Tag Archives: children in need

Shelley Callahan | May 21, 2023En Español

Since I had arrived in Tacloban to visit our affiliated sites in early January, I had heard so much from our volunteer coordinator, WimWim, about Typhoon Yolanda and how it had devastated the city ten years earlier. WimWim explained that although very tragic, the entire community and the government of Tacloban learned a valuable lesson in the aftermath about emergency preparedness and the importance of having a plan in place in case a storm of such magnitude occurred again.

As WimWim, Ester, and I drove from the Volunteer for the Visayans office to the Santo Nino Center on the morning of the third day of my visit, WimWim told me about how the Santo Nino Center and the Cancumbang Center, two of the three affiliations Children Incorporated has in Tacloban, both serve as evacuation centers for the neighborhood, where residents can gather and safely wait for further instructions about how they should cautiously proceed through harsh weather — or if nothing else, stay dry when the water starts to get high.

I found myself very grateful to know that they had a place such as the Santo Nino Center to meet their daily basic needs, but also help them if an emergency were to arise.

The Santo Nino Center is roughly a 45-minute drive from the VFV office, and located in a quaint neighborhood on the outskirts of town. Although not what I would consider very rural, compared to the bustling city center where the Visayans Center at Bliss is, the Santo Nino neighborhood was very serene, where most people walked or rode on small motorbikes, and animals freely roamed the streets, not needing to be concerned for heavy traffic.

When we arrived at the Santo Nino Center, before we went inside, we walked across the street and proceeded down a narrow walkway down about 50 yards to a row of houses. Ester explained that a few of our sponsored children lived in these houses, and the support they received from Children Incorporated was especially important because most of them lived with either a single parent or only had one parent who was working, as farming or service jobs in the area paid very little or were mostly seasonal.

Sponsored children walk with their mother to the Santo Nino Center for the monthly distribution of basic needs items they receive.

I could now see exactly why the Santo Nino Center was crucial as an evacuation location for this area — the houses were little and built below the road, and even on a dry day like today, there were pools of water collecting on the ground, with little drainage and little direct sunlight due to the heavy foliage that surrounded us.

We then made our way back up the small hill to help prepare for the afternoon feeding program at the Santo Nino Center. Thanks to our sponsors, children receive four meals a week at the center, and monthly distributions of food, hygiene items and school supplies. Although a simple and small building, the center was perfect for not only the Children Incorporated programs that were facilitated there, but was more than sufficient for an evacuation site. The one room building had folding tables, a small kitchen, a storage area, a bathroom, a handwashing station and a water filtration system that all could help ensure families would stay safe as needed if they were waiting out a storm.

It was the kind of safe environment that all children and families deserve.

Once the VFV staff finished preparing a lunch of chicken, rice and stewed vegetables, the children started to arrive, each having a reusable container and drinking cup with them. The children were allowed to come eat anytime between 12 and 2 pm, depending on when they were done with school for the day. I loved the flexibility of the system in place — there was much-needed structure for when the center was open, but an understanding that the children might be on slightly different schedules.

As I watched the children enjoy their meal and chat with each other and the staff, I found myself very grateful to know that they had a place such as the Santo Nino Center to meet their daily basic needs, but also help them if an emergency were to arise. It was the kind of safe environment that all children and families deserve, and I was proud that Children Incorporated played such a huge part in all of it.

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How do I sponsor a child in the Philippines?

You can sponsor a child in the Philippines in one of three ways: call our office at 1-800-538-5381 and speak with one of our staff members; email us at sponsorship@children-inc.org; or go online to our sponsorship portal, create an account, and search for a child in the Philippines that is available for sponsorship.

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | May 16, 2023En Español

After spending the morning with Ester and WimWim, our volunteer coordinators at the Volunteer for the Visayans, it was time to get ready for the monthly distribution of supplies to the children in our program at the first of three affiliated sites in the Philippines I would be visiting during my time in Tacloban.

Located in the neighborhood of Bliss, VFV runs all of its citywide programs out of the same building where families also come to receive basic needs on a monthly basis.

We didn’t spend long traveling to the first site — in fact, all we had to do is walk downstairs from the office to the first floor of the building, and we had arrived! Located in the neighborhood of Bliss, VFV runs all of its citywide programs out of the same building where families also come to receive basic needs on a monthly basis and children come for the afternoon feeding program and tutoring support. The center also serves as the location where the volunteers with VFV come every morning to receive their assignments which include shopping for food, preparing meals, and helping feed the children each week.

