Abandoned, but never left alone

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Philippines—Unlike their kababayan in America who observe it only once a year, Thanksgiving Day is every single day for eight young residents of an orphanage in this city:  Rosanna Ramirez, Michael Timka, Joseph Prosper, Christine Taperla, Mary Nard Caintic, James Christian Tena, Eunice Patricio, and Jethro Pudol.

At one point in their young lives, their parents gave up on them for reasons they may never fully understand.  But for now, they only have a complete grasp of their fate after the desertion, and it has been beautiful.

Home for the eight is the Christian Joy Foundation (CJF) orphanage, where everyone is the family they never had.  They all go to Pampanga High School (PHS), home in turn of the scholarship and feeding program of Filipino American philanthropist-entrepreneur Rene Medina, founder of the San Francisco-based Lucky Group of Companies.  Moreover, all eight are scholars of the foundation, which affords them a modest allowance, pays their school-related expenses, and feeds them during lunchtime.

But best of all, the program is paving their way to a future as professionals because with their consistent good academic performance at PHS, they stand a good chance of joining the ranks of dozens of Rene Medina’s college scholars.

“Because of Mr. Medina and CFJ, I can still make my dream come true and that is to be a newscaster,” said 16-year-old Christine, the oldest among the eight, to FilAm Star in Tagalog.    “And then one day, who knows … I might be able to find my real parents.”

It was in 2007 when Christine, now on her third year at PHS, first came to CJF.  “My grandmother brought me here after my father’s death …. my mother had already left even before he died,” she recalled.  “I know my mother went to Manila then, but I don’t think she knows where I am today.  I also don’t know where my siblings are.  We all got separated.”

Joseph, 13, shares a similarly sad story.  His grandmother put him and his now 10-year-old sister under CJF’s care as soon as their parents split and went their own way.  “Since we came here, we haven’t seen either one of them.  We don’t even know where they are today,” he said in Tagalog.

For Rosanna, the newest addition to the Medina scholars’ group at CJF, however, financial hardship compelled her parents to let the orphanage keep her, to her utmost advantage.  “My parents knew I wanted to get an education and become a teacher,” she told FilAm Star in Tagalog, “but I have quite a few brothers and sisters, so CJF was the best option.”

Yet, none of the eight apparent victims of circumstances harbor ill feelings toward their parents, let alone blame them for their present lot.  Visibly thankful for the three-way partnership between CJF, PHS, and the Rene Medina Foundation, the scholars, in fact, even think everything that has come their way has been good karma all this time.  And their common interest in music, in a way, started it all.

Sometime last year, the music-making group was asked to perform at a PHS event, at a time the kids were still out-of-school CJF orphans. Imelda Macaspac, Ph.D., PHS principal and administrator of Rene Medina’s scholarship and feeding program, was moved by the performance and felt the orphans deserved to be in school.  In no time, Dr. Macaspac enrolled the children under the program to help them plot a better future.

“The program of Rene Medina was launched to provide for those who need help the most, and the eight orphans, intelligent as they are, are a perfect fit,” Dr. Macaspac explained to FilAm Star.  “To me, these eight children, as well as all other Rene Medina scholars, are helping the program and the founder himself fulfill the mission of helping others help themselves.”

That said, the CJF group spare no effort to maintain, if not improve upon, their academic standing at PHS as they keep their sights on college scholarship under the program.

Patricio and Christine describe to Filam Star, in Tagalog, a typical day at the orphanage after school:  “Everyone of us here at CJF is assigned a household chore just like in any household, besides taking care of our own beds and belongings.  We also take turns in taking care of the little kids.  But with proper time management, all eight of us are able to give priority to our studies and homework, and to enjoy leisure time and music, too.  But we cannot fall behind, not in our house chores and definitely not in school.”

Mary Nard believes CJF and the Medina Foundation not only provide him a home and an education.  More important, they have given him a life with a complete set of Filipino values that put a premium on hard work, patience, helpfulness, discipline, and deep sense of responsibility — as well as the capacity to laugh and to be happy.

“I don’t know …. but chances are, I would be in the streets fighting for survival were it not for the orphanage and the foundation of Mr. Rene Medina,” Mary Nard, who wants to be an accountant some day, said in Tagalog.