Staff Blog

Have you guys wrapped your Christmas presents yet?  Already stocked those stockings?  If you haven’t, it is still two days before Christmas so you still have time.

Right now, there are 84 kids at CSC which includes our Teen Home residents.  That means, we wrapped 84 gifts and stocked 84 stockings.  Whew!  Honestly, it is a lot of work!  And I have not even mentioned shopping for these gifts yet.  But when you see the beaming faces of the kids when opening their presents, it is worth all the work.

I know you are all eager to see new pictures of cute little faces at CSC—whether at Facebook or in the website.  But, for this blog, let me show you cute ADULT faces.  Here is a glimpse of the behind the scene of the Christmas wrapping party—we call it a party just because!

Thank you all for your generosity this past year and continued generosity even for the next year.  You may not be here with us during Christmas, but know that you are one of the reasons why we see cute little beaming faces at CSC everyday!  Merry Christmas!

Like every kid, the kids at CSC have their Christmas wish lists. Each year, the kids receive their gifts on Christmas Eve. Imagine a room full of kids with huge smiles, giggles, laughter, anticipation, and eagerness waiting for their gifts.

So, how do we, the appointed present shoppers, have the kids share their requests without making it too obvious we are the ones buying and wrapping their gifts?

For the little ones, the conversation might go something like:

“Hey, I talked to Santa last night and he asked me what you want for Christmas.”

OR

For those who want shoes: “Can you trace your feet for me so we can see if they are the same size?”

OR

“What do you want for Christmas? I could tell Santa for you.”

For the ones who know THE TRUTH, the question is pretty straight forward:

“So, what do you want for Christmas?”

Like kids everywhere, our kids have no trouble telling us what they want. Even though we can’t always accommodate their requests, it’s fun for them to dream and imagine. They have lists in their heads. One little girl specifically told me that she does not want perfume because she already smells good. Others get influenced by what other kids want. And some want things a bit more difficult to fulfill like a horse!

The day after some of the kids had told what they want for Christmas, they asked me if I had already given their lists to Santa. My response was, “I will email it to him tonight.” One kid then said in surprise, “Email?! Really?!” I did email their lists, just not to Santa, but to the specific person who is in charge of getting their gifts.

Thank you for helping CSC in every way. You make it all possible for us to give the best care for the kids even at Christmas!

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!

We have about 76 child care workers who do day-to-day stuff at the shelter. Most of you who have been to CSC might be aware of this. But for everyone else’s information, we have laundry washers, cooks, cleaners and, of course, the rest of the Aunties—as we call them—who watch over the children at the shelter.

Most of them don’t have a college degree, some never got the chance to finish grade school; but they take pride and joy in working at CSC.  They teach the kids household chores, sometimes you see them in the playground playing with the kids and often times, they teach the little ones how to pray. They treat the kids at the shelter like their own.

For some of the aunties, being an educator is a gift. Singing nursery rhymes, dancing and learning how to count are some of their tasks that just come out naturally. Below is a short video of two aunties and some toddlers reading the story of Jonah and the Big Fish.

 Thank you, Lord, for your faithfulness in providing CSC with very willing hands. Please pray for all of our workers at the shelter as they continue caring for and teaching the kids.

The past week was a little intense for our inspirational speaker.  If you remember, last year Jacob had his launching as an inspirational speaker at Cebu Children of Hope School.  He then spoke at one of the local colleges.  After a long rest of not giving speeches, Jacob got booked at two different schools last week; Baptist Theological College (BTC) and Southwestern University’s (SWU) Physical and Occupational Therapy Department.

The 3^rd and 4^th year students and teachers of BTC lingered around after the short program.  They told Jacob how blessed they were hearing his testimony.  It was an awesome experience not only for Jacob but for Ginda, Joemar and Wilmar who attended the program as well.

Wilmar was asked to give a sample of his singing voice. Without any hesitation, he stood up, grabbed the microphone and sang “One Way.” It was amazing to see him singing with so much confidence.  Ginda and Joemar, on the other hand, were surrounded by students and teachers talking and asking them questions.

The 4^th and 5^th year students at SWU also had a lot of good questions to ask.  They were interested to know what kind of physical therapy exercises Jacob receives.  Some were also interested to hear more about CSC itself.  Others recognized Joemar as a server at a fast food chain.  Wilmar graciously sang “Let It Go” from the movie Frozen.

The therapy department at CSC continues to do its best to pursue this endeavor—exposing our special needs kids to the community and in turn teaching the community through this effort.  Keep us in your prayers as we look for new avenues for these special needs young adults.