We would like to thank everyone who supported our meals program in February. Meals were delivered to over 300 children at Bacoor Elementary School. A dish called arroz caldo was served. Arroz caldo is a Filipino comfort food – a porridge with rice, vegetables and chicken cooked in chicken broth that is eaten in many Asian countries. Filipinos love arroz caldo and will eat it anytime of day.

This activity was conducted by volunteers who unselfishly shared their time and effort in preparing and distributing the meals. Thank you to all who made it possible for these kids to enjoy a much needed meal. I would also like to thank the people of Bacoor who volunteered their time to help facilitate everything. Please check out the pictures so you can see the children that you’re helping.

In November 2010, I went on a two-week backpacking trip to the Philippines with my sister and friend. From Manila, with our 40-pound backpacks, our destination was 9.5 miles away: Bacoor Cavite. A typical 10-minute drive in the States was a three-hour adventure. We first took a tricycle to the train station, then rode the train to a jeepney stop.

Jeepneys. I’ve never seen anything like it – picture a carnival on wheels. Bright colors, wild graffiti and decorative adornments embellished a school-bus-shaped vehicle. We missed our stop, going too far south and had to tread down a dirt road to get to another jeepney stop headed back the way we came. We then took another tricycle to Bacoor Elementary School. We made it!

On our journey, many asked us why we, tourists, were going to visit this town. What is there to do or see in this poor area? Well, today we were going to volunteer with Children’s Hope Fund (CHF), a Denver-based nonprofit organization that provides educational opportunities and resources to impoverished children.

We were greeted by Rosalie Concepcion, a school teacher and volunteer for CHF. She warmly welcomed us into her home where over a dozen volunteers were cooking. This day was an exciting day for 300 children. They were going to receive a hot meal – for free!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA-Y65ywCIk

The Children’s Hope Fund was hosting its monthly meal program that provided one piece of fried chicken, white rice and a juice box to each child. When we arrived at the site in the poor village of Tramo, the children were waiting patiently and orderly in the hot sun. They were lined in rows, each holding “the golden ticket.” Tickets for the free meal were distributed to children in school, as a way of encouraging them to attend.

The volunteers gave us a tour of the area. Many of the homes did not have doors – we could look right into them. They appeared to be formed by upright pieces of wood with a board slapped on top to function as the roof.

Some of the children did not have shoes, running around on the path of dirt and rocks. They were playing with bottle caps. Everyone greeted us with a smile. Many were missing teeth.

When the food arrived, my sister and friend assisted in passing out the meal boxes to the children. I wandered the area taking photos and making conversation with the parents – nearly all were women. Most said they were single mothers, working as the breadwinners for their family. They expressed their gratitude for Children’s Hope Fund. This meal was important to them. Some children had waited in line for more than two hours. Many mothers asked if there would be leftover lunchboxes available for them. I watched the joy on the children’s faces as they enjoyed such a simple meal.

It was an eye-opening experience. With the kind hearts of its volunteers, the Children’s Hope Fund was making a substantial impact on the lives of these children. Rosalie shared a major problem is that after concepts are taught in school, they are not reinforced at home because most parents are not educated enough to help. Many parents shared the same sentiments, but with guilt that they could not provide more for their children.

As my eyes began to well up, I realized that not only do I need to better appreciate what I have, but that there are many ways to help others even on the other side of the world.

With this experience kept firmly in my mind and closely in my heart, we left Bacoor Cavite to Batangas.

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Annie Guo is the President of Asian Avenue magazine, a monthly publication based in Denver, Colorado. This is an excerpt from the magazine.

We would like to thank everyone who supported our free meal program in November.  Hot meals were delivered to children in Tramo, a village in Bacoor, Cavite. There were over 300 children who attended the meal program, some of these kids in this area frequently skip meals or eat too little. Fried chicken, rice and juice was served.

This activity was conducted by volunteers who unselfishly shared their time and effort in the preparation and distribution of the meals. Thank you to all who made it possible for these kids to enjoy a much needed meal. I would also like to thank the people of Bacoor who volunteered their time to help facilitate everything. Please check out the pictures on our Facebook page so you can see the children that you’re helping.

Thank you to everyone for attending our Halloween Boo Bash and Silent Auction Fundraiser and participating in the silent auction. The event was a huge success and we were able to raise over $3000 for Children’s Hope Fund. We hope you had fun and enjoyed the event. Together we made a difference in the future of Filipino children!