Getting ready for distribution

Although the first floor of the center consists of only three small rooms — a front common area, a dining room, and a small kitchen — the space has been used very efficiently. Shelves lined the walls that were stocked with books, clothes, bags of rice, canned goods and other donations from the community. WimWim even showed me drawers filled with school supplies that had been built underneath the stairs to maximize storage, something I found to be so neat and creative.

Monthly distributions at the Bliss Center help ensure children and their families have basic necessities.

As other staff members started to arrive just shortly before 2 pm, the energy on the first floor started to rise quickly. It was obvious everyone was well-trained in the process of the distributions and each person had their own tasks to perform. Ester began opening rice bags and unpacking boxes of soaps and nonperishable food items along folding tables near the front windows of the building. WimWim and another staff member took folding chairs outside and lined them along the narrow sidewalk. A tarp was tethered to the outside of the building, as locals always anticipated the possibility of rain.

Other staff went over spreadsheets that had been prepared with the name of each sponsored child and the list of items they would be receiving — everyone receives the same items and an equal amount each month, but VFV still keeps meticulous records on each individual child.

To increase the feeling of investment in the program for the families involved, it was expected that they bring their own reusable bags for rice, which had been made by VFV staff out of old vinyl and denim, as well as the egg crates they received during the last distribution to be refilled.

WimWim explained the importance of the structure that VFV has established over the many years they had been working in the community. WimWim herself has worked with the organization since 2005 — the same year the center opened in Bliss. She said they have had to learn a lot from trial and error about how to best support the community.

Even though life was tough for many families, struggling day to day to make ends meet, it truly did feel that all of them had found some bliss in this community.

She, having grown up in the area and currently living in the neighborhood herself with her husband and children, was very aware of how many families were living in poverty and really needed the help. But, she explained that, at the same time, she felt that when families don’t feel a connection with the center, then they don’t always remain consistent with participation, and that would cause issues.

The importance of sponsors

Sponsorship, as WimWim described, has always been a valuable means of keeping families involved with the center and making them feel a part of what VFV is doing to help. She said that not only do the sponsors ensure that the children have supplies on a regular basis, but it reminds them that someone cares about them, and that is powerful in showing families that there are ways out of the poverty in which they live. Additionally, thanks to VFV, families in Bliss can make a little extra income by offering to host their volunteers for a few weeks or a month at a time as a part of the center’s immersion program, which really increases their desire to be involved.

About 30 minutes after the staff started setting up, the children and the parents started to arrive, seating themselves outside, waiting patiently to be called into the center one at a time by Ester. I started to see how valuable it was for VFV to have this system in place — with more than 50 children to provide for in one afternoon, it took 2 ½ hours to get everyone their supplies, which would have taken so much longer if not for the process already in place.

Watching this well-oiled machine at work was a delight, and everyone seemed to be having a good time, as parents chatted with one another while waiting their turn, and children played with one another outside the center. Even though life was tough for many families, struggling day to day to make ends meet, it truly did feel that all of them had found some bliss in this community.

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How do I sponsor a child in the Philippines?

SPONSOR A CHILD

Ron Carter | May 15, 2023

It is hard to believe that 2023 is the 20^th anniversary of my time at Children Incorporated – ten of which I have been blessed to lead the organization as our CEO and President.

I would love to ask that you consider helping me reach a goal of getting 20 children sponsored to celebrate 20 years of my time with Children Incorporated.

During my time with this incredible organization, I have been very blessed to work with some absolutely inspiring people and to be afforded many wonderful opportunities for personal growth. Children Incorporated has changed a lot over these last twenty years, and it continues to morph and rearrange as we adapt to the changing trends and interests of our wonderful and generous donors.

I am grateful beyond measure to work in a setting like Children Incorporated. I am surrounded by people whose passion is to change and better the lives of children and young adults, and I am personally seeing the good that we are able to do each and every day. I believe that we each have a responsibility to try and make our world a bit better.

To mark my time here, I would love to ask that you consider helping me reach a goal of getting 20 children sponsored to celebrate 20 years of my time with Children Incorporated.

I am truly thankful for Children Incorporated, and I thank each of you for your part in its continuing success!

From the heart,

Ronald H. Carter

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | May 7, 2023En Español

Our volunteer coordinator, WimWim, picked me up early the morning after I arrived in Tacloban to take me to the Volunteer for the Visayans main office, located a short distance from the downtown area in a neighborhood called Bliss.

