Give the little kids another life

He looked dreamily into her eyes and whispered, "Sleep with me," and she willingly consented. When she missed her menstrual cycle, he laughed and said, "Abort it. You are young and strong; you can hold up to the procedure."

Her world took a wild spin. "What about my ailing parents? They are solely dependent on me." She found a leather belt and pulled it tight around her waist until she grimaced in pain. Her stomach still bulged.

Many months passed and her mother sensed something was different about her. She was retaining water, she gained weight and ugly pigment lines appeared around her neck. Why was she wearing those oversized shirts? "It’s just the heat," she replied. "Could it be?" the mother thought. Afraid to deal with the truth, she prayed, "Oh please, don’t let it happen to my daughter."

Betrayed and blinded by rage, she retreated to a dark alley. With her last ounce of strength, she pushed the baby out of her womb. The baby cried. No one must hear her. She struggled to stand up as she wrapped her newborn with a dirty rag. She cannot keep her. She dumped the baby in the trash can and ran as fast as the wind could carry her.

That night, garbage collectors passed the narrow alley and heard a desperate cry coming from a heap of trash. One man rummaged through the filth and pulled out a little head, a face, a baby. She was breathing but she was covered with red ants. A rabid dog was howling mad; it was on the verge of sinking his jagged teeth into her soft and shriveled flesh.

"Who will take her?" The hour was late and the truck still had to make a few trips. Luckily, one of the garbage collectors knew of a social worker. She took one look at the baby and said, "tlc will."

The van circled twice and made a U-turn. I stopped to ask three tricycle drivers who studied the map I was holding. After scratching their head, they looked at the sky to feign amusement and replied, "You are headed towards the mountains. Turn back." We were definitely lost. What was I looking for? tlc.

tlc stands for "The Little Children’s Home*", a fondling mission in Taytay/Antipolo, Rizal for abused infants and toddlers who were rescued from attempted abortion or simply abandoned or given up by desperate, impoverished and sometimes abusive mothers and siblings.

The home is run by a missionary couple, Dennis and Jeri Gunderson, who have lived in the Philippines for the past 18 years. Jeri is a counselor, a teacher and had extensive experience in delivering babies while Dennis, equally resourceful and compassionate, provided the logistics to get these babies settled into the mission with official record and papers that gave them the necessary social identity and security.

Dennis had learned to speak Tagalog but his homegrown American accent made it difficult for me to understand him. Clearly frustrated, he reverted to English.

The babies at tlc all had sad and harrowing stories that could cut deep into your heart. But Dennis and Jeri chose not to dwell on the tragic situations of how these babies were rescued but preferred to look towards a brighter future for each child.

The mission house was in different stages of disrepair but it was clean. Diapers recycled from industrial cheesecloth filled every laundry line and an old painted gate were the only signs that at last, I was in the fondling home. A caregiver led me down to the basement where Dennis welcomed me to a small room that served as his office. A filing cabinet and a personal computer were the only office equipment in his austere office.

After a brief introduction, I asked Dennis, "What exactly do you do at tlc?" Dennis cleared his throat and replied, "We are a licensed temporary child care agency for babies 0 to four years old. We rescue babies. We nurse them back to health and provide a safe and clean home and then liaise with the government’s social welfare office and the Intercountry Adoptive Board (ICAB) to place them in permanent adoptive homes which we call ‘forever families’."

Dennis and Jeri are committed to this mission and though they are confirmed softies when it concerns their innocent cherubs, they don’t cut corners nor enter into any compromise when it comes to choosing the adoptive parents. Their requirements are rigid:

The adoptive parents must be practicing, caring Christians who are active in the local community. They must be in a good, steady and lasting relationship and brought up in loving and sympathetic homes.

First priority is given to Filipino couples who are childless before the babies are recommended for foreign adoption. So far, they have found "forever families" in 14 countries outside the Philippines like Canada, United States, Norway, several countries in Europe, Papua New Guinea, etc. If the adoption was initiated through a foreign agency, the adoption process must be completed in the Philippines through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

To ensure that all areas of the adoption are closely addressed, a lawyer, a psychologist, a pediatrician and a representative from DSWD are involved in the entire procedure.

