Rolly Tablatin: ‘It's All Up to You’

Former street kid Rolly passed the A and E exam along with his brother, Roberto “JR” Tablatin, Jr. (Read JR’s testimony here). Rolly is now eligible to proceed with his secondary education, while JR and other students at CCT Magdalena – Arnold de la Cruz and Daniel Seth Jerusalem – are now qualified to enter college. Last June 13, they all attended a graduation ceremony led by the Department of Education Bureau of Alternative Learning System for the students in Laguna. Below is an excerpt of Rolly's testimony.

I am Rolly Tablatin, 18 years old. I am among those who passed the Alternative Learning System (ALS) Accreditation and Equivalency (A and E) examination. 

When I was about to take the exam, I was nervous but I remembered to pray so that I would feel calm. I just offered everything to God. He gave me wisdom to answer all the questions from different subjects. I did not run out of answers and it seemed like everything that I reviewed was in the exam.

In the essay part, I just kept on writing and I even included a Bible verse. But, I wasn't able to write a long piece because there wasn't enough time. 

I had doubts about passing but I told the Lord, “It’s all up to You. If I would pass the exam, thank You. If I wouldn't, thank You still.”

I thank Him because He allowed me to pass the ALS exam. I also thank those who have been helping me in my studies. May the Lord bless you!

 

Rolly proudly shows his diploma.

Rolly's diploma qualifies him to continue with high school.

 

Rolly (third from the left) attends the ALS graduation
with fellow CCT Magdalena boys.

Yes to Gardening, ROS Kids Say

Can little ones develop a love for gardening? "Yes!" say the children at Visions of Hope Rose of Sharon House of Friendship (ROS) in Brgy. Puypuy, Bay, Laguna. The children not only learn the science of tending plants and animals in agriculture class. They also get to see and feel for themselves God's provision through His creation.

ROS kids dutifully tend their plots of vegetables.

Beginning in October 2013, 23 ROS children who are nine years old and above discovered the basics of vegetable seedling preparation, transplanting, and harvest in twice-a-week classes that combine lecture and hands-on organic gardening.

Biblical truths such as valuing the abundance, diversity, and interrelationships of all of God's creation and our stewardship mandate as human beings are integrated in the agriculture lessons. The class also teaches the children, former street-dwellers, about becoming self-sustainable.

Agriculture teacher Rey Sibi relates that the children were in awe when they saw the first buds of their pechay (Chinese cabbage) come out of the earth. Working in groups, they dutifully cared for plants in 20 plots, regularly watering and applying organic fertilizer to these. With organic gardening skills, they would know how to grow food in ways that are productive and friendly for the environment.

"When they got to eat their pechay after harvest time, they could not stop raving about literally tasting the fruit of their labor," Teacher Rey says.

The produce was sold to the canteens of ROS and CCT Magdalena, and to ROS neighbors and visitors. The children divided their earnings among themselves, and with the help of Teacher Rey, started a savings group. They plan to withdraw their money at the end of the year.

Some of them want to give their savings to their families when they go home for the Christmas break, while the others plan to use it to buy things for school.

Other vegetables that the children planted and harvested were tomatoes, eggplants, and cucumber. While the weather is not fit for planting this summer, the children at ROS are raising 40 free-range chickens which they intend to sell after 45 days.

It's pechay harvest time! 

In groups, ROS kids weigh their produce after harvest.

VOH Child Wins at Swimming Meet

“I was determined to give it my all and I succeeded,” says Visions of Hope (VOH) child Angelica Zafe, 15, in Filipino describing her swimming victory at the 2nd Nikki Coseteng Motivational Splash. “Unlike a few others who stopped in the middle of their laps because they thought they were losing, I kept going.” 

Angelica placed third in the extra heat of the 50 meter freestyle for girls and bagged second place in the final round of the same category. The meet, held at Diliman Preparatory School on May 12, 2013, was organized by the Philippine Swimming League (PSL) and was a gathering of more than 400 PSL-trained beginner teams from different parts of the country.

