SCM NEWSLETTERScandinavian Children's Mission

Leto Christian Center Inc.Volume 2, Issue 2

'

"SCM Newsletter" is thepublication of Leto Christian

Center Inc. (LCCI). The LCCI isa child caring agency under theScandinavian Children's Mission

Philippines, Inc. and wasestablished in 1984. LCCI has

several centers that cater tochildren in need of special

protection. It is duly licensedby the Department of Social

Welfare and Development(DSWD) and a member of theAssociation of Child CaringAgencies of the Philippines

(ACCAP).

LCCI is located at No. 4 - 2ndWest Crame, San Juan Metro

Manila.

Editorial Team

Birgitta DahlBernadette Megano

Catherine Ramos

Contributors

We’re on the Web!

www.childrensmission.ph

September, 2011

PageThe New Ministry &New MCHC............................ 1

The Second Chance.............. 2

High School Camp .............. 3

A Place to BringGood News .............................. 3

ULE Stories ............................ 4

Birgitta DahlNilda Balatico

Anabelle PincasArthur Quirat

New Ministry Center

The new Ministry Center of the Children’s Mission Philippines at the Hills of Grace,Rodriguez is soon coming to a completion. In November there will be a shift of theoffice to this place as well as other activities from the Leto Building. The sitedevelopment for the Children’s Village is finished already and the building of thefamily homes will hopefully start before Christmas. Exciting and challenging timesawait around the corner and we look forward to even greater accomplishments forthe Lord in this needy area of Rodriguez, Montalban.

After many rounds ofproblems and prayers theMCHC could move itspremises to a better locationin Erap City. Pregnantwomen come regularly forcheckups and mothers comefor treatment of theirchildren. Our nurses Rizaand Clyde under thedirection of Dra. Yu and the

OIC Bernadette are tireless in their efforts of lifting up the members of thecommunity, mostly families who have been relocated from Manila shanty towns.

New place for theMaternal and ChildHealth Care clinic

By: Birgitta Dahl

2

Motherless at a young age ……by: Nilda Balatico , MNC Social Worker

In the year 1999 Reynaldo& Violeta became a coupleand started having family.They both grew up inMontalban, Rizal. Duringthe first 10 years of beinghusband and wife theywere happy, having a goodlife and satisfied becausethey both had a job.

But in the year 2008 themother felt something inher breast. At that time shewas pregnant with Vernon,her 4th child so she ignoredthe finding. After she hadgiven birth to Vernon, shewent to a hospital forcheck-up of the pain shefelt in her breast. She wasdiagnosed with breastcancer. She underwent abiopsy and was confined atEast Avenue MedicalCenter. There she had anoperation to remove the

cancerous infection. Theirsavings and earnings wereused for her medication.Since Violeta washospitalized and the fatherReynaldo was busy workingand earning money for thefamily the children werebeing neglected. Theywere not given proper care,attention and thenutritious food that is goodfor the health of a child.A year passed and thecancer wasn’t treated anyfurther. According to thedoctor there were stilltumors left in her breast.By then the mother waspregnant with their fifthchild. She could notundergo any medicaltreatment as it could affectthe child in her womb.

Little Reggie was born … …..

In April 2010 Violeta cameto the MCHC clinic in Erap

City with Reggie andVernon who both neededrehabilitation. Thechildren were admitted inthe Malnutrition Center inSan Juan.The mother continued toundergo treatment of herbreast cancer but it was toolate by then. The cancercouldn’t be treated orcured because it hadalready invaded all herbreast.In July 2010 Violeta diedand left the 5 childrenmotherless. Vernon andReggie stayed in theMalward up untilDecember when theywere returned to thefather and the grandfather.But the situation was verydifficult.

Upon the follow–up homevisits of the social workerwith the children & their

family it was found outthat the children werealways staying in the streetand begging in thedifferent establishmentsfor food. Often they wouldstay in front of theMaternal and Child HealthCare clinic. They weremalnourished again. Theywere thin, weak and pale.In July 2011 theGrandfather who wastaking care of the childrenwas a victim of a stroke dueto hyper tension. Half ofhis body was paralyzed.The eldest child is in GradeV in Tagumpay ElementarySchool but she prefers tostay in the neighbor’scustody. She is sellingbread “Pandesal” in themorning and she attendsschool in the afternoon.Her father sends andfetches her in schooltogether with her twoother siblings who are alsoattending school and arenow in Grade II and GradeI.The father Reynaldo worksin the evening as a securityguard; hence he has to takecare of and supervise hisfather and his children inthe morning. He is the onlybreadwinner.

Because of the difficultfamily situation and thechildren’s condition thetwo youngest children(Vernon Rey and Reggie)were again referred byMCHC to the MalnutritionCenter (MNC). They arenow in the center fornutritional rehabilitation,proper care & attentionand also temporaryshelter.

