Volume 1, Issue 1 March 2018

Children´s Mission Philippines Hills of Foundation Inc.

with the Lord for the Children

#pressforprogress

This year the International Wo-

men’s Month has the theme

#pressforprogress. Women economic

empowerment is a prerequisite for

sustainable development. It cannot be

a quick fix as it takes solid public poli-

cies and long-term commitment from

development actors. In our ULE pro-

gram we really want to empower the

women to make a bigger contribution

to their family income. One way of

doing that is for the women to partici-

pate in different livelihood trainings

like what we have had in making

Household products, like soap, dish-

washing liquid and fabric conditioner.

Another one is to learn about how to

grow mushrooms or how to make

rugs. Next month the focus will be

more on garments. At the same time,

as we are providing and conducting

livelihood courses and Skills Training,

one of our Community Development

Worker is conducting entrepreneurship

education and training. Most of this

training is done in groups but ULE also

offers a Mentorship program for more

individual empowerment and develop-

ment. Every month the women meet

together for education, business follow

-up and mentorship.

Another important ingredient for de-velopment is the Gender Training that is conducted in partnership with Uni-versity of Rizal System (URS). Every Friday afternoon 75 participants (both men and women) meet together at Hills of Grace center for theoretical and practical education.

If you want to see a change in the way women are treated and thinking about themselves, it is a good idea to start early. That’s way the ULE-program also involve the children in different activi-ties and seminars. One example of such a child is Althea Nicole who is the grandchild of one of the ULE members.

She is one of the children that has been provided with a coin bank and has attended seminar about the im-portance of saving. Last month, she open her coin bank and was able to open an account worth PHP 678.50. Last February 26, when we distribut-ed the new coin banks she actively fell in line to get one and she’s very excited to save more. There are so many different stories to share and all women have different stories, different experiences and different strategy to deal with their

own problems. Like Adelaida, who has her own business run by her and her husband. They have Piggery, Sari sari (variety) store and they take care of chickens and sell it when big enough. They also sell food for breakfast, lunch and snacks. Adelaida is one of the ULE members who saves a lot for their future and business. They have two children and those two have a high grade in school. What the children saw in their mother and father as a hardworking and passionate parents, they also applied it in school.

“Superwoman”

Leonava is one of all “superwomen” that we want to lift up during March as it is the women month! She is a single mother of three children since her hus-band died. Before they were both scav-engers and just earned money so they have enough for them to eat twice a day. But Leonavas life changed, thanks to the CMP Skills Training Electronic course she was enrolled in, three years ago. After the course she started her own business – a repair shop where she also accepts home services. She has developed other skills like baking and is selling fresh baked bread buns, by or-der, every morning. Her church has an oven and she and two other women can use the place for baking. Even the local

CMP clinic was saving a girl’s

Goat raising as a coming source of income

Education could be a tool for lifesaving activities. A proof of that statement is one mother that was participating in gatherings for pregnant women. During these lessons she learned and was en-couraged to bring her baby (after the delivery) for health check-up to one of our two clinics.

Just shortly after the birth of her daugh-ter the mother noted the yellowish dis-coloration of the skin of her baby. She sent a text message to one of the nurses where she asked a lot of questions. The nurse understand that is was a serious condition for the baby and the parents were advised to bring the child to the hospital for immediate medical inter-vention.

At first she was hesitant due to lack of finance, but we extended help by providing financial assistance, and that same day they went to Philippine Chil-

dren Medical Center (PCMC) but were advised to transfer in National Chil-dren’s Hospital (NCH) due to the kind of treatment needed. The girl has to undergo phototherapy and was ad-mitted for 10 days’ treatment. After discharge the mother brought the ba-by to the clinic at San Isidro center for pediatric check-up. The girl’s health condition has improved and she is now continuously recovering. The family are really happy for the help they have availed and for the knowledge the mother gained during the education. She is now advised to visit the clinic for health and nutrition monitoring of both mother and child. The nurse em-phasizes the importance of exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life and regular weight and height control as well as medical check-ups.

During the typhoon Yolanda, many farmers in the area around Tacloban get their coconut trees destroyed. That’s was one reason for CMP to set up a goat farm with high breed goats for distribution to selected and interested farmers. Luz Raagas, is one of the farmers and she and her husband has got two female goats to take care of. When the goats give birth the first two offspring will be kept by them and the third one will be given back to the project. All male offspring will go back to the project. Luz has nine children and eight grandchildren and are happy for the goats that in the long run will gain income to their family. A small piece of land belongs to them were they can grow vegetables and forage. They also have other sources of income like raising chicken and a sari-sari store. The fami-ly is happy for the CMP support and look forward to the day when they will have their own goat farm.

Barangay office is a place for Leonavas services, as she is involved in cleaning of the sur-roundings and in doing adver-tisements for different health campaigns etc. Two of the three children are enrolled in CMP sponsorship program and all the family is happy and thankful for the support they have received. When I asked Leonava what the biggest change is if she compare her life now and four years ago she was answering: “Now I can afford to give my family food four times a day! She is happy and proud for her life and want to become

a role model for her children and for other women in her neighborhood.

