BACOLOD CITY—Volunteer keepers of a shelter for abandoned and abused children in Bago City in Negros Occidental are scrimping after American donors in the United States pulled back when an economic recession struck the country in 2009.
Despite the meager funds, the Kalipay Negrense Foundation took the task of running the Recovered Treasures Children’s Home in Barangay Busay.
“This was a great challenge for Kalipay that we happily accepted, but we really needed all the help from the government and, most especially, fellow Negrenses,” says Anna Balcells, founder and president of Kalipay, a Hiligaynon word for “happiness.”
At least P250,000 is needed to run the halfway house every month and the foundation doesn’t have the money. But Balcells says the volunteers cannot turn their backs on the children, who are either abandoned, malnourished or physically and sexually abused.
“We just have to keep on. We cannot give up on them,” she says.
The Recovered Treasures Children’s Home was opened in Bago in January 2000 by Rev. Jon Clemons and his wife, Shirley of the Christ Central Ministries of the Philippines Inc., who first named it the Manna House Children’s Home.
Bigger accommodation
It moved to a relatively bigger area in Bacolod City in December of that year to accommodate 14 children. With the number of youngsters seeking shelter rising, it again transferred to a 4.5-hectare complex in Barangay Busay in 2005, where it became the Recovered Treasures Children’s Home.
In January 2008, Trevor Blanton and his wife Karen, also of Christ Central Ministries of the Philippines, took over the facility, which was then home to 75 children. At that time, the place was fully funded by the US-based Partners of Hope.
When the recession hit the United States, funding was cut by more than half in early 2010. Kalipay, a nonprofit foundation working for disadvantaged children, decided to help and shoulder the rest of the facility’s expenses.
Eventually, it completely took over management.
The school and infants’ quarters, however, had to be closed down to cut costs. Since the shelter could no longer afford to keep many children, some had to be returned to their families. Now, only 57 children are left.
School revival
“We are crying out for help and we leave it in the hands of God to touch the hearts of those who can,” Balcells says.
Kalipay also supervises the Haven, which takes care of 30 children in Bacolod. Both facilities are run by full-time house parents and staff members.
The foundation wants to reactivate its school at Recovered Treasures, which offers elementary and high school education, but it needs to raise P100,000 a month to do so.
It hopes to break the cycle of hopelessness among the children by introducing them to education and providing them shelter, healthcare and counseling, Balcells said.
“We … do not believe in institutions. We believe in homes … that encourage love, laughter, security and joy for the children,” said John Gayoso, Kalipay vice president.
Balcells was expected to leave for Barcelona in Spain on Sept. 14 and raise funds for the two homes over two months.
With the help of friends and relatives, she plans to put up Kalipay Spain. A relative in Canada, Daryl Lacson-Wilson, had already established Kalipay Canada as a fund-raising arm.
Spain connection
When she was 16, Balcells, a native of Negros Occidental, left for Barcelona to study and later work. It was there where she got involved in raising funds and finding “parent sponsors” for children in the Philippines.
She stayed in Barcelona for 20 years and moved to Manila where she stayed for eight years before coming home to Negros Occidental in 1998.
When she got involved in Gawad Kalinga, she wrote to her relatives and friends in Spain, asking for funds to build 22 houses at the GK-Alberto Balcells Hope Village in the family-owned farm in Barangay Cabatangan, Talisay City.
A kindergarten school and a two-room building for Grades 1 and 2 pupils were put up.
Balcells was later introduced to people involved in running shelters for abused and abandoned children in the province. That led her to put up the Kalipay Negrense Foundation in 2007.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think that one day I would be fully taking over two homes for children. I must be crazy because we do not have the money, but I leave it all to faith that God will provide,” she says.