Before I knew it, we made one last turn and arrived at the VFV office, which faced a large basketball court and playground for the children in the community, surrounded by two story, modest concrete block homes.

When we arrived, we parked along the cobblestone road, right next to a few small shops selling candy, snacks and household items. Across the street was a large entry way with Volunteer for the Visayans written across it, where a few of the locals stood chatting, smiling and waving to WimWim as we made our way past them to enter the neighborhood.

Although the VFV sign was posted on the main entrance of Bliss, the office isn’t located close to the road. As we walked narrow sidewalks with small homes on each side, turning left and right and left again, I realized I would easily get lost here if I weren’t following WimWim, as the walkways started to look the same and my sense of direction dissipated.

But, before I knew it, we made one last turn and arrived at the VFV office, which faced a large basketball court and playground for the children in the community, surrounded by two story, modest concrete block homes.

I followed WimWim inside the building, and we made our way up to the second floor where she had prepared a presentation for me about the work of VFV in Tacloban to explain how she and other VFV employees were implementing our sponsorship program, which provides for more than 150 children living in poverty all around the city and countryside.

ABOUT VFV

VFV has a long history in Tacloban, going back to the 1990s, when, according to their website, “U.S. volunteers from Jacksonville University, Florida, led by Troy Peden, traveled to the Philippines in order to volunteer on a project known as Building Hope, which was the original precursor to Volunteer for the Visayans. The volunteers participated in a number of community development and social welfare projects, including the renovation and repair of Sagkahan National High School which had been damaged by a recent typhoon.”

VFV runs a very successful volunteer program in which nearly 200 volunteers from all over the world come to the center each year, live with host families, and help support the center’s efforts in the community.

“During their visits, Peden and his volunteers set foundations for the future by working closely with the Tacloban City Social Welfare and Development Office, building trust and creating a model which would serve as VFV’s underlying structure for years to come.”

“The volunteers continued to return on their own each year, and in 2004 were instrumental in establishing Volunteer for the Visayans as a non-profit organization. With support from the GoAbroad Foundation, Troy Peden provided a gateway of financial support which slowly enabled VFV to develop the resources needed to become a successful on-ground NGO. With every year that passed, VFV strived to reach out and improve the lives of communities and individuals in a manner that was responsible and sustainable; this led to a number of projects developing under VFV’s core programs.”

Volunteers from around the world

WimWim (left) is pictured with another VFV staff member. They are showing me how they keep the records of each sponsored child organized in the VFV office.

As I watched the slide show that WimWim had created to explain the work of VFV, I found myself enthralled with the organization and just how much they were doing for children and families — in large part thanks to our donors. In addition to supporting children with basic needs, they also implemented weekly feeding programs, offered tutoring sessions and computer classes for students, arranged medical care support, and helped students apply for higher education upon graduation.

Furthermore, VFV runs a very successful volunteer program in which nearly 200 volunteers from all over the world come to the center each year, live with host families, and help support the center’s efforts in the community. As WimWim explained, the volunteers are responsible for all the shopping for the supplies for the children, all the food preparation and clean up for the feeding programs, and help tutor and play games with the kids as well.

After hearing about this amazing organization, and all the work they were doing in Tacloban, I couldn’t wait to spend the next four days visiting the three affiliated sites we support in conjunction with VFV – the Visayans Community Center at Bliss, the Santo Nino Center, and the Cancumbang Center. And now that I had heard more about how they operated, I could see why VFV is able to support so many children in need.

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How do I sponsor a child in the Philippines?

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | April 30, 2023En Español

When I first started at Children Incorporated in May of 2014, I remember hearing a lot about our relief efforts in the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan, which had devastated areas of southeast Asia in November 2013.

I recall clearly stories from our staff about the damage that had occurred in Tacloban, where our affiliated site, the Visayans Center (which is run by non-profit organization, Volunteer for the Visayans, or VFV) was located. After the storm passed, it would be recorded as the country’s worst-ever natural disaster.

I had a chance to hear first-hand about how Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Typhoon Yolanda, had affected every person in Tacloban.

Thankfully, in the aftermath, Children Incorporated was able to support families as as they rebuilt their homes, thanks to donations to our Hope In Action Fund, while still providing basic needs to children through our sponsorship program, which had become more important as the entire community of Tacloban worked to clean up, and for some, start all over again.

