June 2009

Dearest foster parents, donors, and friends, 

Once again here we are greeting you all from the depths of our hearts!

We hope that this update will still reach you before your summer holidays. Here in the Philippines the monsoon rains have strangely enough started very early and during this time of the year, we at the Pag-asa Center are quite busy with many activities, most of which have to do with the new school year 2009-2010 which started in June. We now have 22 children in our Day Care and 17 in our Nursery, all of whom are very eager to begin their studies.

We would like to welcome the new donors who have recently become part of our program during these past few months, our sincerest gratitude also for the many letters, postcards, fax and e-mail sharing about happy occasions like weddings and special feasts, becoming grandparents as well as difficult moments like personal illnesses or those of a family member, the passing away of loved ones and despite that you still chose to continue your support. Thanks also for the sacrifices (which you have perhaps redoubled, now that recession is affecting the whole world) you make to suppor    our children. Special thanks to those who replied to the letters of “their” children. One of you even        explained the meaning of the name of “your” child while another was very happy to learn that one of the members of your family have the same birthday as this child. You don’t know how happy they were when they realized you appreciated what they wrote you.

Now on its third year, the “Piso Ko, Pag-asa Natin” (My Peso, Our Hope) initiative has yielded more positive results!     yielded more positive results!  Making an effort to save a peso a day for the past year, our families were able to raise 69,722 pesos (about 1089 euros)! This amount has been very useful for unseen needs like the relocation of two of our families, whose houses were burned down, and for some accidents and hospitalizations of our members.

On January 9, the staff together with some families and friends celebrated the 12th anniversary of the Pag-asa Center.           Recalling how Pag-asa started we exhibited old pictures, shared experiences of the very firsts volunteer workers and displayed miniature images of old and new structures. It also served as a send off event for Aurelio who was in-charge of the operations. He had managed and initiated a great part of the progress of Pag-asa.

In March 12 a tragic accident took the lives of 3 students, including one of our scholars, Mary Joy Erce. It brought a shock to everyone, including her sponsors. Our heartfelt thanks to her sponsors, whose comforting words have helped lessen the pain the family experienced.

Several of our sponsors also passed away this year, and one of them was Giuliana Pelura, the group leader from Bellante, Italy who had supported us so much since the beginning of Pag-asa. We wish to extend our heartfelt condolences for the bereavement you have experienced on the death of your beloved ones. We pray for their souls to rest in peace & for your family to regain peace and strength.

Not long after this, a fire burned down the house of the two families we are supporting in the program last April. But with the help of the local government and of Pag-asa, we were able to relocate them and gave them immediate assistance.

The earthquake that hit L'Aquila and other towns in central Italy at dawn on April 6 worried us and immediately we prayed that all of our foster parents from Bellante and Teramo would be safe. Luckily none of them perished.

Rissho Kosei-kai, the Buddhist movement from Japan headed by Rev. Sakai, who is responsible for the high school members of RKK, sent a group  to visit our center again after a series of activities they had in the Philippines in April.

During the Dental Mission in May given by 6 volunteer dentists who even gave free anesthesia, at least 40 patients came. The patients in return offered whatever amounts they could, but still we used those amounts by giving free pain relievers.

We would like to thank in a special way Natalina Pellizzari and her friends, who funded the renovation of our playground. Another great donation from our friends of the Rotary Club in Papenburg, Germany will make it possible to change all the old windows of our building to new storm resisting aluminum windows.

We were able to set up our small medical clinic with a donation collected during the 50th wedding anniversary of Christina and Peter Unger from Germany, as well as with other donations received for this project over the last years.

A huge donation made by Kforce Global Solutions, Inc. from Manila just before Christmas in form of Office furniture like cabinets, table and chairs made it possible to put up finally a big meeting and conference room in the midst of our center.

Barbara Anne Isla, the Marketing and Circulations Manager of a publication in De La Salle University – Dasmariñas gave a donation of Eur225.00. The amount was used for the start of a new livelihood project for many of our mothers: candy making.