Vernon and Reggie with their friend Andrea

3

High School Camp

We have heard a lot ofstories about the verydepressed areas of Payatasand Baseco, where in theOperation Love teamreported what God haddone and how He hadmanifested His love for thechildren in those places.For many years we haveprayed for them and giventhem help the best we can.Now, another area ofOperation Love is added toour prayer list, a dump sitein Las Piñas City where wehave conducted ourprogram “Kiddie Bibleclass” from June toSeptember..

Just like Payatas andBaseco these children alsoneed to know Christ as Godand Saviour. They alsoneed our help as friendsand as Christians who willshow them God’s love.Every time we have beenin this place, our heartshave been deeply broken.

A PLACE TO BRING GOOD NEWSKiddie Bible Class Near a Dump Siteby: Arthur Quirat

When we looked into theeyes of the children, wecould feel the eagernessin their heart to knowJesus better. We alsosensed their joy whenthey saw us coming. Theexcitement was intenseevery time we started theprogram. They loved theway we worship God aswe sing songs of praisesand dance for the glory ofGod. Everybody wasexcited playing fungames. They loved hearingnew stories from theBible. They really tried to

hide God’s word in theirhearts. To learn moreabout Jesus was totallycool for them.

This place in Las Pinas is noteasy to reach; we had totravel one and half hourfrom the office just to bein this place. We needed toclimb the mountain ofgarbage to reach the area.There were times we facedthe storm just to be withthese children. We alsoexperienced arriving homevery late coming from thisplace. Walking in themuddy streets, with thehot ventilation of thevenue and smelly

environment was part ofshowing God’s love. Eventhough we felt exhausted,we were happy when wesaw the smiles on the facesof each child in this place. Iknow all of these sacrificesare not enough to comparewith what God has done forus. But maybe this effortcan lead these children inoffering their life to ourLord Jesus Christ to serveHim the rest of their life.

To some this place is just adump site, to others this isa work place to earnmoney, to the children,this is Home. But for us, thisis a place to bring God’sWord.

Liezel is one of the sponsorstudents of San Juan. InApril something terriblehappened to her familyand many others in WestCrame where they lived. A

home was gutted andburnt down. A real tragedyfor her and the otherfamilies as they lost justabout all their belongingsand the place called Home.

fire broke out and Liezels

For 2 months the familystayed in the basketballcourt in a tent.Later they wereable to rent a placenearby. For Liezelthe highlight of thesummer was to beable to join thehigh school Camporganized by theMission. There shewas able to minglewith new friends,listen to the Wordof God, play gamesand enjoy tastymeals prepared bysome of thestudents’ mothers.

HOW WE MANAGE TO SAVEREGULARLY

WITH OUR CHARCOAL BUSINESS By: Anabelle B. Pincas, RSW

THE ULE PROGRAM (Unite Learn and Earn) of the Children’s Mission, Philippines is a micro savings programtargeting economically challenged women to help them start a business. It is implemented in the areas ofPayatas, Antipolo and Rodriguez and has right now 702 members.

One of the challenges faced by a ULE member is maintaininga weekly savings of at least P20 a day. The willingness is therebut sometimes it’s just too hard to keep it as part of thesystem. This is true among the ULE members in many areasespecially when the daily priority is to buy the basicneed…food. One would even say, “I can’t save now. There’sno more money left. My husband will remit his salary onweekend when he comes home from work.”

One of the topics in the ULE Weekly Sessions is about BusinessIdeas, of how one could think of a business idea that would give a homemaker a source of income.And so, Noah’s Group decided that each member give her share of P100 so that they could raise P1, 500 and starta retailing of Charcoal which they could sell in their neighborhood.The group started with 6 sacks of Charcoal. Until this time, the group continues to repack and sell them to theircustomers. Selling barbeque is one of the common ventures in the neighborhood. And those who find it costlyto buy LPG would rather cook using charcoal. There is always a market for their commodity.All members of Noah’s group have somehow managed to save since then.

HUSBAND APPRECIATESWIFE JOINING THE ULE PROJECT

Nomelyn, 28, joined the ULE Project in January 2010.She took a loan of P4, 800 and sells meat products likePampanga’s Best Tocino, longganisa and others. Shedelivers order on a weekly basis to customers whoare mostly neighbors, friends, co-ULE members andmothers of her son’s schoolmates. Aside from sellingmeat products she is also into direct selling of Natasha,AVON and the like where she also accepts order ofclothes, bags and cosmetic products.Nomelyn continues to save in her ULE group called

JIRAH, where she also serves as the group secretary. She also taught her eldest kid, John Lloyd, the value ofsaving. With his son’s daily “baon” to school of P10 a day, Nomelyn urged John Lloyd to save P5/day and boughthim a piggy bank. When his father gives him extra money, he doubles his savings. He managed to save P700 after4 mos. Comes December and he got monetary gifts amounting to P300. With the P1, 000 Nomelyn bought groceryitems and started a sari-sari store for her son John Lloyd. The profit now is going to him.Her husband commented, “Seems that you’re getting positive results out of your membership in that ULEproject…now you have your own savings, you have your business, and even taught your son to have his ownsavings”. Nomelyn’s husband works as a security guard.