Angelica Zafe (in black shirt) celebrates with other members of the
Center for Community Transformation (CCT) Swimming Team.
Others  from CCT-VOH who won in the extra heat round were 
John Mark Torres, Jervie Magat, Rico Meras, John Paulo Caparas, 
and Jennylou Lumbang.  

Her interest in swimming, Angelica says, began while growing up in the densely populated district of Tondo in Manila where she used to sneak out of the house to swim with friends.

Angelica and sister Angelina have been in the care of VOH for over a year now. Their father, a janitor, and their mother, who does occasional domestic jobs, did not earn enough to provide for the family. Though the Zafe siblings were able to go to school, they constantly worried about not being able to submit school projects. Starting late 2011, the family resorted to collecting recyclable waste from the street. But still, that was not enough. They were evicted from their rented house, and the siblings had to drop out of school.

Tears well up in Angelica’s eyes as she describes four months of living in Luneta Park. Flattened cardboard boxes served as their bed. A thin plastic mat under these kept water from seeping through. When it rained they would sit close with their few belongings between them, holding another plastic sheet over their heads. “At night I would try to stay awake as long as I could to keep watch,” Angelica says.

Looking back, Angelica realizes how precious a full night of sleep is, something she is able to experience at VOH Rose of Sharon House of Friendship (ROS) in Bay, Laguna. She is thankful for food that is more than enough as well. In the eighth grade at nearby Masaya National High School now, she has grown healthier and fit for sports training.

From April 1 to May 12 this year, Angelica and other VOH children were trained by PSL coaches. The crude strokes she learned when she was younger were corrected and made suitable for competition. “Swimming for three and a half hours five days a week was not easy,” she says, “But all the hard work paid off when I joined the swimming event.”

Angelica looks forward to more swimming training at ROS. She also wants to try out for her school’s swim team soon.

A coach from PSL closely checks VOH children's strokes. 

VOH children learn to swim laps in ROS's six-lane pool.

The CCT Swimming Team warms up before competing at the
2nd Nikki Coseteng Motivational Splash.

VOH Children Receive Early Christmas Gifts, Serve Others

Whoops of delight filled the room as 53 Visions of Hope children opened shoe box gifts to find colorful toys, school supplies, fashion accessories, clothes, candies, toiletries, and letters from the givers.

It was the 24th of July, but for the children from the Rose of Sharon House of Friendship (ROS) and Magdalena boarding schools in Laguna, it seemed like Christmas. In the morning, they welcomed 34 Filipino and American volunteers from Operation Christmas Child (OCC) with leis and music and a program where some VOH girls did a dance interpretation of Hillsong’s “I Believe.” In the afternoon, they helped the OCC volunteers give out shoe box gifts to about 300 children at the neighboring Puypuy Elementary School. This became an opportunity for them to serve others in their community.

OCC is a project of Samaritan’s Purse, an international relief organization. Through OCC, volunteers collect and pack gifts in shoe boxes for distribution to needy children around the world.

After hearing about the life-changing love of Jesus Christ in stories told by the OCC volunteers, the VOH children lined up to receive their Christmas gifts. They were instructed to close their eyes and, while holding their gifts, pray about what they wanted to find. At the count of ten, all of them opened their gifts.

Eleven-year-old VOH child Carmela Panis, who used to live on the street with her family, said she wanted to receive shoes, sunglasses, toiletries, and school supplies but was glad to get necklaces, combs, a pair of cloth slippers, lip gloss, wallet, a small bag, drawing pads, and adhesive bandages. She described these as beautiful.

Thirteen-year-old Janelie Clavel, on the other hand, giggled about getting a box meant for a younger girl. But that did not make her less grateful for her new Barbie doll, as well as for the new clothes which she prayed for. She also got toiletries and flash cards to help her practice addition and subtraction.

Since she moved to ROS, Carmela said, she is able to eat three times a day and have a permanent dwelling, instead of having to always wander around. She also found people who mentor and correct her. Her mother, who stayed at the Center for Community Transformation Kaibigan Center in Manila for a time, died of cancer last year, and Carmela misses her dearly. She said that aside from the provision of her basic needs, she prays to be content despite her loss, and to know God more and draw nearer to Him. She thanked her shoe box giver and the volunteers who came to share their lives with her, and whom the Lord used to help change her life. 

