A special trick or treat

CEBU, Philippines - Losing someone  you love deeply is very painful. You may experience all kinds of difficult emotions and it may feel like the pain and sadness you're experiencing will never let up. For some courageous  souls,  they rise above their grief  by reaching out to others who are inflicted with illness themselves.

Jackee Gullas Weckman, a scion of the well-respected family of educators, has experienced profound sorrow when she lost her only child Kyle, then 14 years old in an unfortunate accident while on a class field trip. To keep his  memory alive, Jackee renovated and refurbished a vacant room at the Vicente Sotto General Hospital  and furnished it with children's books and educational toys. Today, the playroom is a haven for many young kids diagnosed with cancer.

Jackee belongs to the closely-knit 1978 batch of  high school graduates from Saint Theresa's College Cebu. They  often get together and reminisce about their happy childhood and the  fun times they had. Halloween stands out among their unforgettable memories. 

Constantly searching for new and innovative projects, the ladies decided to recreate their wonderful  Halloween experience by  inviting children stricken with cancer to an afternoon of trick or treat at Paradise Village. Annette Mendezona,  a resident of the association, approached the Board of Directors and obtained their unanimous approval to invite some 25 kids with cancer to join in the celebrations.

Going a step further, the ladies solicited the help of  Cebuano fashion designers  who are members of the Clothes for Life Foundation to create custom-made attires for the children. As expected, they obliged. Likewise, they also sought the assistance of Shalom Rea Bernales, Child Life Officer of Kythe Inc. in Cebu, who chose  the young patients from five Cebu hospitals, namely, Perpetual Succour Hospital, Chong Hua  Hospital, Cebu Doctor's Hospital, Velez Hospital and Vicente Sotto General Hospital .

On the day itself  the special children gathered at Annette's home  and together went from house to house gathering candies and goodies. For a few hours, the kids forgot about painful chemotherapy and radiation treatments and anticipated the surprise in those bag of treats. They then partook of a sumptuous dinner with the ladies of batch 1978.     

For the past 20 years, the organization has provided psycho-social services to kids with cancer and their families.It has run its program in 13 hospital-based chapters all over the Philippines with 11 in Luzon, one in Cebu for the Visayas and one in Davao for Mindanao.

The trick or treat activity fits in well with Kythe's mission of alleviating the plight of cancer-stricken children. The organization believes that the best way to do this is to enter their world through play as kids communicate their hurts and fears, as well as their happiness in this manner. Kythe also helps the patients and their families cope  by educating them about their illnesses, assists them through the rigors of the medical procedures they undergo and provides emotional support during times of despair and grief. They have also provided financial support for medicines and their chemotherapy sessions.

As the ladies watched the grateful smiles of the children, they realized that the greatest happiness can come not only from sharing material things but more so from giving young people with cancer a respite from their pain with memories of one magical Halloween night.    (FREEMAN)