Many, many thanks to all of you who came and to all our sponsors who made the event our most successful to date. A big thank you to Michelle, Anna, Brad, Rob, Ken, Fran, Melanie, Maryann, Nichole, Ron and Eric, for volunteering their time to this event many of you spent months preparing for this event. Hats off to you all! You did a tremendous job and through all of your hard work, the event came off as a huge success and I enjoyed working with you. Your continued dedication is very much appreciated. We have thus far had only positive feedback . A heartfelt thank you to all our volunteers and all the staff at Rex Lounge.

All I can say is
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.

We will be updating the website with photos of the event in the coming week. Please visit soon. Thanks again to everyone who contributed their time and efforts.

Children’s Hope Fund coordinated the collection and shipment of donations which were received in Bacoor, Cavite on August 05, 2010. The shipment included backpacks, pens, pencils, notebook, crayons, eraser, used children’s books, shoes, clothing, educational games and other miscellaneous items. Can you imagine how thankful, excited and happy these children were when they saw all that had been sent? I was told by one of our volunteers that English reading books are very rare and all the kids in the neighborhood were excited when they heard that the boxes had arrived – it’s like Christmas in August!

The donated clothing and other miscellaneous items will be distributed to the recent fire and typhoon victims in Bacoor, Cavite. The books, puzzles and other miscellaneous educational items will go to Bacoor Elementary School. CHF volunteers and the Barangay representatives will coordinate the distribution of the donated items.

If you have any books, children’s clothes, children’s shoes that are taking up too much space? Why not put them to good use in the Philippines? We will continue to collect donations and plan on sending more to the Philippines by the end of the year.

We want to thank everyone who has sent donations to help these kids.

Typhoon Conson killed 23 people, left 59 missing and injured 14 others in the Philippines after crossing the main island of Luzon from July 13. The typhoon damaged 3,274 houses, bridges and schools in seven provinces around the capital, Manila, according to the latest situation report posted on the website of the National Disaster Coordinating Council. Power has been restored in some areas hit by the typhoon and damages to infrastructure, fisheries, agriculture and schools amount to 22.3 million pesos ($482,000), it said. In Cavite, floods have subsided in the three coastal towns of Rosario, Bacoor and Noveleta, and in Cavite City. A total of 504,711 persons were affected by the typhoon, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said.

Last year, three typhoons left about 1,000 people dead and 40,000 homes destroyed, mostly in Luzon, the largest Philippine island and where the capital Manila is located.

(source: Business Week)

I visited the Philippines on June 5th just in time for the start of the 2010 school year. We we’re able to help over 100 of the neediest children attend school this year who would otherwise not been able to. The children received a backpack, complete set of school supplies for the year such as pad paper, pencil, sharpener, eraser, notebooks, and a school uniform. They were also given snacks and food packs to take home. The children came from the town of Bacoor in Cavite. I was accompanied by Barangay Captain Nieves Dela Cruz and elementary teacher Rosalie Concepcion, along with our Children’s Hope Fund volunteers. The goal this year is to send over 300 kids to school. We’re still collecting backpacks, school supplies, clothing, and of course monetary donations to help meet our goal.

A small amount of money to pay for school uniforms, school supplies, and school fees often makes all the difference between a child staying in school or dropping out. Education is crucial to these disadvantaged children, without education these children would remain illiterate; they will not have a chance to fight the causes and effects of poverty in their lives and will continue their life of poverty without any hope of change.

My vision is to help create schools where a poor family doesn’t have to provide their own educational materials (their earnings are barely enough to buy food), and over the next fifteen years alter the culture so that education and a better life is a certainty for those who are willing to work for it. Give these children a future, a sense of pride and dignity. So they don’t have it so hard.

I am very grateful for everyone who has supported this project, your help has made a huge impact in the lives of these children. Without your help, none of it would have been possible. Thank you.

“Children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future”
– John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Education paves a way out of poverty yet millions of children around the world don’t attend school because they can’t afford school supplies.  If they don’t attend school they don’t receive an education, and without an education they have very little chance of getting out of the slum.  The simple fact is that fewer children are enrolling in schools – the reason is poverty.  Instead of education, love and care, many children are badly exploited.  Some parents don’t send their children to school because they cannot afford school supplies, uniforms etc. instead they send their kids to work at a young age.  With the donated money we received from friends, family and The Optimist Club of Monaco South in Denver, CO we were able to purchase backpacks, school supplies and uniforms in time to send over one hundred children for the opening of classes on June 15, 2010. Our goal is to help over three hundred impoverished children this year and this is encouraging news to a lot of parents I met on this trip.  Judith, one of the many parents who wish to send their kids to school this year, told me “My parents we’re so poor when I was young they couldn’t afford to send me to school. I only have a first grade education. I want my kids to have a better future than me but because food is more important education has to wait. I’m very afraid that my kids can never have the proper education, that they can never have a bright future.  I don’t want this life for them.”

