Friday, March 27, 2009

Philipinnes Part 2


One of my most favorite things that I got to do in the Philippines was to go to the Mabuhay house with my mom. Through a foundation, children (and sometimes adults) are brought from all over the Philippines for surgeries to correct birth defects or other problems. While they recuperate or are between surgeries they stay at Mabuhay house. My mom and a group of ladies go most every week and do some activity with the kids. They bring lunch with them too, and usually it is the only day they get meat. They just don't normally have the funds. I was able to go and see my mom in action. She is loved by those kids and the people there. They all came running and gave her a hug and she loves them back, it was very evident. They welcomed me with open arms too. It is amazing how loving the Filipino people are! The children are adorable and I wanted to take them all home with me. Especially the little peanut in the picture below. She was singing Twinkle Twinkle at the top of her lungs and doing the actions and it was just too much. Sooo adorable!
As part of our Christmas tradition we as an extended family try to find someone to help with the money we would normally spend on each other. The last 2 years we have sent our money to Mom and she would get supplies for Mabuhay house. This year my mom saved the money for when I was able to come. I was able to shop for them and get what they needed and deliver it to them. It was an indescribable experience. One of the little girls got so excited when she saw the powdered milk we brought (she loves milk and they cannot afford to buy it in any form) I had to hold back the tears. We are so blessed, crazily so, and sometimes we need to see others in need before we really understand this. I am so glad that I was able to have this experience with my mom. She is really an awesome lady.

My cute mom in action!





The cute little peanut I wanted to take home with me.













The boy with the funky goggles was born with cataracts due to mom's poor nutrition while pregnant. They were able to remove them and he is now just seeing for the first time. The little girl on the left is having her club feet corrected. She took a big chunk out of the middle of her bangs with scissors. Hee! Hee! Kids are the same no matter where you are!

4 comments:

Keersten said...

How cool! I bet it was amazing to be there. Your Mom really is darling.

The Sorensens said...

Dawn,

Thank you for the pictures. It sounds like you had a great time. What a neat experience, especially great to do with family.
Keep up the great posts!

Emily said...

I'm so behind on blogging - reading them, keeping up my own, etc. So, I am just reading this now. What a great experience, I'm crying reading these posts. Are your parents on a mission there?

Tania said...

OK, I've done it again. It's not Emily It's Tania - I always forget to sign her out & me back in when she's been working on her own cute blog!