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.

100 CCT Partners Give Blood

CCT partners take turns in donating blood on March 16. 

Nineteen Center for Community Transformation (CCT) micro-entrepreneurs in Binan, Laguna gave blood on March 16, 2013 to help meet emergency medical needs of CCT community partners. They were stirred after fellow Binan community partner, Emelosa Mitra, diagnosed with acute renal failure and renal anemia last year, received blood just in time to save her life. The Visions of Hope (VOH) Health Team linked Emelosa to the CCT blood bank for the blood transfusion. (Read more about Emelosa here.) 

Nurses Joy (left) and Leigh (right) from the VOH Health Team, and a
PGH medical technologist (center) are all smiles after the 
mass blood donation in Binan.

Just like the CCT Binan partners, 21 year-old nurse Rellymin Joy Calano was also happy to give blood. Joy was a blood recipient when she contracted dengue in high school. Thankful for how her life was saved by the generosity of others, Joy donated blood on March 9 at the CCT support office, along with 27 other donors. 

Joy has been part of the VOH Health Team leading mass blood donations in CCT communities since last year. Joy says she gives pep talks to first-time blood donors because she knows they can feel nervous about having blood drawn. 

The VOH Health Team also held mass blood donations in partnership with the Philippine General Hospital in Muntinlupa City on February 16 and in Taguig City on March 2. A total of 53 persons donated blood at these gatherings. 

9-Year-Old VOHCS Child Finishes Preschool

Ryan Gayo (center, second line) graduates with brothers Roy (leftmost), Rene (second from left), and Jeran (fourth from left) from
VOHCS Iloilo in March. Behind the VOHCS children are their teachers and VOHCS Principal Cristina Gellor (second from left, third line).

“My dream is to finish school so I will be able to support my family someday,”  declares nine-year-old Ryan Gayo in Ilonggo. A Visions of Hope Christian School (VOHCS) student from Sitio Ilaya, Tabuc-suba, Jaro, Iloilo, Ryan finished a year of preschool education in March, along with three younger brothers.

VOHCS teachers in Iloilo first met Ryan and his brothers – Jeran, 7, Rene, 6, and Roy, 5 – when they surveyed the community for potential students in mid-2012. Asked if they would like to go to school, the brothers, with sun-burnt skin and bald heads, hesitated. After a minute, Rene said aloud what they were thinking, “We don’t have slippers to wear to school.”

Ryan has eight younger living siblings; three others passed away because of poor health. Sickly himself, Ryan lives with his family in a bamboo house by the river. His father is a pandesal vendor, and his mother washes laundry for a living. His mother only bathes them every two weeks and shaves their heads to save on soap. The family does not even have a toilet. Ryan quit school in the middle of first grade, preferring to go scavenging with his brothers to help out. He got bullied in school, anyway, he says.

Ryan’s parents agreed to send the brothers to VOHCS after they were assured that slippers and school uniforms could be sourced from donors. Teachers raised funds and bought slippers, school shoes, and socks for the Gayo boys and 20 other preschool children. They also bought second hand clothes, and some CCT micro-entrepreneurs donated clothes for the brothers.

The boys’ father brought them to school on the bicycle he uses when hawking pandesal. At their classroom door the boys would pause to put on their slippers, carefully carried from home. After school, they would hang the slippers on a wall at home as if these were prized treasures.

It is customary for VOHCS children and teachers to share food during recess. Ryan and his brothers seldom had snacks to share except on rare times when their father had pandesal leftover from his morning rounds. No one seemed to mind, though.

Despite their lack, the brothers brought their teachers happiness (and sometimes tears of joy) with their zeal for learning. Ryan would gladly read aloud whenever asked. His brother, Roy, volunteered a lot too.

Today, Ryan does not see his poverty as an obstacle to making himself better. He is certain of two things – poverty is transient, and his heavenly Father is able to meet his earthly needs. Hopefully, he carries these truths as he moves forward in life.