Janelie and her older brother Michael were referred to VOH a year ago after he ran away from their home in Cavite. Janelie had to quit school after the fourth grade because her parents could no longer afford to send her and her five siblings to school. Today, she enjoys reading and writing. She related that in her former school, she learned unruly behavior from her classmates, but at ROS, she appreciates the rules she has to follow and the teachers who give enough attention to her learning needs. She dreams of also becoming a teacher someday and of taking her family out of poverty.

Carmela Panis interacts with a volunteer
from OCC while checking her shoe box gift.

Janelie Clavel (left) strikes a happy pose
after opening her gift.

OCC  volunteers, seen here with VOH children, also helped cover books for the ROS library. 

VOH children line up and help give gifts to the children
from Puypuy Elementary School.

VOH Children, Families Bond on 1st Family Day

The children at the two Visions of Hope (VOH) boarding schools in Laguna have a common wish – to see their families every chance possible. On June 29, 2013, that wish was granted when VOH organized the first family day to bring the children and their families together in a time of worship, celebration, and dialogue.

Frances (left) and Jireh (middle) gets a tight embrace
from their mother after they sang and gave her white roses.

The boarding schools, which house children who otherwise would grow up on the street, are run by the Visions of Hope Foundation, a member of the Center for Community Transformation (CCT) Group of Ministries. The parents of about 50 % of the children are actively involved with the CCT’s Kaibigan Ministry which reaches out to specifically to street dwellers. Some of the parents are employed as service staff at the CCT support office or at branch offices, and others have jobs as construction workers. Five of the children are orphans formerly under the care of the Department of Social Welfare and Development. The parents of most of the rest of the children still live on the street, often attending CCT’s feeding program.

Almost half of the 73 children had visitors on family day, the highest number in years, as noted by VOH staff. Previously, the parents paid simultaneous scheduled visits once every two months but this was the first time there was a set of planned activities they were able to enjoy together.

The day began with the weekly corporate worship service, where the children sang and danced. They also offered white roses and a thank you song to their families. Those who did not have visitors gave roses to their house parents and teachers. Parents and children who celebrated their birthdays in June were surprised with birthday cakes. Parents joined the games that followed, while their children cheered, and they shared meals during lunch time. A dialogue with the parents – which included reports on health, academics, and home care – wrapped up the day. In the meeting, parents expressed their opinions and asked questions about partnering with VOH in taking care of the children.

The boarding school in the town of Bay houses boys ages 3 to 12 and girls ages 4 to 15. The Magdalena boarding school houses boys 9 to 19 of age. 

Grace, who danced during the program, is glad
that she can spend time with mother Nida. 

Frances Bumby, nine, is proud about the fact that her younger sister, Jireh, sang and danced during the program. She was also pleased that her mother, who visits them regularly, won second prize in a food-eating contest. Frances wishes that family days will be done more often.

In 2012, she and her family were stuck in Luneta, a public park in Manila, for a few days because they did not have fare to return to their rented house in Navotas, a city directly north of Manila. They joined a CCT-led feeding program, and she and Jireh were later referred to VOH. Frances prays for a permanent home and for God’s daily protection to be upon her family. 

Unlike Frances, 15-year-old Mary Grace Torres said that before family day, she last saw her mother, Nida, at the end of 2012. This is because she tells Nida to save the money she would have spent visiting. Grace said that even though she is able to talk to her mother on the phone every weekend, her presence on family day was so much better.

Grace’s family lived on the street when she was eight years old after her father died, and Nida had no choice but to place Grace and her two siblings in different foster homes as they were growing up. Nida now works as service staff at the CCT support office. Grace prays that her family would stay strong in the Lord, and that she would be able to help them get out of poverty someday.

VOH children who were born in June celebrated their birth month with cakes.

