Life under the same sun

CEBU, Philippines - Sunshine Center invites you to delight and sponsor a special child. This serves as urgent call put across by the Center's Board of Trustees during a presentation on May 23 at the Casino Español de Cebu.

Sunshine Center, Inc. (School and Sheltered Workshop for Special Children) wouldn't want to fold up because it has successfully committed itself to developing every special child. In fact, the Center has mainstreamed pupils to regular schools like Marie Ernestine, Colegio de la Inmaculada, Maria Montessori, University of San Carlos and the University of Cebu; and that many of its hearing impaired graduates do excel in high school.

However, to keep the facility running efficiently, it is up to seeking more pledges. Thus, the recent "salo-salo" at the Casino Español also served as venue for the pitching in of donations to keep its students from low-income homes in school and to be able to provide upgraded equipment/tool in teaching life skills as well as improving physical condition of facilities. There is a very nice term in Cebuano for that act of seeking favor --- pamarayeg.

In a bid to knock at the hearts of kindred spirits, an anonymous donor pledged P100,000 that emotional night. Another donor directed a member of the Board of Trustees to pick her check up worth P12,000. Still, another shared P2,000.

With the many challenges the Center is dealing with, its founder/president Ma. Luisa "Marilu" Chiongbian looks forward to more people sharing in the cause of providing a space for children with special needs so they may continue to live functional lives under the same sun shining on us all. They could do so by being enthusiastic about equal chance and opportunity for education to these kids.

It was learned during the audio-video presentation that on June 9, 1975, Mrs. Chiongbian gathered special children, including her own daughter, to start a class at the terrace of her home.

"Upon learning that my daughter Doreen is a handicapped child, a major concern arose - this was her education," she said.

As there was only one special school then in Cebu, Mrs. Chiongbian went to Manila to research on how to organize a special school here. "This was when I met two professors from the Philippine Normal University. Both have PhD in Special Education. They recommended Mrs. Melodia Tesaluna who was then the principal of the Lapu-Lapu City Elementary School. She was then a masteral scholar in Special Education."

"When asked what to name the school, I thought of the sun that shines for everyone. Hence, every child especially those with special needs must be given all the opportunities for maximum growth and development according to their potentials and capacities," she further said.

Sunshine Center

Mrs. Chiongbian mentioned that the Center has been on socialized tuition scheme. "It's not true that the school is only for rich kids. We have children there of parents who are from the working class - laborers, security guards, food attendants, drivers. That's why we appeal for your kindness to support these kids whose parents have a hard time settling their full tuition," she said.

Through a Profile of Special Children, it was learned that full tuition amounts to P45,000 but some sponsors have helped cut down the cost of the annual tuition paid by parents.

From a handful of five students in 1975, the center today caters to an average of 25 students. The Department of Education had granted permits to the Center until it got a school status in June 1985. It was also the year Sunshine was registered as a non-profit foundation with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The foundation supports and sustains Sunshine Center as a special school for mentally challenged and hearing impaired kids, children with autism, Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), global development delay, among other cases.

Its preschool level offers academic instructions up to Level 4 including personality development skills, language and speech skills, motor skills, social skills, auditory training and speech or speech reading for the hearing impaired. It offers complete elementary grade levels based on Basic Learning Competencies issued by DepEd.

The BLC is derived from the curriculum of regular schools, with adaptations and considerations for the special children, making it best suited for them than any other academic program. It has prevocational training for Grades 1-4, and vocational and life skills training for Grades 5 and 6.

It has a functional literacy program for older children, specializing on age-appropriate skills and behavior. Integrated into the whole program are the occupational and physical therapy interventions, computer classes, and socialization activities such as school plays to be presented to a wider audience in the community.

Behavior modification

According to Mrs. Melodia Tesaluna, the center being a special school employs different strategies of teaching. One is behavior modification. "We also use the Northampton Chart and the use of Straight Language for the Deaf. Behavior modification is used among our beginners. Here, the teacher makes a list of activities for the child to follow and she also prepares the reward. After the child is successful, the teacher hands him the reward. In behavior modification, there is the challenge of spanning the attention of the child because usually special children have short attention span. Learning begins when there is attention."

The Graduates

Since 1982, Sunshine Center has graduated 61 pupils, 47 of them are hearing impaired while 14 are mentally challenged. Most of the hearing impaired have acquired speech and can speech read.

Some of the achievers are Alnoe Paler who won 35 medals in Photography and was invited by the Mayor of California to put up an exhibit there; Edward Booc is BS Education graduate and is hired by Shangri-La Mactan Resort and Spa; Jocelyn Go finished her computer operation course at Miriam College in Quezon City and is now managing a family business; while Joey Onglatco helps run the family trade.

Other graduates like Mrs. Carol Cobar and Mr. Ronnie Lim graced the May 23 event to share how grateful they are for all their benefactors. Cobar is now running her own business. She learned from Sunshine how to communicate through sign language (oralism, particularly), while Lim thanked the school for "helping build bridge of understanding." He is now editor in chief of DeafLife magazine.

A testimony made by Mr. Paulino Wong Jr. on how the Center has helped, in tremendous proportions, his son Ronald to develop into a functional person brought tears to most of those who attended. "At five years old, Ronald was such a hyperactive kid but one who couldn't talk," an emotional Wong began his testimony. "It was so hard for me and my wife to deal with the situation because the word ‘early intervention’ is foreign to us. When the doctor told us that if Ronald could be toilet-trained and could dress up on his own, then that would already be a major development for someone like him with autism. From a scale of 1 to 10, Ronald is a 5. So I told my wife when she started worrying about Ronald's behavior: Well, we could always lock him up in the basement."

"Thank you, Mrs. Onglatco (he meant Margarita Onglatco who is board treasurer). Now, Ronald can go to the bathroom and dress up all by himself. The moment he was able to do that, my wife felt so happy it was like she had a genius for a son. It saved us from locking him up in our basement."

Donor's Pledge

Mr. Devin Go, vice president of Sunshine Center, pointed out that help can come in the form of a scholarship, a school development fund, or a general fund. Donors may inquire by visiting the site located at 2447 Providence Street, Capitol Site, Cebu City; or through telefax (032) 238-8975; email: [email protected].

Honorary chairperson of the Center is Msgr. Leo Tumulak, secretary is Mr. Pablo Tan while Mrs. Teresita Manguerra is press relations officer.