Special kids displaced by Taal blast find sanctuary in Baguio

Four days after Taal Volcano’s eruption, the inhabitants of Chosen Children Village (CCV) in Silang town, Cavite province, faced an untenable situation: No water, no electricity, all the plants and vegetables in their farm were covered in ash. The 70 children with special needs and 15 staff members needed to be evacuated.

By midnight, two buses lent by British School Manila arrived to evacuate them. Their destination: Baguio City.

Sr. Benita Reyes, mother superior of St. Scholastica Convent in Baguio, welcomed them with open arms.

“Why Baguio?” Lita Peypoch Fullerton, founder of CCV, was asked.

Outpouring of generosity

Her childhood memories of summers spent in Baguio convinced her that this would be the place to seek sanctuary from Taal’s wrath. The cool climate, similar to Silang’s, would put both children and staff at ease.

Since their arrival in Baguio, she has been in awe at the outpouring of generosity from the city residents. Vegetables and bananas arrived from La Trinidad town in Benguet province. More than enough blankets and clothes have been donated. A fast-food chain sponsored a “merienda” for the children.

The children and staff have moved to an unfurnished, eight-room transient home in Loakan. Their future remains uncertain, shrouded in gray columns of ash.

Fullerton refused to return to Silang until the alert level returns to a safe 1. She said it’s possible that the one-month stay in Baguio may extend to two or three.

As their situation unfolds, CCV welcomes monetary help that will go to their rent, food, transportation and medicine, and their long-term needs.

Upon their return to Silang, they will clean up and rehabilitate 14 buildings on the 4-hectare property, replant trees and vegetable gardens. A generator for the farm and water supply needs to be bought.

They hope to have a bigger escape vehicle like a bus. At some point, they need to consider transferring the children’s village permanently to a safer location.

For now, they have found a safe haven in Baguio. Fullerton said, “I can’t get over how generous the people in Baguio are!”Abandoned children

CCV began in a rented home in Las Piñas on March 15, 1989, before it moved to Silang in 1994. Fullerton founded it “to provide a home environment with a family setting for abandoned children with physical and mental disabilities.”

At CCV the children are helped in becoming “independent and self-reliant despite their disabilities … to attain a more meaningful, productive and satisfying way of life.”

The village houses 11 cottages, a chapel, a school, administration clinic and physical therapy. Vegetable gardens and farm animals allow them to be self-sustaining.

For more information on CCV and how to help via donation and sponsorship, visit their website at www.chosenchildren­foundation.com.