Since I was so new to the organization at the time, I didn’t realize the magnitude of the support we were able to offer, and it wouldn’t be until I visited Tacloban in early 2023 that I would come to find out just how detrimental the storm had been to thousands of people, forever changing the city and the way in which its residents lived.

I arrived in Tacloban after a short flight from Manila on a Thursday afternoon in January of this year, in anticipation of visiting three of our affiliated sites in the area over the course of the next four days. Our volunteer coordinators, WimWim and Ester, from VFV, were waiting for me outside of the airport with a small Children Incorporated sign with our logo and my name. After we got into the taxi, we drove through the small, coastal city towards the downtown area, and I had a chance to hear first-hand about how Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Typhoon Yolanda, had affected every person in Tacloban.

WimWim talked about how the storms were so common in the Philippines that no one took the evacuation notices too seriously, thinking that it would pass, and little damage would occur as had happened many times in the past. Her husband and two young sons, she explained, stayed home to wait the storm out, but as the winds gradually became stronger and stronger, reaching top speeds of 165 mph, she realized that this storm was much more powerful than others she and her family had endured.

And just like everyone that lived through Typhoon Yolanda who has not forgotten it and never will, ten years later, Children Incorporated has not forgotten the people of Tacloban either.

As she described the water rushing into her house, I got chills thinking about the panic she must have felt. She explained that the water came so fast, they had no chance to get out of the house, and they quickly found themselves floating towards the ceiling as their furniture and belongings swarmed around them.

WimWim recalled almost losing hope that they would survive, when she realized there was a window open on the second floor of their home, and her and her family were able to escape to the roof and wait for the water to recede. It all lasted less than 10 minutes, but I am sure felt like a lifetime to them.

The ship, Evan Jocelyn, was one of three ships that ran aground during Typhoon Yolanda. Today, it remains on land as a memorial to the devastation caused in Tacloban.

When the storm ended and the weather turned calm, the local government reported that 6,000 residents of Tacloban had lost their lives, largely due to the storm surge that also damaged or destroyed 90% of the structures in the city. As WimWim described it, her town was unrecognizable, covered in debris and fallen trees. Large container ships had run aground, and entire neighborhoods on the coastline had been swept away to sea. WimWim promised she would take me to see some of the many monuments that had been constructed over the years in remembrance of those that lost their lives, many of whom were buried with just a simple white cross and no other identifying gravestone.

Not long after Typhoon Yolanda, relief organizations started arriving in Tacloban to provide for the immediate needs of families — depending on their contracts, according to WimWim, some organizations stayed for a few weeks, and some stayed for a few years.

Although the help was needed, and appreciated, in many ways it didn’t offer the sustainable support that she felt was vital to those living in poverty in Tacloban. Often times, aid organizations didn’t consult with locals about how to offer help in the ways that it was needed most — instead, administrators would determine how they felt they should help, which sometimes wasn’t helpful at all. As WimWim described it, it was a “good bad problem to have” — the good being that the aid organizations arrived at all, and the bad being that they didn’t listen to the locals needs.

Children Incorporated, she said, has never been one of types of organizations. Having worked with VFV since 2005, and still expanding on the work we do together today, we have offered VFV consistent and continuous support through very hard times in the community. WimWim proudly spoke of the power of sponsorship, and how grateful she was for the flexibility of our program that allows her to decide exactly what children and their families need depending on the circumstances. And just like everyone that lived through Typhoon Yolanda who has not forgotten it and never will, ten years later, Children Incorporated has not forgotten the people of Tacloban either.

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How do I sponsor a child in the Philippines?

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | April 16, 2023En Español

Three days after arriving in Manila, our volunteer coordinator at the Fortune’s Center, Joy, offered to drive me the hour and a half out of the city to Tagaytay, where our affiliated site, the Pinagpala Center, was located.

Nilo also works with parents who are struggling with drug addiction and helps them to rehabilitate by not only getting off drugs, but showing their friends, family and peers that they care about getting better and changing their lives.

I was able to hear about the center a little more the previous day when Joy, our former sponsored child Genesis, and I had lunch with our former coordinator at the Fortune Center, Polly Jonson, and her friend Poying.

Both now in their 80s, both Polly and Poying joked and laughed with us during our meal, as vibrant as most half their ages. Poying mentioned that she started the Pinagpala Center many years ago, in 2007, after seeing the success Polly was having helping children in her community at the Fortune Center. I loved both their energy, and they talked enthusiastically about our current volunteer coordinator at the Pinagpala Center, Nilo, who I would meet the following day.

