On gifting hope

WHEN I received an invitation from the Town & Country Philippines team (the media partner of UNICEF for their ball happening tonight) to take part in a visit to the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) that would showcase to us the future site of the first National Center for Children with Disabilities, I immediately said yes. As the media partner of UNICEF for the ball, the Town & Country team wanted to make their involvement in the project more meaningful by gathering a group to visit the beneficiary hospital, in order to further understand the importance of the center. Not only was it a very noble idea, it was also a very enriching and awakening experience – most especially for those who visited PGH for the very first time that day. This is meant to be a venue (first of its kind) where children with disabilities (CWDs) will be served from diagnosis, to devices and therapy – “A One-Stop-Shop” if you will for all CWDs. For one, although I am aware of the neglect that CWDs suffer from in our country, I am by no means an expert, and am always on the look-out to learn more. As someone who works with children almost on a daily basis and puts them at the heart of the advocacy I am most involved with, I felt like this would be another opportunity to integrate knowledge from different sectors, and see if there is any way at all I, or my advocacies can be of help. After all, I am always eager to take part in initiatives that promote the inclusive growth and progress of our nation, and with children and PGH at the forefront of this one, it was most definitely something I was more than interested in.

The morning started out with a previsit briefing with the UNICEF team where they informed us of their vision in establishing these national centers for CWDs. The first center will be in PGH (the site we visited) and they are looking to expand it to three other centers in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. UNICEF aims to raise P40 million to build these centers in four regions that will support children with varying disabilities (sensory, physical and learning). In these centers, programs will be facilitated that will help them with services from diagnosing the disability, to providing them with assistive devices, and aiding them in acquiring therapy. Setting up these centers will involve the training of rehabilitation and assistive device specialists, the development of a manual of operations for the centers, improving the facilities to make them inclusive for all CWDs, and the purchasing of therapy equipment and supplies, including assistive devices such as hearing aids, vision aids and prosthesis. By supporting this initiative, we are given the chance to help CWDs live productively and achieve their full potential. Without fully knowing it, we are somewhat enabling these children to start their lives anew by overcoming their handicaps and disabilities.

During the briefing, UNICEF made us aware of some alarming statistics. While I always knew that CWDs in the Philippines have unmet needs and are oftentimes not prioritized, I was shocked to find out that 1 out of 7 Filipino children (around 5.1 million) live with a form of disability, with 30 percent (approximately 1.5 million) of these children in need of assistive devices. In concurrence with a lot of research done on childhood development, UNICEF confirmed that childhood is indeed the optimal time to intervene with these disabilities in order to ensure the child’s growth into functional adulthood. And on the other hand, if these disabilities are left unaddressed in childhood, the damage becomes irreversible. The need to raise awareness for and provide aid to CWDs is much needed and oftentimes not given as much importance as it should. “At present, the facilities and services available in the Philippines are incomplete, under-equipped, not integrated, geographically inaccessible, and/or are simply too expensive” (UNICEF).

While it was not my first visit to PGH, it had just as much impact as all my previous visits had. While it was promising to see some positive changes and progress being made within the hospital to improve its facilities, it was still sad to see how much still needs to be done. Every visit to PGH is an eye-opening experience for me that never fails to remind me to count my blessings – not only the priceless gift of being in good health, but more so and on top of that, never having to experience the added discomfort put forth by the current state of the hospital’s facilities (or lack thereof) that the patients who rely on the public health system must endure. Every visit undoubtedly tugs a string in my heart and makes me want to do more. And as a tear is about to roll down my face, that sense of hopefulness that stems from the notion that this hospital was built upon a beautiful vision kicks in. And although what it has become today is far from what we had envisioned or hoped for, that small things are being done that is working towards restoring that. After all, everything begins from somewhere. That somewhere has been established; it’s now all about convincing likeminded individuals, golden hearted donors and various sectors to concert efforts and work together to rehabilitate the PGH – one center and one wing at a time.