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.  

Taguig Youth Gains Confidence Through BB

With the Philippine flag behind her, Brigada Bata Taguig
member Carolyn Abella executes the BB salute.

“Natutunan ko na pahalagahan ang aking sarili bilang kabataan...,” (I learned to value myself as a young person….) relates fourteen-year-old Carolyn Abella about her experience as a Senior Squad member of Brigada Bata 2nd Taguig Company in Taguig City, Metro Manila.

Vision of Hope Foundation’s Brigada Bata (BB) is the Filipino version of Boys’ Brigade, an international uniformed Christian youth organization originating from Great Britain. Brigada Bata instills discipline, leadership, entrepreneurship, love for God, and love for country among pupils of Visions of Hope Christian Schools (VOHCS) as well as among poor children in communities being reached by the Center for Community Transformation (CCT).

When she joined BB in April 2011, Carolyn said her respect for her parents was dwindling because of a problem her family was dealing with at that time. She was rebellious and did not know God personally. But because of her BB training, she said she allowed God to enter her heart and change her life. She started reading the Bible, and said her relationship with her parents was restored after BB taught her about obedience. 

She also started serving others. One way is by helping train VOHCS preschool students to perform BB drills. 

“I learned about my worth as a young person through BB,” Carolyn said. Her newfound confidence and the discipline instilled by BB have made her more active in school activities and helped her excel academically. “Gusto ko laging gawin ang pinakamabuti o ‘yong best ko sa lahat ng ginagawa ko bilang isang BB at bilang isang anak ng Diyos.” (I strive to do my best in all I do because I am a Brigada Bata member and a child of God.) Out of 156 BB members in Taguig, Carolyn was one of eight who received a target award on February 16, 2013 for faithfully attending BB meetings in the last two years.

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 Health Team Equips Volunteers

“Bakit ngayon lang?” (Why only now?) asked Lilia Cepe of Taguig as she expressed gratitude for the wealth of information and the training she gained since she became a Visions of Hope (VOH) community health volunteer.

Lilia is one of 51 community health volunteers mentored by VOH doctors and nurses so that they are able to conduct lectures on several health-related topics in communities where the Center for Community Transformation works. Some of the health volunteers were also taught how to take blood pressure as well as read blood sugar level, body temperature, and body weight using basic medical equipment.

VOH community health volunteers from Caloocan City show their 
certificates after attending a VOH training on tuberculosis in March. 
Health training sessions such as this enable volunteers to train 
others in their community. (Photo by the VOH health team)  

In 2012, VOH health volunteers led 440 training sessions on cancer awareness, oral health, tuberculosis, asthma and pneumonia, family planning, leptospirosis, anemia and leukemia, diabetes and hypertension, eye diseases, proper nutrition, and, dengue and malaria. The lectures were held in poor communities in Metro Manila, Rizal, Laguna, Cavite, Cabanatuan City, Angeles City, Davao, General Santos City, Malungon, and Cotabato.   

The VOH health team recognizes the volunteers’ contribution in spreading health information. "The role these volunteers play in saving lives in poor neighborhoods is significant," said Dr. John Tabije, Peer Servant for VOH Health Care Program.  "Those who attend the lectures will be able to recognize symptoms of dreaded diseases immediately and hopefully seek medical help before it's too late, they will understand the importance of taking medicine as scheduled, and will generally be more knowledgeable of the illnesses that can affect them and their families." 

During a Christmas fellowship on December 13, 2012,  Juditha Jordan of Las Pinas was honored for conducting the most number of health lectures in 2012 --  11 lectures attended by a total of 191 participants.  "Sagot sa panalangin ko ang pagiging bahagi ng VOH" (My involvement with VOH is an answer to prayer), Lilia Cepe said during the same activity.

Aside from training community health volunteers, the VOH health team holds clinic consultations, medical and dental missions, Operation Tuli (circumcision), feeding, and pap smear and blood sugar tests, among others.