The ‘Amici di Agape onlus ed associazione Arcobaleno of Barbariga’, northern Italy, donated Eur 1000.00 which has been used to improve the facilities of our Day Care Center. A new project, PATUNGO MONDO UNITO, has been initiated by our French family Segard and their friends, which will finance a physical therapist for Justin, our handicapped child, and the many children and adults who are in need of physical therapy here in our center as well as in our sister social center Bukas Palad.

We are sure that everyone who donated feels a sense of pride and satisfaction for all they have done to sustain and develop a better, healthier and more joyful live of our 530 children! Thank you and all the unnamed sponsors in the name of the whole Pag-asa family!

Now for the latest…

As if what we are doing to our needy fellows is not enough, one of our scholars once suggested to her co-scholars that as being very thankful for all the blessings they are receiving, why not repay by reaching out to a new and starting institution in Tagaytay which, like Pag-asa, is helping our less privileged neighbors. It was not very hard to convince the others since we are very familiar already with works like that and from then on, all our scholars and some high school are visiting the “Tahanan Vedruna”, an orphanage with 19 children, every 4th Sunday of the month.

The day after the grand Christmas party, 31 of our families who are regularly attending a formation meeting had a moment together sharing experiences on how the formation has helped them become better persons. There they exhibited the miniature “Nativity Scene” which each family had artistically prepared.

In our Discount Store for rice, sugar, school supplies and medicines we had been using an approximate 1,000 pieces of plastic bags every week. Trying of become more aware of our environment, we started to eliminate the use of disposable plastic bags. For that reason, during the distribution of the family Christmas gifts, every family also received a big and very durable plastic bag.

It was also in December when Daryl, one of our children who had a speech problem, was successfully operated on for free.

On January 05, 2009, Bong Caruncho (who is also helping us to promote our Favola T-shirts in Boracay, the most famous beach of the Philippines) and his friends offered a free lunch to 100 of our selected children and teenagers.

Since February we have a volunteer pediatrician and a gynecologist who comes once a month. Another volunteer doctor, Doctor Sarcia, gives lessons every 3rd Tuesday of the month. In addition, one of our scholars graduated in nursing last April and is now rendering his first services as a volunteer to Pag-asa. They are all happy to use our new above mentioned medical clinic.

In partnership with Poveda, a religious organization, we were able to launch Operation Tuli (Circumcision) in April although very few boys were able to make it, the children and their families were very excited already for next summer’s mission.

On that day also we held our very first Bloodletting program of the community of Bukas Palad Tagaytay and Pag-asa Social Center through De La  Salle University Medical Center. The 40 blood donors who came were policemen, college students, regular donors, teachers, professionals and a few passersby. This program secures us with blood anytime we need it from the blood bank. Hoping to make it a regular program, we plan to have it done every 6 months.

CAVSU or Cavite State University helps us link to different Non-governmental organizations that can help us give a seminar on different livelihood programs. In fact, last February 23, one of them gave us a lesson on Candy Making for free. We chose some mothers who we think will be able to start the livelihood and afterwards teach the neighborhood how to earn. Next lesson on the list is the catsup making.

For many years now we had been present to see our children receive their awards at the end of the school year but never did we ever count the achievers and honor students in our program. However, we counted them this time and we are proud to tell you that out of 508 students, 63 children received 71 awards last March.

April is a month of vacation but for Michael and Colleen Biver, a newly married American couple who volunteered to work with us, this is also a time for giving to others. Although the couple had made vacation plans that they were looking forward to,while talking to an aspiring scholar, Michael asked himself where the money should go- to their vacation or to the person in dire need right in front of him? The answer was obvious. To Michael and Colleen, we look up to you for such a great act of selfless love!

Mr. Robert Swindells and friends of Suffolk, UK, ZionCrest Academy, Community of Learners-Manila and Mary Immaculate Parish Special School Las Pinas, St. Gregory Academy and our Singaporean friends have donated boxes and boxes of books which have almost filled all our library shelves. Thank you so much, to each one of you!

That would be everything for now and once again we would like to thank you for all the help and concrete acts of love you are all extending to your children and their families. We wish you and your love ones a great vacation!

                                                 and the whole staff of the Pag-asa Center