Category: Arts, Places and Events
(photo: from Left, the author with her PWU friends)
C.R.I.B.S., as what we have discovered after our short briefing in Philippine Women's University (PWU), is an abbreviation for Creating Responsive Infants By Sharing. The center is made up of a compassionate, professional and responsive group of staff and volunteers committed to do the healing, recovery and development of abandoned, surrendered, neglected and sexually abused children and their families. And according to the information that I have read in their posters and displays, it is licensed by the DSWD as a child welfare agency. C.R.I.B.S. has a receiving home program that provides an alternative home environment for abandoned, surrendered and neglected children aged one day to 4 years old. It is maintained by a staff of professional caregivers and is able to support a maximum of 25 babies at any given time.
During the briefing, we were asked one by one about the reasons why we want to volunteer in that facility. Different thoughts encompassed my mind until I finally muttered that I want to volunteer myself because I want to apply what I have learned in theory as a nursing student and to be able to give myself to other people. I know that that phrase is already a cliché' but volunteering really gives me a good feeling that I am able to give some of my time and care for other people. It somehow gives me a sense of purpose and meaning.
After the briefing and changing of shirts and socks, we were assigned to the crawlers (less than 1 year old) and the toddlers ( 1 to 3 years old). It was Rica, Maa'm Tere and me who were assigned to the crawlers while Jack, Anna and Ate Linda marched to the second room to meet the toddlers. When we entered the room and saw the crawlers doing their own businesses, I began to ask myself "Why did their parents neglected them…?". They were like cute little angels. At first, I was kind of apprehensive to touch them because of the numerous rules that was mentioned to us a while ago for fear that I'll commit a mistake. One more thing also is that they are very small and fragile so I just observed them at first. I have noticed that the seven crawlers each had their own personalities. Leah was the first one that I carried and she really craves for attention. She knows how to move with the music and clap her hands. Rodel was also like Leah in the sense that they are very friendly toward their caregivers. They perform certain tricks and emanate certain smiles to catch your attention. Rico and Vincent, who were the smallest in the group, were the most behaved. Give them a book or a toy to read and they already transported to their own worlds. Ryan, who was a half Caucasian was also behaved at first but had tantrums after a while. The most difficult to handle was Alfred who I first saw in the slide shouting and crying for no reason at all. I was able to quiet him down when I put him beside the window but his tantrums began again when the story books were distributed among the crawlers. And lastly, I'm not sure if Nikki was the one who has cerebral palsy but she was the most quiet of the lot due to her condition. How time flies when you are really enjoying what you do because the 2 hours that we have spent with the kids were like only 30 minutes. After playing with them, looking after them and feeding them..we all said our goodbyes. I really love children so the time that we spent with them was a lot of fun and a memorable experience for us all.
Looking back, I learned that volunteerism is a virtue that we all have to acquire. It is through it that we are able to truly show the essence of altruism which is to help others and be of service to other people without expecting anything in return. The act of sharing was also emphasized. Second, I also realized how lucky I am to have responsible and loving parents who took care and watched over me and my sister over the years. The innocent children in C.R.I.B.S. were intentionally neglected and abandoned by people who call themselves parents. Those children should not suffer more and should be placed in the hands of qualified foster parents to allow them to experience the warmth of parental care and family life. And lastly, we were able to enjoy each others company and made new friends through this activity…old friends like Rica and new ones like Maam Tere, Ate Linda, Anna and Jack who also made my day worthwhile. I hope that Peer Facilitators Society of PWU would schedule more activities like this in the future because it is an activity which is very educational and meaningful. And I also hope that we visit C.R.I.B.S again. …
Written By: Lani Diana Santos
Date: May 1, 2006
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