IN HER NEIGHBORHOOD in Samar, Jinky Adona used to ?borrow? babies just to take care of them. Now, she is treating more than 20 youngsters as her own at the center of Save Our Souls (SOS) Children?s Village Philippines in Lipa City in Batangas.

Adona, 34, along with 12 unmarried women, is looking after 123 orphaned, abandoned and neglected children at the center in Barangay Banay-Banay. She has assumed a mother?s role to the children for 13 years since she was 21 years old in 1997.

SOS Children?s Village Philippines is a private, nonpolitical and nondenominational organization that provides long-term family-based care and education to children in need.

?My first ?child? was an 8-year-old and I told myself that when it was about time for the child to leave this village, I will stop mothering,? Adona says. But a 4-year-old boy suddenly arrived and she was assigned to take care of him. Everything has changed since then.

?It is a very fulfilling experience?the boy growing up with you, sleeping beside you, and you feeding, teaching and molding him to be a good person. I really feel like a real mom,? Adona says.

She says that whenever she went back to Samar for a few days? vacation, she would miss the children and would feel like pushing time so her leave would soon be over.

?At first, my parents opposed the idea of being a mother in this village, thinking this is a convent,? Adona says. ?But when they saw the village and understood well what the children were going through, they would urge me to go back at once.?

At present, she is taking care of six children in the community.

Adona says marriage is not on her mind because she already feels complete with the children. And she earns at the same time, receiving a monthly salary of P15,000.

Thoughtful

Adona?s grownup children who had left the center visit her every Sunday. One of them is Jayson, now 19, who says his Mama Adona had taught him to be generous always.

The surrogate mother proved from the beginning that one can be mature and responsible even at a young age. Her exceptional nurturing character, youthfulness and happy disposition have paved the way for her winning the trust, love and confidence of the children.

Adona motivates them to excel in their talents and gifts.

For her accomplishments, Adona is one of the four SOS mothers who recently received the SOS Ring of Honor awarded by Helmut Kutin, president of SOS Children?s Villages International. The other awardees are Geraldine Alvarez and Arcilita Geñoso, from SOS Children?s Village Lipa, and Leonila Enriquez, from SOS Children?s Village Manila.

The Ring of Honor is awarded to SOS mothers who have reached 10 years of service and have displayed loyalty to and solidarity with the SOS community through their life and work, and have promoted these values considerably.

The four awardees, along with eight others from Lipa and Manila, were also given the Mother?s Statute, which describes the responsibilities and establishes the rights and obligations of an SOS mother.

Kutin said he was proud that the Philippines is represented by outstanding and beautiful mothers. He said they expected the mothers to make commitments to the children.

Like a regular family

?We will not let them (mothers) down as long as they never let their children down,? Kutin said.

Architect Mary Anne Espina, president of the SOS Lipa board of trustees, says center in Lipa is the first in the country. It started in 1967 with nine family houses. The first SOS mothers made it their home in 1968.

On Nov. 23, 2006, three family houses were added. Today, the village has a social center, a kindergarten school and a youth facility.

?Many would mistake this for an orphanage, but this is an adopting village,? Espina says.

She adds that the SOS Village coordinates with the Department of Social Work and Development in verifying whether a child is indeed abandoned, neglected or orphaned.

After the children finish schooling and are ready to leave the village and work, they are not required to do anything in return for the village.

?It?s like a regular family,? she says. ?We also do not talk about the past here; we talk about the present and the future.?

She says the children could go to any school they want and if they want to go back to their biological parents, they can do so as long as the parents are prepared to welcome them back.

Neglected child

Jean, 18, a neglected child, says there was a big difference between living at the SOS village and occupying a barangay hall in Manila with her mother and three siblings.

She used to live in Bulacan, but her parents separated because of her father?s addiction to drugs.

?My father sold our house for his vice so my mother decided to leave him. She brought us to Manila,? Jean recalls. She says they stayed in a barangay hall, which was very uncomfortable ?because it was not our own.?

At the Lipa village, Jean and her three siblings can study and never get hungry. When she finishes studying and gets a job, Jean says she would look for her mother to help her.