Kuya Dhen
By Darlene Ramos
Kuya. It’s a Filipino term, roughly translated as “older brother”. But there are things lost in translation, things like “protector”, “ally”, “confidante”. This is Kuya Dhen’s story.
Dhen Harold came to CCFT two years ago with his two sisters, Sarah and Jairah. Abandoned by their mother and father, the weight of responsibility was laid on Kuya Dhen as the eldest child. With the pressure of being accountable for his siblings, Dhen was at first a rigidly stubborn boy, silent and resentful of authority. There would be periodical bursts of anger that he would turn on his younger siblings – for he was with his fellow boys in one family at the Children’s Home while his sisters were in another in the girls’ wing. At playtimes, reunited, the three could be found together talking and bonding, as siblings will when they only have one another to cling to.
Over time, Dhen slowly learned to also be a Kuya to the siblings in his assigned family. Given the lead child role, he would call them to line up during mealtimes and going to school, and make sure that the family was on schedule. To cope with his bouts of impatience and occasional annoyance with his siblings, therapist Viviene Francisco helped him out by teaching him to use an anger dial to control his anger. The reward for all this – a spot at the Top Ten of the Children’s Home this January, along with his sister Sarah.
School was also an important outlet for Dhen, for he excelled in Mathematics and Physical Education and was awarded Number Smart and Body Smart during the second quarter of this school year. He has become fast friends with his fellow second-graders and the school band where he plays the snare drum, some of whom also call him “Kuya”.
Kuya is a term of endearment, and encompasses not only blood relations, but friendships built from common losses, shared joy, and challenges faced together. This is Kuya Dhen’s story, in words, but the child is far, far more.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Who’re You Gonna Call? Ma’am Jasmin! By Darlene Ramos
Who’re You Gonna Call? Ma’am Jasmin!
By Darlene Ramos
Cut-outs for a bulletin board? Lettering for a school recognition program? Paper flowers? Welcome banners? A singer for the Chapel Hour? Kindergartener throwing a tantrum? No worries, Jasmin Supan is here.
Ma’am Jasmin, as everyone in CCFT calls her, is the beloved and much sought-after Teacher Assistant at CCFT Coron International School (CCFT-CIS). A mainstay at the Nursery/Kindergarten classroom, she gamely juggles everything the teachers can’t when their hands are full teaching the boisterous schoolchildren.
Her arrival at CCFT couldn’t have been anything but the work of providence. Back when even the school was nothing more than a building of empty classrooms filled with carpenters and painters, Jasmin first set foot in CCFT accompanying her husband, Pastor Wilfredo “Jun” de Guia, who held services at the CCFT Chapel every third Sunday of the month. It was there that she met the Principal, Ms. Lilia Chavez, who encouraged her to send her daughter Hazel, then a shy little three-year-old, to the Nursery class at CCFT-CIS.
Because it was Hazel’s first time in school, she was terrified - and doting mother Jasmin stayed for the first few days in the Nursery class to boost Hazel’s morale. Now and again she would accompany a toddler to the toilet, striking up a friendly conversation with the timid newcomer kids. She caught the Principal’s eye one day when a preschooler threw a tantrum, and Jasmin took the child aside and calmed her, singing him a lullabye until the little boy fell asleep. Coincidence or not, the school was short one Teacher Assistant, and she was offered the job that very week.
From then on, Ma’am Jasmin did what she had been doing from the very first day in school: escorting children to the bathroom, or bringing them to the clinic for scrapes or headaches, real or imagined, dealing with tantrums, helping out at storytime and making sure the toddlers get their naptime. Her talent with scissors and colored paper make her a sort of celebrity among the teachers during the monthly stripping and redecorating of the bulletin boards, and because of her powerful soprano, rarely is there a Chapel Hour without her leading the children in praise and worship. During the CCFT Night last December Ma’am Jasmin belted out a memorable ringing National Anthem before all Coron. Her favorite projects? The 2007 Christmas where she and the teachers stayed till late night to finish making paper poinsettias for the Christmas tree and Linggo ng Wika where they spent hours making native food trays for the following day’s Filipino potluck fiesta.