We are proud Social Workers

CMP has eight Social Workers. Two of them Pamela Arroza and Marilyn Ber-nardo are responsible for the Sponsor-ship Program. Both of them said that they have been blessed in helping the poor children and their families. Pam is telling that the most uplifting with her work is when she knows that she has been of service to others and made a difference in the life of the children and youths. They say: “Social Workers are made to care, serve and share.” As a child, Marilyn dreamed and longed to be part of a team that was helping poor children. She tells us that: “I would like to see these little ones being secure and able to have quality education so that they would become good citizens of our country. This is my desire because as a child I was deprived of things that children would love to have including a better education”. She remembers, when she started to worked at CMP in 2012 as a Social Worker to handle the Sponsorship Program, that she said to herself: “At last here I am … I will be able

to accomplish my dream.” After six years of being SP-Social Worker she knows that the tasks could be stressful yet fulfilling experience be-cause she can guide and counsel the children on the right path to take and she sees herself being a part of what is their future. She tells that she sees her-self as one that can either break or mold the future of the children. Pam is telling that there are times when she got frustrated and felt that she is surrounded by challenges that comes in her way. “There are so much to do but

little time to accomplished it”, she says. If you want to see changes it will not happen instantly it can take time. Just commit yourself to service and God will do the rest. Keep calm and keep on serving the people under your care”. Both of them shared that they are

inspired by seeing those children from

the time that they are taken into Spon-

sorship up to this time. They have

been given hope, inspiration and moti-

vation to pursue their education and

will be able to have a better future.

This is the impact that we have seen,

and we are glad to be a part of this.

He changed me

Abigail Eco is a grade six student who is dreaming of becoming a nurse. She is the second among five siblings of her father who works as a construction worker and her mother, who is a housewife. According to her mother Abigail was lazy and sometimes didn´t follow in-structions. But onetime the church worker invited her to attend Kiddy Bi-ble Class. Because the activity was new to her ears she tried to attend and wit-ness the opening of the program. Dur-ing the first meeting she found the activity very interesting. She saw the mascot and she participated in playing games. She really enjoyed the first day of KBC. Because of this experience, she made sure she could come back for the next meeting. The following week Abigail attended and it was God’s perfect time that she

heard the story about the fall of man and how God showed His love to us by sending Jesus Christ. From this, she realizes that in spite of her shortcom-ings God is continuously loving her. This story leaves an impact to her life that results to Salvation. Abigail accepted Jesus. As an outcome, her parents no-ticed some changes in Abigail’s life from being lazy to becoming industri-ous and from being hard headed to becoming obedient. The church volun-teer also noticed that she started to become active in church activities. Not just that, she also invites her friends to attend Kiddy Bible class and Sunday school for them to also hear the word of God. Truly it was hard for a person to change but indeed, there is nothing too hard for the Lord. He changes us if we sub-mit and allow Him to do that. Now,

Abigail is very thankful to God and with joy she says: “He changed me”.

CMP Newsletter" is a publication of Children's Mission Phils. Hills of Grace

Foundation Inc. (CMPHGFI). The CMPHGFI is a child caring agency under

the Scandinavian Children's Mission Philippines, Inc. and was established

in 1984. CMPHGFI has several centers that cater to children in need of

special protection. It is duly licensed by the Department of Social Wel-

fare and Development (DSWD) and a member of the Association of Child

Caring Agencies of the Philippines (ACCAP).

CMPHGFI head office is located at No. 0014 F. Rodriguez cor. E. Rodriguez Sr. Brgy. San Jose Rodriguez, 1860 Rizal

Editorial Team: Contributors: Eva-Mari Blomqvist Jay Anne Alera Bernadette Megano Carol Talosig Catherine Ramos Pamela Arroza Marilyn Ng

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Smile

There is a saying “don’t smile to hide the pain, smile to heal the pain”. Smil-ing is a blessing from God that many people have forgotten. Every Friday the Child Development Program is conducting Kiddy Bible Class in Agape Church, San Isidro. The church is a small venue approximately 20 square meters only. But what we are really thankful for is that, even though it is hot inside the church, 136 children are always attending the said program. Children keep on coming because of the joy they feel in every meeting. One of the girls coming is Sambobai. She is a 5-years old, and is coming from a broken family and she has a disability, due to a bone fracture at her back due to an accident. She was brought to the hospital and the doctor told the parents that she will be need-ing an operation but for now it is not possible because she too young. Her

body is too weak to have the said operation. The family is doing their best for this girl to have a good condition, for her not to experience bullying from other children but they ad-mit the fact that were also limited so they explained it to their daughter. This little Sambobai clearly sees the effort of her fami-ly and because of that, she want-ed to make them happy by giving them her smile every day. Indeed, it was hard for a person to be hap-py in the midst of a challenges but to smile is a choose. That is what this little girl chose. She chose to smile and to be happy. Sambobai has the dream of becoming a teacher someday and the present condi-tion in her life will not stop her. One of the reasons, she’s always attending Kiddy Bible Class, is that she admires her teach-ers the way they act, speak and teach children. She said, “I wanted to become

like you. I also wanted to be a good teacher.” KBC motivates her and the Word of God gives her hope. Smile can ease the burden of a person; it makes him or her feel positive even on a tough situation. This story of this 5-year-old girl inspires us to always “smile” in whatever situation we are facing.