Dennis talked eagerly of their recovered babies. So far, they have found homes for about 300 babies and presently, there are 23 in their care who are waiting for their adoption papers to be completed. They also had cases of biological parents who had a change of heart and came back to the mission to re-claim their babies.

I asked Dennis, "How can you keep track of each baby and their unique history?" He replied, "I’ve been convinced to transfer our handwritten books and records into a hard drive." I glanced at his computer and I was struck by the message on his screen saver, God provides.

In 2003, Dennis and Jeri made a trip to America for a fund-raising mission when Dennis was suddenly stricken ill that almost cost him his life. Food, medicine, hospital contributions poured in from concerned families who heard about his life-threatening condition. After a series of reconstructive surgery, Dennis was declared fit to return to Manila. It touched a chord in his heart to be visited by 30 of their former tlc resident babies – now adopted and older – who traveled across America to meet up with him again.

One particular baby girl was rescued from death in Tondo. She had an acute heart condition that required treatment at the Philippine Heart Centre. Through voluntary contributions, the baby was snatched from death the second time and was eventually adopted by a family in Florida. They classified her as handicapped with her weak bones but she grew up to be a feisty little bundle of energy who took interest in ice skating and gymnastics. Now a young teen, she has garnered honors for her home state by winning state competitions in gymnastics.

This gymnast star posed for a poster holding a dandelion in her hand and about to make a wish. Above the poster the phrase, "See what can happen?" was prominently printed. To Dennis and Jeri, the phrase reminded them of their mission and how each child can indeed be a symbol of renewal, a channel of peace.

"Would you like to see the babies?" Dennis asked. "Please remove your shoes," Dennis whispered. I tiptoed into a clean and spotless but bare room. Curly hair, chubby cheeks, and infectious smiles peeked through every crib while caregivers went about their routine tasks changing diapers, feeding, cleaning or simply giving the babies lots of the other TLC. It was hard to believe that these babies were rescued from desperate circumstances.

One baby boy woke up and was startled to see two pairs of eyes staring down at him. The other had his leg dangling outside the crib as he mischievously played with his bottle of milk. The other was learning to stand and he pushed himself to the corner until he was able to raise himself up. He rubbed his eyes and laughed at seeing me standing next to his crib.

"Oh my, my, what a fine, handsome boy you are," I said. Dennis‚ voice cracked, "He was our blue baby. His heart stopped and the mother was hysterical when he brought him here. She was inconsolable. All she could say was, "Please take my baby."

I learned about tlc through Adrienne Larocque, my scrapbook coach. She told me about the time she heard Jeri Gunderson speak before a group of ladies about the Shiphrah Birthing Mission which is situated right next to tlc. At Shiphrah (named after the caring biblical wife during the time of Moses), they provide trained midwives to assist and mentor poor expectant mothers before, during and after childbirth. Every service at Shiphrah is given free of charge.

The little girl that Jeri Gunderson brought with her was given up for adoption by a mother who could not feed her anymore. Holding her four-month-old son, Adrienne bowed her head and thought, "What would it take for a woman to give up her own child?" The room fell silent. Every woman in that room must have asked the same question before feeling extremely blessed that none of them had to make that hard and painful choice.

When a family takes an orphan into their hearts, they not only change a life but they also change themselves. This is the miracle. This and the incredible faith of people like Jeri and Dennis who have put their lives in the service of others.

Adrienne said, "When you give alms to a beggar, you helped him today but tomorrow he will be back in the street begging for alms once again." It becomes a cycle of desperation with no permanent end in sight.

At tlc, they find happy and promising endings to many sad and pitiful beginnings. Happy endings for little angels? They deserve nothing less.

* * *

If you wish to change a life, join their family circle and send contributions payable to The Little Children’s Home, Q-Plaza PO Box 378, Cainta, Rizal 1900, Philippines. You can reach Dennis and Jeri Gunderson at dennisjgunderson1945@yahoo.com or call 658-4231/4706 or visit them at No. 8 Liwayway, Blooming Hills Subd, Tikling, Taytay, Rizal.