January 2nd, 2015

Today we had the opportunity to visit the children at the Damas Orphanage here in Manila.  The Damas Orphanage was started in 1913 and originally was for both widowed women and children.  In 1998 there was a fire that destroyed the building completely and everyone inside perished   In 1999 with help from the President Estrada the orphanage was rebuilt on the same grounds as we saw today.  Today the orphanage is a child service agency that takes in children whose parents are unable to care for them at this moment in time along with children who have been abandoned.  Damas Orphanage serves over 90 children today with their goal of returning the children back to their families as they are able to provide proper care for them.  Each Thursday a physician and nurse provide check ups for the children.

Upon our arrival today we were greeted by 30 smiling faces and were welcomed by multiple songs and dances that they had prepared for us.  It was amazing and very heartwarming.  Following this we ate lunch and they sang and danced around some more.  We were then paired up with 1 or 2 children and were able to play and run around at their playground.  We attempted to assess their levels of development and did quite adequately with their gross motor skills as well as their fine motor skills.  Some children did have developmental delays as well as forms of ADHD.  They all enjoyed playing and laughing with their "American Sisters".  We played duck, duck, goose to wrap up the day and what a sight it is to see children so happy whom are from so many backgrounds!  As we started to end the day we gave stuffed animals to our little friends and left with tears in our eyes as they sang one last time a final farewell to us.

Late afternoon we went to the oldest church in all of Asia.  Church of San Agustin has been through many wars and seen many years!  During World War II it was the only building left standing as it was thought to be a Red Cross.  It was one of the grandest churches we have seen with an enormous wooden door for entrance and the most elaborate ceiling!

We came back to enjoy dinner at Mary Johnston School of Nursing and after this long day we went to sleep!



Chelsea Ekeberg & Kelsey Thompson