Staff Blog

Another busy and exciting Christmas season has passed at CSC. There were many programs and activities to entertain the children and teach them about the meaning of Christmas. Click on the activity below to see some photos of the event.

Christmas at Church

Christmas Play at Children of Hope School

Christmas Outreach Party for Former Residents

Christmas Eve Party

Christmas Day

Thomas is back in Cebu! He returned after having successful surgery on his nasal passage on November 13 at the Philippine General Hospital, a huge government facility in Manila. Many people contributed to this success, including doctors, nurses, child care workers, a ministry in Manila, and lots of CSC prayer and financial supporters. So many people have expressed love and concern for our little guy! A Christian ministry in Manila, the Nehemiah Project, helped us greatly by bringing money to the hospital and pharmacy to pay bills, so our women didn't need to bring lots of cash with them. (The hospital does not accept checks or credit card payments.) Many thanks to Dan and Carla Chalmers and Darrah for this favor, and for underwriting many of Thomas' expenses at PGH.

CSC's care team in Manila was led by Warlita Manlon, our head nurse. Also along were two of our child care workers who alternated duty at the hospital every 12 hours. (In the Philippines, hospital patients are required to have "watchers" to provide some of the basic nursing type care, buy medicines and pay other bills. Our two workers jnow Thomas very well and he was comfortable with them. They all combined to provide him with excellent, loving care, and he made a great recovery. The doctor removed a significan nasal obstruction, and almost right away.

Shortly after his surgery he was examined by a neuro surgeon, as he needs additional surgery on his hydrocephalus (water on the brain). Marlys Healy was in Manila with Thomas during that consultation, and the doctor agreed to go to Cebu to do the surgery. What a blessing that will be as the logistics of caring for a child in Manila are very complicated.

They flew! That was the great news that Marlys gave us early this morning. Thomas, our little four month-old boy and his caregivers were able to board a plane for Manila where he will be having two major surgeries in the coming days.

Getting permission to fly was not easy. Marlys and our head nurse, Warlita, had to bring him to the airport on Friday to see a doctor. Thomas has choanal atresia, which is causing a complete blockage of th eleft nostril. The right nostril has a very small opening, which is why he is alive. He also has craniosynostosis. His skyll bones fused together prematurely. Surgeons will need to remove bone from his skull to make space for his brain.  Because these surgeries cannot be done in Cebu, and because the cranial problem is very critical as the brain is being constricted, alternate plans were needed. Cebu doctors were very helpful in referring him to some Manila surgeons, a hospital was found where they could do the surgery, and a host of other plans and preparations were initiated by Marlys and her medical team. It is a very daunting tasks to arrange for something this critical in a city other than where we live. We needed to find workers able and willing to go to Manila for an extended time, nurses we could hire during the long recovery period, a way to get money up there for deposits and payments to doctors, pharmacies and the hospital. So many things had to be considered, and there isn't time to waste.

To be sure, our taking on something like this required the cooperation, kindness and generosity of many people. Some dear folks volunteered to give money towards the surgery. Friends in Metro Manila offered to be the "bag men," helping us channel cash to those we will need to pay, so we don't have to bring large amounts of cash up to Manila. (The hospital does not accept checks or credit cards. Cash only.) Our doctors in Cebu were there to give us advise and to make the recommendation to the airline that he was okay to travel. CSC workers volunteered to go to provide loving care to Thomas  before and after the operations. Child caring agencies in Manila offered lodging for our workers and for Thomas during his recovery period. CSC supporters have been praying. 

We know that in the coming days lots more efforts, prayers, contributions and advise will be needed. We have been taking this whole thing on a day to day basis, handling the hurdles needed for that day.  But nothing would matter if he wasn't able to get to Manila. But God helped us clear that hurdle. Two separate doctors' approvals were needed. On Friday, Marlys and Warlita had to bring Thomas out to the airport (about an hour's drive) to be seen by Dr.#1. When they walked into his office Warlita recognized him. It turns out that they come from the same town in northern Cebu. The were neighbors when Warlita was growing up. So that helped a lot in getting the first clearance. They were able to purchase tickets for an early morning flight today. But Dr. #2 stood between them and the airplane. He gave Thomas a brief examination and pronounced him okay for travel. So they were off this morning to meet with the doctors and schedule the needed surgeries. (Warlita reported that Thomas slept for most of the flight and did very well.) The first will be on Monday. And its possible they might do them at the same time. The caregivers who went to minister to Thomas are Delia and Rhea.

Then the next phase in this Christmas adventure will begin. Thanks for your caring heart which helps sustain our ministry and extend the best care possible to our children, especially Thomas. 



The other day the children presented a Christmas play for the Children of Hope School morning meeting. There were angels, wise men, shepherds and the other traditional manger scene personalities. As I watched the students deliver their songs and lines I was impressed with one performance more than any other. Grace was the number one star of the show in my opinion.

Grace was assigned to assist with Wilmar, a 12 year-old boy who is full of life and enthusiasm. Wilmar has autism. He always sings loudly and enthusicastically, but not always when he is supposed to sing. He needs lots of instruction and encouragement to keep quiet when others are talking or singing, and to remain in his place when it is so much more fun to wander around the stage area. Often, we have an aide or one of our therapists assigned to help Wilmar, but that can be very distracting and take away from the childrens' performance. On this day, Grace had the job and she was spectacular. She led Wilmar when he needed leading, corrected him when he sang or spoke out of turn, and gave encouraging words and even a few stern glances. She had to worry about her own lines and movements as well as Wilmar's, and she never faltered once during the whole show.

Grace understands what we all do at Children of Hope School. She knows that, if we are going to have students like Wilmar in our school, or in the Shelter, it is takes extra efforts from caregivers, teachers, therapists and the other children in the home and at school. We all have a role to play in helping them with navigation, and, often, with behavioral issues that might make it otherwise difficult or impossible for them to participate in activities. Inclusion is something we pride ourselves on at CSC and CHS. And everyone is needed to make it work. Grace did it so well the other day, and I was  so proud of her and the teachers who model the compassion, compromise and commitment needed to let Wilmar, and Grace, and all the other students shine in our school.

Carmelita Baya, our Senior Social Worker, led a team from CSC that went to Leyte to distribute relief goods. She was accompanied by Edwin Martinez, our veteran driver, his brother Jessie Boy, one of our maintenance men, and Dondon Enriquez, our Eicher Home house father, who accompanied the team as far as his mom's place in Ormoc, one of the places on our list for relief goods. Dondon's mom's house was destroyed in the recent typhoon Yolanda.

We had a list of 10 families to help, and the team was able to find all of them. The all live in Western Leyte, from Biliran island in the very north, to Hilongos in the south. Praise God that none of the families experienced loss of life, though most of their houses were destroyed. Finding food and water are still big problems in Leyte, the hardest hit of all the islands. Our team brought boxes of food and sacks of rice, as well as clothing and some tarp to help with temporary walls and ceilings. They were all thrilled with what we were able to bring and were thankful that CSC has not forgotten them. Most of the families are birth parents and siblings of former CSC residents who have been adopted in the United States.

We were able to send one our CSC vehicles on a ferry between Cebu City and Ormoc, Leyte, so we had reliabe transportation for the trip. Since there is no gasoline for sale on the island of Leyte, we brought our own in plastic containers.

Thanks be to God for a safe trip, and that we were able to brighten the lives of these three families. Next we will be considering how we might help, even in a modest way, with the reconstruction of the destroyed houses of these families.

God bless all who gave for these relief efforts, and for our brave team for going over to Leyte to distribute goods and hope to these families.

Click here for more pictures of the Leyte relief trip.