This past weekend we spent with the kids from the Childrens Village and my heart hurts. They taught me so much in so little time, just about life and love.
We left Mactan on Friday around 10a.m. with Lets Share TV on an adventure I will never forget. I boarded the boat with 2 Americans, 1 lady from Holland, a young male missionary from Spain, a half malaysian-filipino and a Belgium music producer. Eric, part owner of Lets Share had sent out a message to anyone who wanted to join the trip to Leyte and I was lucky enough to receive it. His mission is to help others, help others and by building a network of people, it will help charitable organizations be known and receive assistance from others. Sounds like my exact type of work.
The boat was set to sail for Southern Leyte, where we would be docking at a little fishing village near Padre Burgos. It took about 4 hours on the bright yellow Lets Share bangka and we were all happy to leave the mugginess of Mactan and have the wind flying through our hair and the taste of the sea in our mouths. The air of the ocean felt amazing as we headed into the vastness of the ocean.
We arrived on the most peaceful fishing village, where palm trees just lined the entire beach strip and all you could see was a tiny wisp of smoke from a near by campfire. Well... in the Philippines it's just a pile of burning garbage, but anyway. Tired from the journey and the excitement from the night before, I ate and went straight to bed to prepare for the next morning. 16 children from the village would be arriving at 10a.m. to join us on the Lets Share bangka for a day of swimming at Limasawa Island. Limasawa actually translates to Five Wives, though I am not sure exactly why.
The next morning we woke up feeling refreshed and as we sat finishing our breakfast, the children showed up at the entrance of the resort. The little faces stared at us in wonder and their little heads bobbed up and down with their bright eyes scanning each and every one of us. They were all wearing yellow Lets Share t-shirts given to them from the last visit and they held on to each others hands waiting for the next adventure. There was one House Mother, Brinda and a House Father, Angel that joined us on the 20 minute bangka trip to Limasawa.
The weather hadn't looked promising but as soon as we reached the island, the sun came out and smiled upon us. Perfect timing! The kids wasted no time and the ones who could swim jumped straight into the warm, green water. We gave out snorkels and masks and used the boat as a jungle gym, laughing and playing in the water. I ended up teaching one little girl how to swim and giving her encouragement. she kicked around happily and managed to give me a swollen eye with her left foot by accident, but it was worth it. We swam for 3 hours only to pause for lunch which was brought out on to the boat.
They were so eager to get back in the water, trying to pull me back in but I was eager to bring out my paint. So I did. I only had 4 paintbrushes, so myself and the others had to finger paint, which actually worked out alright and there were no complaints. Oh how talented these little ones were. They were so full of excitement and happiness, dipping their little fingers into the colours and mixing all of them together. I taught them primary and secondary colours and they happily created flowers, boats, blobs and whatever their little minds could think of. I asked them all to sign their name and show the camera their artwork. Even the house mother and the girlfriend of Eric, painted. And when we were finished, they all helped clean up and place their paintings in a neat row so they could dry. They even took the brushes and rinsed off all the paint and wiped up spilt paint with their wet bathing suits since they would be jumping back into the ocean anyway. How cute!
The day ended sooner than we wanted, but they didn't complain as they changed back into dry clothing and watched the ocean as the boat took them back to their island. We were all exhausted but happy. It was time to go, but we waved good-bye and promised them we would be back with them tomorrow.
Kyle and I ended the day laying out on the beach watching the night fishermen, listening to the ocean and staring up at all the foreign constellations. We saw a few shooting stars and the sky was full of the Milky Way. We lay there long enough to watch the stars move across their dark blanket. I found one constellation which stretched across the whole sky.
Anytime I look at the stars I am always reminded of last summer when I watched the sun set over the Grand Canyon and became enveloped in the darkness. I will never know darkness like I did that night and I wonder if that is how it felt right before the Big Bang happened.
we fell soundly asleep in our beds as there was a brand new day ahead of us tomorrow. We would be visiting the beach where the kids often played and then make a trip to their homes.