When asked what experience will always stay in her memory about the school, Ma’am Jasmin described one schoolday afternoon after naptime: All the children had gone home except for Christian of the Children’s Home at Nursery, who was stilll fast asleep. His sister Livinia, then in Kindergarten, refused to leave with the other children, and watched over her little brother. When Christian finally awoke, crying, Livinia hugged him and helped him with his shoes. They left for the Children’s Home together, with Ma’am Jasmin looking on and fighting tears – “Everyday I see how, without their families, they look after each other and are fiercely protective of each other. They can get into all sorts of naughtiness at times, but you have to admire their loyalty to their siblings.”
What does it take to be a Teacher Assistant? Mostly heart, and Ma’am Jasmin wears hers on her sleeve.
By Darlene Ramos
Cut-outs for a bulletin board? Lettering for a school recognition program? Paper flowers? Welcome banners? A singer for the Chapel Hour? Kindergartener throwing a tantrum? No worries, Jasmin Supan is here.
Ma’am Jasmin, as everyone in CCFT calls her, is the beloved and much sought-after Teacher Assistant at CCFT Coron International School (CCFT-CIS). A mainstay at the Nursery/Kindergarten classroom, she gamely juggles everything the teachers can’t when their hands are full teaching the boisterous schoolchildren.
Her arrival at CCFT couldn’t have been anything but the work of providence. Back when even the school was nothing more than a building of empty classrooms filled with carpenters and painters, Jasmin first set foot in CCFT accompanying her husband, Pastor Wilfredo “Jun” de Guia, who held services at the CCFT Chapel every third Sunday of the month. It was there that she met the Principal, Ms. Lilia Chavez, who encouraged her to send her daughter Hazel, then a shy little three-year-old, to the Nursery class at CCFT-CIS.
Because it was Hazel’s first time in school, she was terrified - and doting mother Jasmin stayed for the first few days in the Nursery class to boost Hazel’s morale. Now and again she would accompany a toddler to the toilet, striking up a friendly conversation with the timid newcomer kids. She caught the Principal’s eye one day when a preschooler threw a tantrum, and Jasmin took the child aside and calmed her, singing him a lullabye until the little boy fell asleep. Coincidence or not, the school was short one Teacher Assistant, and she was offered the job that very week.
From then on, Ma’am Jasmin did what she had been doing from the very first day in school: escorting children to the bathroom, or bringing them to the clinic for scrapes or headaches, real or imagined, dealing with tantrums, helping out at storytime and making sure the toddlers get their naptime. Her talent with scissors and colored paper make her a sort of celebrity among the teachers during the monthly stripping and redecorating of the bulletin boards, and because of her powerful soprano, rarely is there a Chapel Hour without her leading the children in praise and worship. During the CCFT Night last December Ma’am Jasmin belted out a memorable ringing National Anthem before all Coron. Her favorite projects? The 2007 Christmas where she and the teachers stayed till late night to finish making paper poinsettias for the Christmas tree and Linggo ng Wika where they spent hours making native food trays for the following day’s Filipino potluck fiesta.
When asked what experience will always stay in her memory about the school, Ma’am Jasmin described one schoolday afternoon after naptime: All the children had gone home except for Christian of the Children’s Home at Nursery, who was stilll fast asleep. His sister Livinia, then in Kindergarten, refused to leave with the other children, and watched over her little brother. When Christian finally awoke, crying, Livinia hugged him and helped him with his shoes. They left for the Children’s Home together, with Ma’am Jasmin looking on and fighting tears – “Everyday I see how, without their families, they look after each other and are fiercely protective of each other. They can get into all sorts of naughtiness at times, but you have to admire their loyalty to their siblings.”
What does it take to be a Teacher Assistant? Mostly heart, and Ma’am Jasmin wears hers on her sleeve.
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