Children and other parents cheered for fathers who joined an eating contest.

Frances's mother (second from right) won second in an eating
contest among mothers.

VOH-PSC Sports Training Becomes A Community Affair

The Visions of Hope Foundation (VOH), in partnership with the Philippine Sports Commission’s (PSC) Women in Sports Program, hosted a free three-day sports training in May. The training was primarily intended for the CCT-VOH Rose of Sharon House of Friendship Boarding School in Laguna but an invitation was extended to children in the community, and 120 boys and girls from Puypuy also joined the sports clinics.

The VOH boarding school, located in Brgy. Puypuy, Bay, ministers to children who used to be street dwellers. Out of about fifty children who are housed in the facility, 32 boys and girls who are between the ages of six and seventeen joined the sports training.

PSC Commissioner and former swimming Olympian Gillian Akiko Thomson-Guevarra sent some of PSC's best coaches to give the Puypuy children quality training. Coach Gregory Colmenares led swim classes attended by 41 children, 62 children learned badminton from Coach Dennis Orense, Coach Roy Cortel taught 11 children table tennis, and Coach Jarod Hubalde instructed 38 children on the basics of volleyball. 

The parents from the community were at first hesitant to enroll their children because some of them thought that the boarding school was scouting for students. However, when they learned about VOH’s work and PSC’s community programs, they were happy to let their children sign up, and the sports training became a community affair. VOH children made new friends with their Puypuy neighbors as they learned a new sport together and shared meals in the shade of trees on-campus. Several parents volunteered in keeping the children in order while the sports clinics were ongoing. Barangay officials also pitched in by allowing the use of the Puypuy covered court for the volleyball activities.

The PSC coaches said that several children showed much potential. They gave VOH volleyball and nets, table tennis rackets, and badminton sets so that the children can continue practicing their chosen sport. The campus has a 25-meter long pool where the swimmers can continue to train.

Lala Salili, VOH executive director, said, "Thank God for sports and that through classes like these the children can learn physical self-discipline, find out what it means to work with a team, and develop socially and emotionally."

The sports training was held on May 7 to 9, 2013.

To read a related story on PSC’s Women in Sports Program, click here: http://www.web.psc.gov.ph/index.php/9-news/68-women-in-sports-sa-naga.

Coach Jarod leads the volleyball clinic in Brgy. Puypuy's covered court.

Girls each get to try serving the ball.

Children practice their strokes before plunging into the pool.  

Parents and children from VOH and Puypuy community share meals and stories during lunch. 

100 VOHCS Children Drink Milk for 40 Days

Super G child Jizelle Hallera from VOHCS Caloocan
gains healthy weight after the milk program.

Seven-year-old Jizelle Hallera used to be underweight but after forty days of drinking milk every break time at Visions of Hope School (VOHCS) Caloocan, her body mass index (BMI) turned normal. Jizelle, who loves the taste of milk like most of her classmates, became two kilograms heavier and one centimeter taller.

In VOHCS Cabrera, five-year-old Jan Senley Enaje was sluggish but since he started drinking milk, he became active in class and gained weight. Jan’s teacher says he belongs to a very poor family that hardly has anything to eat. He and two of his siblings would sometimes share a sachet of chocolate drink for breakfast, so his teacher gave him one box of milk to take home.

Super G child Jan Senley Enaje from VOHCS Cabrera
becomes active and energetic in class. 

Of the 100 VOHCS children who were part of the milk program, Jizelle and Jan were among those chosen as Super G children because they showed the most progress after Visions of Hope’s Super G…in 40 Days milk program. 

“G” in Super G, which stands for gatas or milk, also means ganado (having a good appetite, active, enthusiastic), galing (great), ganda (beautiful), guwapo (handsome), and other words that describe what the children could become at the end of the program.

Super G was initiated when partner organization Kabisig ng Kalahi donated 226.5 kilograms of chocolate flavored powdered milk in January. The milk was distributed to five areas: Cabrera in Pasay City, San Pedro in Laguna, Payatas in Quezon City, Caloocan City, and General Trias in Cavite. VOHCS teachers in those areas administered Super G between January 28 and March 21.

