Street Children

Lingap Center was a government institution dealing with street children - those who were abandoned by their own parents. There were about twenty children when I went there as a volunteer.

They were very unruly, uncooperative and unable to concentrate. They were experts on street lingo and street behaviors. Most of them haven't entered any classroom and whatever knowledge they have were results of experiences learned along the streets.

My daughter, together with other La Salle students who were also volunteers found difficulty in dealing with them, so I tried to help.

By rearranging their seats into a circular manner we were able to get their attention a little better. I also tried mass hypnosis and about seven were able to go deep into trance. Then I introduced origami, which stimulated their interests.

It was not easy working with them unless one was really committed to help. I thought even the paid employees were not deeply committed as well as the student volunteers whose intentions mainly were to complete their summer assignments.

The children were dirty and mostly affected with skin diseases but their need for intimate closeness was very evident. The kind of intimate closeness that they were all deprived off. A simple, sincere, honest-to-goodness touch could already make them very happy.