help of their dedicated teachers, also learn equally valuable lessons like responsibility, problem-solving, cooperation, and self-control.
Thank you supporters for enabling us to impact these great kids to be the people God made them to be!
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What's New @ CCHS?
Today is the first day of school at Cebu Children of Hope School!
With the start of the new school year, we wanted to let you know about some great new parts of our school.
New Students
We are excited to have five new students join us this school year, four in preschool and one in second grade. We can't wait to have them in school!
New Teacher
We are happy to welcome Teacher Kristine to our team. She will be an Instructional Assistant for this school year. She is a fresh graduate from Cebu Normal University, one of the top universities in Cebu. She has her bachelor's degree in Elementary Education and Special Education.
New Curriculum
We are extremely grateful for our supporters for their generosity! Because of YOU we were able to purchase a new reading and writing curriculum to replace our 15 year old curriculum. Special thanks to Shari Reasoner who helped us research different curricula to find the best one for our students. It was purchased in the States and, with the help of many visitors, the materials were brought to Cebu, suitcase by suitcase. We are thankful for everyone who made it possible!
New Technology
Starting this school year every teacher will have the opportunity to use the newly installed overhead projectors and document cameras in their classrooms. This equipment was donated by a longtime supporter of CSC and we are incredibly grateful for his contribution! This upgrade will greatly help our teachers present their lessons in a very systematic and creative way, bringing the lessons to life!
These are just a few glimpses of the new things that we have at CCHS. We encourage you to rejoice with us as we experience God's abundant blessings through our faithful supporters. Join us in welcoming the new school year and journey with us this school year 2019-2020!
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Anniversary Bash in Cebu this June 28 - 29
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All Our Days
This video kind of sums up the feelings of Marlys and me about the history of CSC. For 14,600 days, He has been with us. He is the God of all our days!
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Summer At CSC
As a school administrator I get a little excited for summer break. It's a time to reflect on the past school year, celebrate the great things God did, and dream about "what could be" for the next school year.
Class at CCHS is out for the summer, I'm sitting at my desk planning for the upcoming school year, and I still hear kids. What's going on?
I peek my head out of my office and I smell a wonderful aroma. Auntie Lourdes, a longtime house mom, is leading a cooking class in the school kitchen. She is teaching our older kids how to cook a delicious Filipino meal.
After sitting and eating with them (I just had to have a few bites) I walk into the Big Room. Our Program Director's husband, John, is facilitating guitar lessons with an excited group of girls. He is leading several different guitar groups during the week. Everytime I see Rovilito at the Shelter he talks about learning the guitar. This morning he ran up to me and said he knows how to play two songs already!
In another classroom violin lessons are taking place. Cris has been super excited to learn how to play violin and a CSC volunteer is making it happen.
I have the pleasure of leading a small group of budding marathoners in our Summer Run Club. We meet twice a week and have fun running and playing games together. They love running up the road from the school though they quickly learned downhill is much more fun!
If you walked into the new Banawa McDonald's recently you would have been greeted by some CSC kids who were part of McDo's Kiddie Crew. Many of our kids took part in this yummy summer "job" and they did everything from take people's orders to make cheeseburgers to tell departing customers, "Thanks for coming to McDonald's. See you again soon!"
Summers at CSC look different from year to year but they are always well-planned and filled with lots of fun! Just ask the kids!
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