At noon the next day we got picked up by Jeurgen Schneidt. He is the founder and the president of KinderHilfe Philippines, Childrens Village and is basically a saint. He has devoted over 25 years of his time to helping hundreds of children receive love, care, shelter, education and medical attention. With very little sponsorship and donations, he has still managed to create a village with 10 homes that could house 14-16 children, all with House Mothers there 24/7. His wife left him to return back to Germany and so he does this all on his own, with his own pension. His main 3 projects are the Childrens Village, the medical attention where he has managed to actually receive help from doctors in Cebu who operate on his children for FREE! His other project is to build hospitals, schools and day care centres here in Leyte, of course funded entirely on his own.
After spending the day playing games with the children at their beach (which is really nothing but rocks and coral - the best part is the trees and the land) we got the chance to visit their homes, and is it ever beautiful. The love, and the care the children get really is incredible and the homes are really very beautiful. If I had been placed in a foster home, I would have loved this one. I spoke to the House Father the previous day and he had told me that the children do have families, however they are temporarily placed in this institution after they have been assessed. If the child's family can not provide for the child financially, physically or spiritually, they are brought to the village until they are graduated high school. Around that time they are released back to their families. However many come back in the summer to help the village or receive sponsorship for college. If they have no place to return to, then of course they can stay in the village.
The people who work here are amazing. They work non-stop 24/7. I got the chance to meet the newest member of the village, a one month year old baby boy. One little girl brought me into the house to meet him and I spent time with one of the House Mothers, where she told me life is hard and it's a lot of work, but she says it is definitely worth it. Jeurgen says it's quite difficult sometimes though because on several occasions he has had to let staff and house mothers go because they were caught stealing donation money. Jeurgen said the money is hard to come by, but when you see the wall of achievements, it's incredible that he could do so much just out of his own pocket. He has sacrificed so much for these little kids, but he is so happy to do it. It's amazing.
And when you see the kids... the moment we stepped out of the car they came running and smiling and laughing. They waited patiently as Jeurgen showed us around and once we were done with the adults, the kids from the previous day pulled us into the grass and jumped on us begging us to play. So we did. They were so curious, asking us what our favourite songs were, our favourite games.. anything they could think of. We jumped around, spun around, danced, sang.. I taught them 'I feel Good' by James Brown and they told me stories, how long they have been there, what they do, who visited them... and how very few people come to see them. Some days they feel trapped, but most days they are so happy knowing they are being cared for and that they are loved and they can look forward to the day when Eric brings people to visit and play with them. At 7pm the kids get ready to go to bed as they have school very early the next day... so sadly, we had to say good-bye. They asked, when are we coming back? And I had to be honest and say, I don't know... but I will not forget you. I gave whatever I had on me to the girls. My sandals, my hair elastic... my love. They told me they would miss me. They would miss us... and a few held our hands and cried as we walked to the car. Oh, how my heart hurt. I can see the sadness in their eyes and on their face... how much they want to leave with us, but they can't.
I wondered if they felt anything like I did when I was a kid. If they feel abandoned and if they truly understand what their parents are trying to do for them. I hope when they are older they can, but the best part about the Childrens Village, is really just the amount of love and support they have from each other. In a community where everyone is experiencing the same thing, it's so wonderful they can be together to help each other through it.
I'll be going back again, for sure. This time with more remembrances for everyone. The kids call items you give them remembrances. Jeurgen is also getting old and he fights the corruption here in the Philippines, but one day, he says, he knows he will be gone and what will happen then? None of the money will go to really helping the children.. but anyway he says, until that day he will continue on strongly supporting these children on his own.
If you ever want to go see him and his kids, they would love it. They will open your heart, break it in half and glue it back together stronger. That's what those kids do... If you want to support, please make a donation. He is someone I admire, and who I will try to support as much as possible. You can contact him on his website:
You may also contact me or Eric from Lets Share TV if there is anything you would like to do to help.
Kinderhilfe Philippens, Childrens Village
Padre Burgos, Southern Leyte
http://kinderhilfe.zdf.de
Mailyne - Visual Art.Modeling.Photography.Video.Writing.
