Our beloved Rosemarie died suddenly on Sunday morning. If you have been following my blog anytime over the past 5 years you'll have seen many photos of Rosemarie and her family. Her mother had taken her to hospital Saturday night,…
Tag: Children
Testing Positive for TB
The Philippines ranks #4 in the world for reported incidences of tuberculosis. And yesterday Jerry become one of those statistics. Children who grow up in poverty and experience malnutrition are especially vulnerable to TB, as they often live for years…
The Stories We Tell Children
In the corner of our dining area is a door with a broken lock. I've stuck a red plastic bag inside the hole where the lock used to be, and put a couple of plastic stools in front to casually…
The House of Ants
I met a man today on a wooden ferry boat and between the two islands he told me a story. His story, of two boys once seven and once nine when their mother who died. Unable to make a sound…
Ronalin’s Hat
If you remember my tale from last week about a little girl with severe head lice, this is the sequel.
Replay: World Literacy Day Livestream
If you missed the livestream of our World Literacy Day celebrations you can watch the replay here. Children's author and poet, Dr June Perkins joined us live via Skype and the children of Botongon sang and performed too. Please note…
The First Boy in His Family to Finish School
A very excited Jerry started grade 3 last week, an opportunity denied to most of his brother's and sisters. This is particularly poignant today on World Day Against Child Labour. Like the other 2.1 million+ Filipino kids already working, Jerry's…
Forty-one Kids
I had to send the kids home today. The cable that connects my tablet to the amp is busted and I couldn't play music or amplify the TV so forty-one kids could hear the movie over the sounds of the…
Can I open just one eye?
Yesterday afternoon four little friends of Jerry came over to play and watch Disney Movies. The toy library has a very cool little cooking set so they all insisted on 'cooking' for me. I had to close my eyes for…
Happy Birthday Baby Roseann
Enid Blyton's 'Land of Birthdays' was the most excellent place I could imagine when I was a kid. Climbing to the top of the faraway tree to celebrate your birthday: just awesome. So it's no big surprise that I have created…
Bad Me
bad me’ i heard his little voice say ‘bad me’ small head turned into the pillow ‘bad me’ i had scolded him for breaking a yellow colouring pencil he stomped it into two pieces discarded for garbage i found it…
Free creative activities for impoverished children
© 2016 Melinda Irvine
Tuition and employment
Yesterday some of the dreams and visions for my life here in the Philippines manifested into reality: tuition for street kids and employment for families battling poverty. For the last two years I have been helping Shelia Gedalanga and her…
Rebuilding the children’s playground
Saturday (yeah the next one coming) is the beginning of a series of art and creative activities for the children of Botongon, Estancia. Twister tournaments, giant puzzles, painting and poetry. I really can't wait. For the last few weeks I…
Decisions
Arriving in the Philippines over two years ago to help out after Typhoon Yolanda, I never expected I would still be here. The amazing, crazy and tragic things that have happened over the past two years have left me drained…
Botongon Fiesta Parade 2015 (purok 4)
© 2015 Melinda Irvine.
Finding sponsors for little boys
I have a little boy of seven (7) permanently in my care now. More stories will appear in the blog about him with time. This blog is about finding sponsors for his little friends, there are literally hundreds of thousands…
Jian
Two years older protects little brother; baby man. Superman at three. © 2015 Melinda Irvine
You are never alone in the Philippines …
Sometimes that is great and sometimes it is a bit hard to handle. Like when you're sick. I had the worst flu I'd had in years and had completely lost my voice. I'd range between sleep and sweat. I woke…