A Day in the Life of Jeff

Here's Jeff!

Holding the Twins

The twins are still in the hospital but are out of the incubator. Jeff Long's wife, Colleen got to hold them! They are breathing on their own and gaining weight. One of them weighs 1.1 Kilo and the other weighs 1.3 Kilo (2.2 lbs per Kilo). They will be released from the hospital when they are 1.7 Kilo. They are still being fed by tube so they'll have to learn to drink from a bottle soon. But we had a breast milk donor come through, so thery are getting proper nutrition! Thanks for all of your prayers!



Rose and her husband have not decided whether they will give the twins up but even if they keep them, they will need lots of help. Their house has two rooms that are each about the size of a large closet. She has no running water, refridgerator, stove... Needless to say, it'll be difficult. There are bigger problems overall in these communities than we could fix in this short of a time or even have the expertise to know how to help. Maybe birth control education, microlending, or something of that sort could help... Keep praying.

A Day in the Life of Lindsay

Lindsay is a junior at Quinsigamond Community College. She has been a big part of many of the exciting things that have happened here! She was overseeing Man-Man's surgery and she happened to be the one who caught the danger signs in Rose. She was also here at the children's home when Baby Andrew got dropped off! She was the only student on our team who was not from UMass and therefore had to jump right in with all of us who knew each other. We have been so impressed with her ability to open up to all of us and let us into her life!



Thanks Lindsay!!!

A Day in the Life of Joel

Joel Lee will be a senior at UMass this year. He has been a friend of ours for most of his time in school. He has done an excellent job of getting to know people in the community and has especially loved working in the preschool. We really commend him for being people oriented instead of task-oriented. He is very flexible so he gets along well in this culture. Here's a little peek at a typical day for Joel:




Thanks Joel for all your hard work!!!

New Faith Family Children's Home

The Children's Home has 26 children ranging from ages 2months to 13 years. The are brought to the Home by the DSDW (social workers organization). It was started 2 years ago by Jeff Long when his daughter asked him why they couldn't do more for the street kids. Jeff Long works at Faith Academy, a boarding high school for children of missionaries (many are doing work in places where there is no good place for education). Him and his family are from the US but now consider the Philippines to be their permanent home.

The home has not been able to get through the paperwork of making the home a place where you can adopt children yet. But they hope it will soon be approved for that. In the meantime, it is a home and the children seem to love it here. Often on Saturdays "Uncle Jeff" picks all the kids up and brings them to play in a soccer tournament, or to the movies, or to his son's college basketball game.

Jeff Long also started a school in the community for the kids to go to and also invited more kids from the community. He has a ten year plan to transform the community around the Home. He put in a sink and shower for anyone to use (they often re-use bathwater several times) and he hopes to get a well built so they can have clean drinking water. The clinic we helped stock, with a dentist and doctor is part of that plan, too.

Maricel

Maricel is a very giggly 12 year old. She doesn't speak much but can get her meaning across.

She is in the picture on the left covering her mouth and laughing. Maricel was found by a concerned citizen in 2005 and brought to authorities. She was not in distress, and obeyed commands, but would not maintain eye contact. She could not utter a single word. Her left shoulder was also dislocated. After being brought to the Children's Home, she was asked to choose her name by nodding when they said one she liked. She chose Maricel. She has been happy to join in on most activities but remains afraid of a few. She can say short phrases now but mostly chooses not to speak. She likes to sing a little and always has a huge smile!

Pagsanjan Falls

Here are some pictures of our trip to Pagsanjan Falls. We rode in canoes with two guides up the river to the falls and then back down. We were really in the jungle! We even saw a monkey someone had captured and kept as a pet! At the falls, they put us on a raft and took us right under the falls! And we jumped off the raft and swam around. You have to click on some of the pictures to enlarge them! It's beautiful!