Staff Blog

Meet a delightful five-year-old who is eagerly anticipating his birthday this month.

Four months ago, whenever I had a chance to talk with him, the topic of our conversation was always his birthday. He was already excited for his next birthday! But, unlike other children who come up to me telling me what birthday gifts they want to receive, this boy had asked that he and I should celebrate our birthdays together, since mine is in April. He wants me to pray for him on his birthday and that he will pray for me.

This exchange of conversation has been going on since then. What struck me the most is this five-year-old boy giving a particular importance for prayer, birthday prayer to be specific. This is our hope. For children to have a heart of prayer. And for us at CSC, to be picked by the birthday celebrant to pray for them is such an honor. If you are celebrating your birthday or just celebrated your birthday, I pray that you will be a blessing to others and that the Lord will use you mightily!

As a young child, my fondest memory with my friends were playing outside with them.  Our little neighborhood did not have a playground or enough space to play. Instead, we made use of trees, tall grass, and other people’s vacant lots where we can play slipper game (similar to a kickball but with the use of slipper game). We played hard until our knees were skinned and we were covered with dirt. We were hard work at play.

Play is essential to the development of a child. As Jean Piaget once said “Children require long, uninterrupted periods of play and exploration.” It is in play that a child discovers their self, the people around them, and their environment. That is why at CSC we make sure that play is part of a child’s routine.

I talked about “space” in a previous blog back in 2020. In the Philippines, space is something we don’t care too much about and it’s also something we don’t have much of. I have very good view of the CSC grounds from my office window. I see our children play every afternoon and what a joy it is to see them hard at play.

If you have been here to the shelter, we have a separate playground area for our young children which is located at the back of the Duterte Home. Here, children ages 5 years old and below can play safely and away from the rough play of the older children in the main playground. 

Because of the generosity of our donors, we recently purchased new playground equipment for our young children: slide, swings, and spring riders. I’d like to highlight that the installation of the equipment was made possible by both CSC employees and our older residents. It is one of those moments at CSC where both employees and residents teamed together to make something wonderful.

We held a ceremony before opening  the playground to the children. It was a short dedication as the young ones could not wait to try the new equipment; even the older children wanted to try.

“And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.”  Zechariah 8:5 ESV

Check out the kids enjoying the new playgound!

Most of us, if not all, have been taught by our parents or guardians to say "I Love You." Though we might not know what that means at a very young age, as it's hard to fathom what love is when you're three years old. But over time, with experience, we understand what it means.

Our homes at CSC are not only a place of refuge for the children we serve but also a place of love.

Most of our caregivers have been working with us for more than a decade. And in that time, some of them have formed a special bond with the children they care for. Likewise, our children have found a safe place with their caregivers. They have learned what it feels to be valued and loved.

One particular 6-year-old boy recently knew that his Auntie (his caregiver) lost her husband years ago. That meant his Auntie no longer had her loved one with her. And because he loved his Auntie, he offered to be her husband. For sure the little boy is unaware of what it meant. But for him, it was an innocent and genuine act of love. The scenario was cute and funny, but it tugged the hearts of our caregivers.

The children at CSC come with different stories and different abilities but we love them all the same. And that speaks heavily to the children as they also see sameness and no difference in one another.

A new child joining the CSC family is welcomed with so much love. The same way a child is hugged with so much love by his friends before he leaves and joins his forever family. Love remains even after a child leaves the shelter. It remains no matter how near or far the distance is. Love continues in the heart of a resident as he spreads his wings into the community and in the heart of a child as he starts forever with a family. Still love continues in the hearts of parents who welcomed a new member of the family.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7, 13 NIV "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres...And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

We all want some sort of "normal" these days, don't we? In our homes at CSC, we try to make the days of our children as normal as possible—lockdown style. Time for chores, time for naps, time for school and time for play. We celebrate holidays and have a good time during activities and events.

More importantly, we celebrate birthdays. We are blessed that we are able to celebrate each child on his or her birthday. Most of the children that comes to CSC never had a birthday party before. Some children are shy celebrants, others wait for their gifts with round eyes, while most cannot contain their joy and radiates a palpable smile.

Although we celebrate 70 plus birthdays each year, we want these celebrations to be focused on the child. Each child gets to choose the menu for his or her party, the flavor of his or her birthday cake and gets to invite 2 friends. Each child can choose an adult he/she wants to pray for him or her. Each child gets to be celebrated, even for a day.

And yes, a lot of preparation entails when throwing a birthday party! Food preparation, table setting, decoration, and the birthday gifts. But it never gets old. Why? Because each child is different. Each child brings a different flavor in each birthday celebrations.

We praise the Lord for all the people who loves CSC. We praise Him because He makes everything certain during an uncertain time. We praise the Lord that we are able to give our children a "normal" birthday party, lockdown style.

Psalm 127:3 Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him.

Space is something we Filipinos don't care too much about. To name a few examples: our houses our built right next to each other; there is minimal to non-existent personal space; shoppers are literally rubbing elbows at the biggest public market in the city; and passengers are squished inside a small jeepney.

But space is something our founders thought an important factor when building a child-caring center. During this pandemic time, where children are prohibited to go out of their homes, our children are still able to "go out" of their homes. They are still able to enjoy a game of soccer and kickball in our huge playground. Our toddlers are still able to ride their scooters on our driveways. Our children are still able to run around and chase each other in a game of tag. The space we have makes the lockdown endurable for everyone.

Employing 100+ Filipino workers is an evidence of CSC's commitment to the children it serves. This means we have people who can do the job for our children. This means our children can be children again and not worry about adult responsibilities.

But this lockdown gave our children the opportunity to step up. Older children looking after the younger ones, children cooking dessert and meals for the home, children leading praise and worship nights, older children taking on their responsibilities whole-heartedly. We are proud of the small and big victories are children are achieving.

Our houseparents live on-site. We require that of them so our children will have that constant adult figure in their lives. They have various tasks and responsibilities in the homes. Just like any other parent, they too have different parenting styles. Being in lockdown gave the chance for our houseparents to talk more, share notes, and give each other encouraging words. The houseparents supporting each other leads to better parenting in our homes. Happy parents equal to happy children.

This pandemic is discouraging at times, but we choose to celebrate the small and big wins during this time.