VOH Releases Christmas Cards for Late Shoppers

The VOH Christmas card comes in two designs and has an insert that
informs the recipient of a gift made in his behalf.  

It's nearly Christmas day and those who are still searching for that perfect gift for their loved ones may just stop looking -- with this great gift suggestion from Visions of Hope Foundation (VOH).

Instead of buying a gift for a specific recipient, you can make your giving this year extra meaningful by channeling your gift budget to the work of VOH. By buying a VOH Christmas card, a donation will be made in behalf of your loved one who will be delighted to know that in his or her name, help was extended to former street dwelling children and youth, B’laan children, and children of micro-entrepreneurs from rural and urban poor communities.Purchase of a VOH Christmas card will help cover the cost of a VOH child's: 

• Pre-school or elementary education
• Regular medical check-up and other health care assistance
• Three nutritious meals a day plus lodging if staying in a boarding school
• Christian formation and discipleship
• Involvement in sports and the Boys’ Brigade

Available in two designs, the VOH Christmas card bears a picture of a VOH child in front, the child’s brief testimony on the back panel, and a Christmas message inside. An insert in the card will inform the recipient of the gift made in his behalf.

To place an order, send an e-mail to cct.visionsofhopeschool@gmail.com or call Dulce Reonico at 5220093.

Kids Sing of God’s Faithfulness in Puypuy VOHCS Inauguration

Fifty-two former street-dwelling children and youth attended the dedication and inauguration of several new buildings at the Rose of Sharon House of Friendship, a boarding school facility built for them, in Puypuy, Bay, Laguna on December 8, 2012. The children were composed of 26 preschoolers, 21 grade schoolers and five high schoolers who are under the education program of the Visions of Hope Christian School (VOHCS), VOHCS Chairperson Stephanie De Los Santos reported. 

Some of the children who are members of the Magdalena Drum and Bugle Corps greeted the arriving guests with music. Dressed in Filipiniana, the smaller ones entered the program hall in lines led by their teachers. Brigada Bata members in official uniforms carried the Philippine flag and the CCT colors. They quietly sat down and listened to the inauguration and dedication service that followed.

Testimonies of God’s faithfulness from VOHCS staff, board members, students, and parents were the highlight of the service. When it was their turn to perform, the children danced to a medley of Christmas songs, much to the delight of the guests. The hall echoed with their voices when they sang with everyone, Dakilang Katapatan (Great Faithfulness), a fitting song about God’s faithfulness, toward the end of the program. 

Each new facility was then prayed for and dedicated to the Lord. The facilities are: 

• A three-story dormitory, which can house up to 140 children; 
• A two-story academic building with four classrooms, a reading room, a play room, a computer room, and a library given the name Kinabookasan (a play on the words  "book" and "kinabukasan," the Filipino term for future); 
• A six-lane swimming pool which will help train the children in swimming so that they may apply for athletic scholarships in college; and, 
• The two-room faculty building. 

VOHCS board members, children, parents, staff, and guests shared food and fellowship afterward in the wide and well-lit canteen, and a donor gave gifts to the children at the new dorm.

A couple of Christmas cards written by  VOH children hang
on the wall of the new canteen.

With smiles on their faces, VOHCS children wait for the program to start.

The CCT Choir serenades guests, VOHCS staff, and children with Christmas carols
in the new VOHCS canteen where the inauguration service was held. 

A group of young boys dance to a Christmas medley number.

Everyone prayed to dedicate the facility to the Lord and receive His blessing
during the benediction.  

VOH Board Member Maria Gemma Donna Simpao and
Kaibigan Ministry Peer Servant Arlene Diel cut the ribbon
in one of the VOHCS buildings being dedicated. 
(Photos by Jean Francis Barcena)

Javines Siblings Find Hope through VOHCS

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).

113 VOHCS Children Receive New Footwear

 VOHCS children are excited about the new 
footwear that they received from CCT friend 
Valerie Malabonga (center).

A child clutched his new pair of clogs tightly to his chest. Asked why he was still walking barefoot, he replied, “Isusuot ko lang po ito ‘pag magsisimba ‘pag Linggo” (I will wear these only to church on Sundays). He was one of 113 children from the Visions of Hope Christian School (VOHCS) who each happily received a pair of footwear through The Thongs Project. 

The Thongs Project was initiated by Valerie Agbayani-Malabonga, former Mission: East Asian National Support (MEANS) board member and a friend of the Center for Community Transformation (CCT). Ms. Malabonga visited the VOHCS boarding schools in Magdalena and Bay, Laguna on November 20, 2012 to personally hand over the footwear to the children. In Magdalena, 52 preschool and 23 high school students shared talent offerings of songs and memory verses, then patiently lined up to receive their gifts. Thirty-eight children from the VOHCS boarding school in Malungon, Saranggani also benefited from the project. 

According to VOH Administrator Noeh Vios, the footwear are perfect for the VOHCS children because these will cushion their young feet against protruding pebbles as they walk from one school building to another. These will also serve as formal footwear fit for use in the classroom and for special occasions. 

Vios also observed that The Thongs Project did not only mean a great deal to the VOHCS children but to Malabonga as well, who said her visit fulfilled a long-cherished dream to meet and minister to the children.

After Long Wait, Isla Puting Bato Preschool Starts 2nd Run

It was like a waiting game. It was already November of 2012, way past the opening of classes in June, but the Visions of Hope Christian School (VOHCS) preschool in Isla Puting Bato, Tondo, Manila remained closed due to the unavailability of a new venue. The building that the school previously used had been turned into a tutorial center.

The parents of the school's first set of pupils anxiously and eagerly awaited its reopening. Some of them, growing tired of waiting, registered their children in the nearest public school. Meanwhile, the VOHCS staff and teachers kept looking for a place that would best meet the needs of the children.

An opening came when Samahang Maralita ng Isla Puting Bato, a grassroots organization, planned to move its operations to another barangay. VOHCS Director for Administrative Affairs Cristina Gellor and VOH Administrator Noeh R. Vios met up with its president and discussed the possibility of renting the place it would vacate.

In due time, the wait was over. A contract was signed. A general clean-up drive was carried out. Chairs, tables, boards, and other school equipment were transported to the area. A date was decided upon.

On Tuesday, November 6, 2012, the VOHCS preschool in Isla Puting Bato officially started its second year of operation. In an opening ceremony, Pastor Nhoy Vista gave an apt teaching on the importance of spiritual values taught to children. Ms. Gellor also reminded the parents of their part in running the school and ensuring that the children are able to comply with its requirements. The parents responded by pledging to give their utmost support to VOHCS while the teachers committed themselves to training the children with excellence and tender care.

VOHCS Assistant Teacher Elsa de Leon welcomes Isla Puting Bato children
to the school's second run.

Together with their parents, VOHCS children sing the national anthem
on their first school day in 2012.