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| Siblings Carmela, Mahal, Allan, and Marie
Javines wander the streets no more -- they are cared for at a boarding school in Laguna run by Visions of Hope Foundation. (Photo by Arthur M. Trinidad) |
Allan, 18 years old, Carmela,11, Marie, 7, and Mahal Javines, 6, who used to wander the streets of Metro Manila with their mother to look for food and shelter, find hope as they go to back to school through the help of the Center of Community Transformation (CCT) Visions of Hope Foundation.
Allan says he was seven when his parents parted ways because of financial struggles. Homeless, his mother Esmeralda worked as a cashier in a public market while Allan collected and sold junk to help feed Carmela. Then, for a time, the children found an adoptive father and a new home when Esmeralda had a relationship with another man named Rodel. Rodel, who is Marie and Mahal’s father, later became abusive. Esmeralda had to leave him and, with her children, dwell in the streets again for the next five years.
A pastor from the CCT Group of Ministries met them around 2010 and brought them to the Kaibigan Community Center, CCT's drop-in center for street dwellers. There, their basic needs were provided and they learned about God through Bible studies and discipleship sessions. The Javines siblings joined the Visions of Hope Christian School (VOHCS) in Laguna a few months later. A boarding school, VOCHS is a place where their character is molded, according to Allan. He said he personally grew in humility and in loving others.
In July 2012, Esmeralda died of cancer. "It was a trying time, but I drew strength and comfort from the Lord," Allan says. Now serving as a sole parent to his sisters, he says he prays they will have a good future and a dedication to serve God.
Shortly after he passed the high school equivalency examination administered by Department of Education earlier this year, Allan was accepted as a scholar of the Angelita V. del Mundo Foundation, Inc. where he is currently enrolled in a two-year hotel and restaurant services course. Mahal and Marie are in kindergarten, and Carmela is in first grade.
Allan dreams of becoming a teacher to children someday. He said he hopes other children in need will also experience how he and his sisters were given a chance and new hope (“Sana maranasan ng ibang bata kung paano kami binigyan ng pagkakataon at bagong pag-asa”).
The Javines siblings are just a few of the children who receive physical, emotional, and spiritual care through the Visions of Hope Foundation and the Visions of Hope Christian School. To learn more about VOH, go to www.visionsofhopefoundation.org and like us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/visionsofhopefoundation).
