I've written about our plans of giving some of our son's items when he turned one. After Ondoy and Parma hit, we were all the more committed to that, so for Rafa's party we asked our guests to bring used toys or art materials we could give away, instead of bringing gifts for our son.
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| Sorting the donations. |
Our guests very generously gave a lot of toys (some brand new), books, and art materials for Rafa's birthday giveaway. We spent a morning sorting them according to age group, and then put them in boxes in preparation to be given away.
Yesterday, my son, his nanny and I brought some of the baby items to CRIBS, a home in Marikina for abandoned, neglected, and surrendered babies. While we were signing the documentation for the donation, a baby in the next room started crying, and Rafa looked up, trying to find the source of the sound. We carried him over to the window where he could peek into the newborn room and he looked with interest, pointing at the babies through the window.
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Playing with a toy car before we turn it over.
(We weren't allowed to take photos of the babies.) |
Afterwards, Rita, one of the staff members at CRIBS, led us to the crawlers' room, where the slightly older babies were (I estimated them to be around 6 to 14 months old). Piped in dance music was playing and there were four little boys around Rafa's age romping around the padded room and playing with the toys that were on the floor, while around 4 other younger babies were in their respective cribs. Ate Norma, the caregiver in charge of this age group, welcomed us and told us a little about the babies in the room.
CRIBS currently has around 24 babies in all, most of whom were abandoned. Ate Norma told us that unless the babies go to foster or adoptive homes, or are taken back by their parents, they stay in CRIBS until they are 2 and a half years old, after which they are transferred to other institutions for older children.
As far as I could tell, there was one caregiver for each age group. Of course, having to look after around 8 babies at at time meant that Ate Norma couldn't attend to all the babies' needs immediately. While she was tending to one baby's needs, another was crying because of a wet nappy, another was crying because she was hungry, and another was crying because he wanted to be picked up. Ate Norma expertly moved around the room, taking care of each baby's needs, but while we were there, we let Rafa toddle around with the 4 other walkers while Rafa's nanny and I did what we could to help.
One baby stopped crying as soon as I picked him up. Ate Norma explained that he was one of those babies who simply liked to be carried. Of course, I was more than happy to do the carrying. Meanwhile, Rafa's nanny went over to feed another baby who was crying for her bottle.
Meanwhile, Rafa enjoyed himself in the room. Along with the other walkers, he bounced around to the music, explored the different toys, and walked over to the giant mirror and laughed at his reflection. One of the other boys seemed to be amused by Rafa and started following him around the room, to our delight.
We stayed about 30 minutes before heading back to the office to bid goodbye to Rita. She encouraged us to come back again and visit. Visiting hours are 9 AM to 11 AM and 2 PM to 4 PM, she said.
I'd visited CRIBS before in college, and some of my friends also volunteered for a college organization that used to visit CRIBS weekly. I remember a friend explaining to me that their volunteer work was really primarily about carrying the babies, giving them the one-on-one time that all babies need.
Of course, visiting again as a mom was a different, richer experience. And bringing Rafa was great too: he enjoyed playing alongside the other babies.
Now that Rafa's Gymboree sessions are over I'm thinking of maybe bringing him to CRIBS instead, every now and then, to play with the babies there. I think both he and I will enjoy it, and I hope the CRIBS babies will too.
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Parents in the US who bought Baby Einstein DVDs for their children will be granted a refund for the product.
Some see it as an admission that the DVDs are not educational for young babies and may even be harmful.
I wrote about the "Baby Einstein debate" some months ago, here, along with links to articles from experts explaining why children under the age of 2 should not be watching television or videos.
Of course, all of us are sometimes tempted by the marketing campaigns of various products that imply they can turn our kids into geniuses. But perhaps it's a good idea to pause every now and then and ask ourselves: why do we want our babies to be able to read a year earlier (or recognize words a year earlier, or what have you) than other children, anyway? Will that make them better or happier babies? Will that make them better or happier or more moral or more fulfilled adults twenty-five years from now? :)
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My son Rafa is turning one this week! Time has flown by so quickly, and in a blink of an eye, my baby is now an active toddler!
