Volunteering at Missionaries of Charity

To make a difference in celebrating my birthday this year, I called up Missionaries of Charity in Tayuman, Manila and was able to talk to Sister Gloriosia, a Korean nun who is based in the said center. She told me that I can celebrate birthday with the children by bringing food for them.

Many people come to the institution to celebrate their birthday with the resident children. There was a total of 75 children, abandoned and physically challenged individuals. 35 of them are able to eat solid food so I brought pansit and juice drinks for them and donated some frozen chicken and eggs for the preparation of soft food such as arrozcaldo or porridge for the rest of them.

I saw some people come by, visiting the children. Some of them are already familiar and close with the children. They began to feed the children at 4pm for their dinner. The children, nuns and house parents help each other arrange their chairs and tables.

Then I was tasked to feed one of them, a cerebral palsy patient but did not like me because she was shy. Then I was turned to another and that was Meremel, a CP patient also who enjoyed my company who just ate nicely when I fed her. She also played with me and laughed. Prior to this, Angel was so sweet that she asked me to carry her.

After the feeding, the house parents took them to the bath room for them to take shower. After that, they were all placed in a crib and were dashed with baby powder and donned clean clothes. They kept on playing and even bully each other. Some would also somersault in the bed. Some of them are naughty but all of them are basically sweet that they embrace and kiss a volunteer. I was really touched and moved by the childrens’ conditions. The abandoned children were actively moving but the rest are confined in the bed.

According to Blessed Mother Teresa, the founder of Missionaries of Charity, the very qualification of a volunteer is “Hearts to love and hands to serve.” Immersion in this charitable institution is another experience of a lifetime.