Tagaytay is located south of metro Manila, and is a busy tourist area for Filipinos escaping the hustle of the city in exchange for a small mountain town. Tagaytay overlooks Taal Lake and the Taal Volcano Island, and visitors and residents alike find the cool temperature and incredible scenery to be idyllic.

getting to know nilo

After Joy dropped me off at my hotel, I made a plan for Nilo to come by so we could meet in the lobby and discuss the next few days that I would have in Tagaytay to meet with him, our sponsored children and their parents, and get a chance to visit the Pinagpala Center. As we sat at a small, round table surrounded by hotel guests enjoying afternoon tea or coffee, we chatted about the Children Incorporated program and Nilo’s work within the community.

Nilo works with children, adults and entire families to help improve their lives and the community at whole in Tagaytay.

In addition to helping children through sponsorship support at the Pinagpala Center, Nilo also worked with the local police on what he described as “morality training,” in which he conducted lectures on how to incorporate ethical decision making into everyday police work. Nilo also works with parents who are struggling with drug addiction and helps them to rehabilitate by not only getting off drugs, but showing their friends, family and peers that they care about getting better and changing their lives.

I found all of what Nilo was saying very fascinating — especially in regard to his work with drug users. In a country where the former president, Rodrigo Duterte, regularly made global headlines due to his strictly enforced drug policies, which had led to an estimated 12,000 Filipino deaths from 2016 to 2022, it was interesting to hear about the issue from someone within the country, who was working day to day to help those suffering from substance abuse issues as opposed to criminalizing them. I could see how his work in drug rehabilitation, ethical police work, and child poverty all tied in together. Nilo’s efforts were all geared toward education, acceptance and understanding, and providing support to those in need.

Visiting the center

After nearly an hour, we made a plan to meet again outside the hotel early the next day. When Nilo picked me up the following morning, he first took me to visit the homes of some of our sponsored children before we would meet with them and their parents at the Pinagpala Center in the afternoon. The children all live in various parts of the same neighborhood, in walking distance from the center, which they visit a few times a week to receive food, hygiene items, and school supplies. Most of the homes were similar, with only three rooms — a kitchen, a living room and a bedroom — and very limited space.

I was all too happy to have a seat as well to watch and think about how grateful I was to meet Nilo and find out just how much he was doing to help the community at large.

Although modest, I was pleasantly surprised, that compared to so many of the other homes I had visited during my time with Children Incorporated, the houses were made of sturdy concrete and were connected by pavement walkways instead of dirt. Nilo was intrigued that I considered the homes so nice, as he was aware of how poor these families were, and how little money they lived off of.

We visited roughly ten or twelve homes before we got back in Nilo’s car to drive to the Pinagpala Center, where we would wait for the children to arrive. Nilo told me they wanted to thank me for visiting with a song and dance which they had been working on all week, choreographed by Nilo’s wife, a school teacher who helped Nilo at the center when she could. We made our way down a long driveway and stopped next to a two-story building which towered over the smaller houses that surrounded it. Once getting out of the car, I had to stand back to see the top of the center — the impressive building looked new and was obviously constructed very well.

Helping Expand Pinagpala

Thanks to our donors, we were able to support the expansion of the Pinagpala Center. The first of three floors is pictured, which serves as a gathering space for children and parents.

Nilo told me that many years ago, when Children Incorporated first became affiliated with the center, it was a one-story wooden building that was used as a church. The congregation agreed to let Piyog use it to start the sponsorship program, giving her a place to distribute basic needs items to children throughout the month.

The reason the building is so much bigger today, Nilo explained, is that our Director of International Programs, Luis Bourdet, supported the efforts to expand the center, adding two more floors and converting the first floor from wood to concrete.

Once we stepped inside, I could see just how vital that support really was — the first floor was used as a gathering space with a kitchen and small stage. The second floor was used for storage of distribution supplies for our sponsored children. This beautiful center was now big enough and secure enough for Nilo to run our program, one that he was so obviously passionate about. Before I knew it, our quiet tour was interrupted by the excited chatter of small children as they rushed into the building and took their seats by the stage, eagerly awaiting their big performances. I was all too happy to have a seat as well to watch and think about how grateful I was to meet Nilo and find out just how much he was doing to help the community at large.

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How do I sponsor a child in the Philippines?

SPONSOR A CHILD