Several months back I was invited to a birthday party by one of my friends from the community. It was her oldest daughter's 18th birthday. Her family doesn't have much but 18th is special. So Saturday afternoon I went to their house. It's been a while since I've visited her neighborhood. A lot of changes. Road construction, houses being built with some concrete, electrical lines dangling here and there. The mayor has been busy rebuilding the neighborhood. KIM has been helping several families in building their houses in this area.
When I arrived my friend was busy preparing food for everybody. She was so happy that several of her friends came to her house. Her face was glowing with smile as she showed us her house. There is still a lot of work to be done but she was so proud of her new home. I remembered her old house. Been there many times visiting her when she was sick and could not walk for several months because of some spinal problem. It is hard to explain in words the condition of their house then, so to see her excitement as she showed us the new house just made me happy, too. The new house has old tarps as walls , old tin roof, dirt floor and an upstairs room where only half has a piece of plywood for the kids to sleep on. The other half is still an open hole.
While waiting for the food to get cooked the birthday girl invited us to have our pictures taken in her photo booth. Beside their next door neighbor is a small space big enough to set up a photo booth for her friends who will come later. She was very creative and proud to have the booth that will add an excitement to the celebration. So with smiles and balloons we posed and took pictures.
The birthday girl, Christine, will be finishing high school in April. She will be one of the first batch of 12th grade students who will graduate since the Philippines adopted the K-12 education program. Kids International Ministries has been helping Christine and her family with some of her school expenses.
This family does not have much but the joy I've seen that day is inspiring. They do wish for better, they work hard to rise above their circumstances but at the same time are thankful to God for what they have now.
If you would like to help KIM continue to help Christine and several other students with some of their school expenses, please click on the "Give" tab. Thank you.