We have until June 25 to collect backpacks, school supplies, clothing, and of course monetary donations to help with our 2010 Back 2 School Backpack Drive.  Below is a list of items that are needed. Contact us at info@childrenshopefund.org if you would like to donate supplies or clothing.

New or Used Items Needed:

• Children’s Clothing (for ages 4-12)
• Backpacks
• Pencils
• Notebooks
• Erasers
• Chalk
• Arts & Crafts Kits
• Textbooks (K-6, all subjects)
• Teacher’s Manuals (all subjects)
• Dictionaries
• Encyclopedias
• Books (Fiction and Non-Fiction, K-6 levels)
• Educational Videos or DVDs
• Educational Games (Scrabble, etc.)
• Flash Cards (all types)

You can also make a tax deductible donation through Paypal by visiting our website, www.childrenshopefund.org or by mailing a check. A $20 donation will cover school uniforms, supplies, and fees for one student for one year.

We visited Barangay Panapaan, one of the impoverished areas in Bacoor, Cavite, last Friday June 4, 2010. I had to climb a wall to reach where they live because the owner of the lot across the street took their right of way; a narrow alley that leads them to their home because they’re considered squatters and they have no rights, hundreds of them. They live in makeshift houses near a river with muddy water overflowing with garbage.  A lump formed in my throat and I had to struggle to hold back my tears as a group of kids swam and played in this filthy river. It’s heart wrenching to see their living conditions. It breaks my heart, these are real faces, real people, no one deserves to live like that, but the fact remains that the poorest of the Philippines poor live among mountains of garbage and families are scavenging just to survive. The gap between the rich and the poor is immeasurable, but even though these children been through so much over the years I saw smiles on their faces. They greeted me with open arms, hugs, laughter and so much love. I felt the sense of hope and the resilience that exists in each of the people that I met in this area.  Filipinos do not easily give up; they are fighters and survivors and they have the ability to face even the most difficult tests in life with a cheery smile. It’s a sad world, but happiness exists no matter how or where you live. The root and cause of poverty will likely not change in our lifetimes, but I am more inspired and motivated now to help get these kids in school because education is a major tool for these children to help themselves. Let’s save as many as we can.

“A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove…but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.” ~ Forest E. Witcraft

This quote will forever resonate with me.  Our volunteers in the Philippines received over a hundred letters this past week from children dreaming to get an education, each one of them promising to study hard and get good grades. It makes me sad because I know the place of desperation they’re coming from – I’ve been there.  I know the feeling of not knowing if I will be able attend the upcoming school year or not.  I remember walking for miles, rain or shine, to attend school, many times hungry.  As a child I often wondered if there is any good in this world, will God save me from poverty and why a simple goal of getting an education seems so unattainable.  All I wanted to do as a child is go to school and to finish college.  I wanted to be a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher, but my parents could not afford to send me to school.  As a child I cleaned people’s houses, I washed dishes, I sold figurines to people, I sold food on the street, babysat, and washed people’s laundry so I have money to buy supplies for school.  Most of my childhood memories are infused with a sense of constant desperation – “we have no money to buy food”.  In spite of the difficulties, obstacles,  and discouragement somehow I made it!

Sadly, thousands of Filipino children are not as lucky.  So many of them are not going to attend school this year because their family’s total earnings are barely enough to buy food, so there is no money left for things like clothes and shoes, a toothbrush, pens or pencils, and other small items we use daily, often without realizing their true value.   According to UNICEF one billion children are deprived of one or more services essential to survival and development and two million Filipino children are currently not in school.  In response to this need Children’s Hope Fund is launching a Back 2 School Backpack Drive.  School year in the Philippines begins the second week of June; we are collecting school supplies, gently used children’s storybooks, picture books, backpacks, gently used clothes and toys for preschool to 6th grade level. Our goal is to help over 300 in-need children be ready and able to attend school. Please support our Back 2 School Backpack Drive.  For as little as $20.00 you can give a child a head start toward a better future by helping them get an education. Please show your support for these children and join us in reaching out to underprivileged kids in the Philippines.