The Pinoy Baby Store is celebrating by putting all one-size diapers on sale for a week. :)
As for us, we're just having a simple get-together at home. It was going to be a slightly bigger celebration, with a bigger guest list and catered finger food, but after Ondoy, my husband suggested whether we should forego the party altogether and just donate the money. After talking about it a little bit, we decided to push through with the party but scale it down and collect play therapy materials for Ondoy victims in lieu of gifts.
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As of yesterday, PGH was able to collect 100 liters of breastmilk for their milk mission to evacuation centers.
The full story is here:
Instead of canned goods and used clothes, a team of doctors from the University of the Philippines–Philippine General Hospital is bringing a unique donation when they embark on a relief mission to “Ondoy" evacuation centers: breast milk for babies.
Dra. Maria Asuncion Silvestre, head of the PGH Lactation Unit and Milk Bank, said the medical mission aims to help breastfeeding mothers cope with the stress from the massive floods that ravaged their houses and, more importantly, to prevent the spread of diseases among infants.
Silvestre likens breast milk to a “vaccine" that can protect infants from sickness especially in disaster and emergency situations.
On Friday, the UP-PGH will have its initial mission at the Kabisig Elementary School in Cainta, Rizal, one of the areas devastated by widespread flooding from Ondoy last Saturday.
Silvestre said the news of infants catching diarrhea and pneumonia in evacuation centers prompted the PGH Newborn Medicine department and some of its partner organizations to educate mothers on how to breastfeed properly during times of crisis.
She discouraged donors from giving infant formula to the evacuees, saying this may bring more harm than good. Even raw breast milk that has not been pasteurized is safer than formula milk, the doctor said.
“In disaster areas, it’s very restricted. The centers can be unsanitary, they have no clean water. They have no way to boil (sterilize) the milk bottles. Formula milk can be contaminated because there are many sources for contamination," Silvestre explained.
More than half a million people have sought refuge in 726 evacuation centers, where disease and crowded conditions are major concerns.
According to the Department of Health, breastfeeding provides the greatest protection for infants who are most vulnerable to disease and death in emergency situations. Because of limited access to drinking water, fuel and utensils – necessities in bottle-feeding – infants and children are at risk for diarrhea.
In 2009, the DOH listed diarrhea as the tenth leading cause of deaths among infants.
“This is the PGH’s emergency response to the disaster. Our first priority is to support breastfeeding moms, to educate them, to reenergize them, so that when the mission leaves, they can continue breastfeeding," Silvestre said in a phone interview with GMANews.TV.
How mothers can help
The medical team is also asking for breast milk donations. Silvestre said breastfeeding mothers who wish to help can go to the PGH to express their milk or donate frozen breast milk at the Lactation Unit and Milk Bank of the Newborn Medicine Department of the PGH along Taft Avenue in Manila.
As of Thursday noon, the relief mission had collected more than 100 liters of breast milk.
For the breastfeeding mission in Cainta, infants up to six months old will be cup-fed by volunteers from the medical school.
“The breastfeeding moms will proceed to our designated area where they will be given some refreshments and Vitamin A. Some of them will be given breastfeeding t-shirts and they will be educated on how to sustain their breastfeeding, even though they are stressed and tired," Silvestre said.
The t-shirts, drinking water, and a cargo of pasteurized breast milk will be provided by mother-support groups like Mommy Matters and Latch.
Five wet nurses, or mothers who breastfeed children that are not their own, from the support group Arugaan are also joining the mission.
Through the endeavor, Silvestre hopes to provide mothers with the necessary knowledge in caring for infants in disaster situations.
“If the (breast milk) supply for that evacuation center is gone, at least moms can continue breastfeeding their babies. The mission is not meant to be a dole-out; it’s meant to have a multiplier effect," she said. – GMANews.TV
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