Parents and children from VOHCS General Trias give a thumbs up for Super G. Twenty-six children from
this school, 25 from VOHCS Caloocan, 22 from VOHCS Payatas, 10 from VOHCS Cabrera,
and 17 from VOHCS San Pedro are part of the VOH's Super G...in 40 Days milk program.
   

The 40th day of the milk program was a Super G moment for most of the VOHCS children, teachers, and parents – it was Super Galing and they were Super Grateful. The children’s body mass indexes as well as their behavior and appearance generally improved. Their stamina and appetite increased and they looked healthier, as observed by their teachers. For a number of children, the milk ration filled gaps in their daily food intake because it served as their breakfast, mid-morning snack, or both.

Soccer Team Bags Surprise Win

A team of soccer novices who thought they would only be spectators at a football festival ended up bringing home a trophy.

On March 16, 2013, the CCT Magdalena Soccer Team was all set for a few friendly soccer matches in Los Banos, Laguna but a last minute change brought them to a nearby town for the Calamba Football Festival. Instead of playing, they watched teams from the Laguna Football Association play. But it was not long after the festival organizers gave them a chance to play for free in place of a no-show team.

The CCT Magdalena Soccer Team, also known as the Magdalena Youth Boys Binhi, is composed of 17 former street-dwelling youth housed at the CCT boarding school in Magdalena, Laguna. Its members, aged 13 to 18, are under the care of Visions of Hope Foundation (VOH) and attend the Visions of Hope Christian School (VOHCS). The team has a junior, non-competing counterpart which has seven members aged 8 to 10.

Coached by two German volunteers, the Magdalena boys play soccer every weekday afternoon. In three years of training they had seldom competed against teams their age. 

Early this year, VOH Youth Development Coordinator Dulce Reonico and VOHCS Teacher Fil Jutba touched base with two Laguna Football Association member teams, making way for a friendly match. On March 9, wearing new soccer uniforms from partners in Wholistic Transformation Resource Center and inspired after watching their first ever professional soccer match through the help of Team Socceroo, a football club and academy, the CCT Magdalena Soccer Team won against the University of the Philippines Los Banos Raptors U17! 

A second match was scheduled for March 16, the same day that the Calamba Football Festival was to be held. The Magdalena boys planned to play against the Raptors, and attend the football festival afterward. As they headed to Los Banos, they were advised to instead proceed to Calamba. Little did they know that an opportunity to compete for a title was about to open up. 

The boys competed in eight games from morning until afternoon, and their overall standing sent them to the semi-finals. The crucial game ended with a tie, which was broken with the best-of-three-kicks rule. Much to the boys’ delight, their team emerged as the festival’s third best team! 

Immediately after winning, the Magdalena boys gathered around and kneeled to say a prayer of thanks. The junior team and a group of children from the community prayed with them too. Then, they all shouted “Plenus pectus!” (Full heart!), a slogan adopted from Team Socceroo, and “Glory to God!” 

Before leaving Calamba, the CCT Magdalena Soccer Team received an invitation to join the 2nd Roxas Football Cup on April 20. Various soccer team coaches also gave invitations for tune-ups or friendly matches. The boys celebrated their surprise victory in a small party and are already conditioning themselves for the games lined up.

A member of the CCT Magdalena Soccer Team advances with a kick.  

VOHCS Teacher Fil Jutba serves as the team's head coach during the
Calamba Football Festival.

The team kneels down in prayer after winning third place.

The boys line up in twos to receive their medals.

With the statue of Philippine national hero and Calamba native Dr. Jose Rizal behind them,
members of the CCT Magdalena Soccer Team give a thumbs up after their surprise win.  

VOH Links CCT Partners to Blood Bank

Virginia Mitra (right) accompanies daughter-in-law Emelosa  (left) 
to pay a visit to the VOH office after a scheduled checkup in PGH .

