Caring for Special Children

For the past 16 years, the Rotary Club of Manila (RCM) has been actively supporting Hospicio de San Jose, home to about 56 special children who were born with neurodevelopmental disorders. RCM supports the children’s occupational and physical therapy to develop their mental and physical faculties and the self confidence that will allow their assimilation into mainstream society. The children are taught to be self-reliant in such basic personal needs as eating and expressing themselves.

Members of RCM hold yearly summer picnics, Halloween parties, and Christmas fellowships for the children - annual socialization events that help the children to participate in group activities such as dancing and group games, and to train them to behave in socially acceptable ways.

RCM’s involvement started as a matching grant project way back in 2001 during the presidency of Sebastian “Buster” Arrastia, in cooperation with the University of the Philippines’ College of Allied Medical Professions, the Hospicio de San Jose, and the Rotary Club of Osaka East.

But RCM has not limited itself to providing funds for the children’s therapy. Bearing in mind that the environment has a significant effect on the development of each special child, in August 2016, RCM and its sister club, the Rotary Club of Osaka East, installed a grid-tied roof-mounted solar power system worth US$12,000, that enabled Hospicio de San Jose to provide airconditioning in the area occupied by the special children without adding to the cost of electricity.

Last Christmas, a get-together with the children was again organized by the Rotarians of RCM, led by Project Chair. Philip Ong and Co-Chair. Ray Davis. It was an extraordinary treat for the children, as well as the elderly who were invited to join the event. Gifts were generously distributed, but more than the gifts, the warmth of hugs and the attention given to them brought bright smiles to their faces.