With resources and time running out, sixty-year-old Virginia Mitra travelled from her home in Binan, Laguna to the Visions of Hope (VOH) office in Manila to take a chance on receiving a blood donation for her daughter-in-law, Emelosa. She felt anxious. But also expecting good news, she brought a water jug to keep the bags of blood in, in case these were available. Community Mobilization Program (CMP) Officer Fe Poblete and Covenant Community Builder Ptr. Deonito Espinosa of Center for Community Transformation (CCT) Binan coordinated with VOH Health Team's Dr. John Tabije who assisted Virginia in tapping into the CCT blood bank in the Philippine General Hospital.

Grateful for the two bags of blood that she acquired for free, Virginia hurriedly left the VOH office and beat a two-hour deadline in delivering the bags to a hospital in Laguna. The following day, Emelosa successfully underwent blood transfusion.

Virginia has been a CCT partner for almost five years now while Emelosa recently joined CCT. Before she became busy caring for Emelosa, Virginia was in a direct selling business. She sold cosmetics and herbal products, and also sewed school uniforms and pillowcases. Emelosa, on the other hand, used to sell prepaid electronic cell phone load and ice to her neighbors. December of 2012 was a time of their family’s “deepest sorrow” because it was when Emelosa was first brought to the hospital for acute renal failure and renal anemia. Since then, everything changed for them – both their businesses were stalled, Emelosa’s five-year-old son has been in the care of relatives, and Emelosa’s husband, Rufino, has to work doubly hard to provide for them.

Both Virginia and Emelosa thank VOH for its assistance during their time of need. They also thank CMP Officer Fe who has been a constant source of support, encouragement, and wisdom. They continue to trust God for Emelosa's healing and for provision for their family.

Encouraged by how Emelosa was helped by the CCT blood bank, the CCT partners in Binan are set to organize a bloodletting activity among themselves, with the help of the VOH Health Team’s doctors and nurses.

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.

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).

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. 

Children Receive Christmas Gifts in June

Boys and girls in Bagong Silangan, Quezon City open gifts sent from halfway across the globe. 
Twenty-four children from this group made a decision to ask 
Christ into their hearts during the gift-giving activity. 

Christmas gifts in June? That’s exactly what 130 children from four poor communities in Metro Manila  received right in the middle of 2012! The children are regular attendees of the Visions of Hope Foundation feeding program.  

The gifts, packed in shoe boxes and just in time for the new school year, were from the Operation Christmas Child (OCC) project of the Christian organization Samaritan’s Purse. They included school supplies, hygiene items, small toys, hard candy, and a stuffed animals.  

OCC volunteers have been collecting, packing, and sending gift boxes to needy  children in countries ravaged by natural disasters, famine, war, disease, terrorism, and poverty since 1993.

Malibay, Pasay – Twenty seven children from this community 

received shoe boxes. One of the recipients is a boy who, Sunday after Sunday,

 attended Sunday School wearing the same pair of pants –

 the only pair he owned. Imagine his joy to find in his shoe box  

a pair of pants seemingly tailored exactly for him.  

Isn’t God amazing?

Rosemarie Trinidad, 11, who comes from a family 
of 10 children, said, "Maraming salamat po sa
ibinigay ninyo na mga regalo sa amin!
Napakasaya ko po dahil ngayon lang ako
nakatanggap ng ganito. ("Thank you so much for the
gift!  This makes me so happy because I have
never received anything like this before!)

East Libis, Baesa, Caloocan.-- Thirty three children who 

consistently attend the 

 twice-a-week feeding program here

  received shoe boxes on June 2, 2012.

 Each time they come for a meal,  the children sing songs, 

play a game and listen to a Bible story.  

The story they listened to this day was

 Jesus Calms the Storm from Luke 8.

In Taguig City, 50 shoeboxes were ready for distribution, but because of heavy rains and flooding, only 21 children made it to the CCT Community Center. Later in the day, CCT staff, volunteer workers, and senior members of the Brigada Bata (Children’s Brigade) delivered the gifts to the homes of the children who could not come to the community center.

As a result of the gift giving, many grateful parents have opened their homes for Bible study.