The business of hope

86-year old CEO champions street children’s rights

MANILA, Philippines — Can you sell hope?

Not all can rise to the challenge for this intangible yet priceless product, but marketing hope to donors here and overseas is what keeps 86-year old Teresita Silva young and on her toes.

The ageless ‘CEO,’ affectionately called Ms. Silva by friends and supporters, should be enjoying a well-earned retirement after many decades of social work that likely started while she was at her mother’s knee, the late Felicidad Alvarez who was the country’s first professional social worker with a master’s degree.

Street children give praises to He who is the Reason for the Season.

Instead, Ms. Silva is hard at work even during the holidays.  She remains passionate about her causes that include the three charities she set up – ChildHope Philippines, Tahanan Sta. Luisa Crisis Intervention Center and Families and Children for Empowerment and Development Foundation – and compassionate for Manila’s street children and their families.

“We estimate some 250,000 street children are plying the streets of major urban centers around the country. Most of them are boys ages seven to 16.  Some are homeless, while others go home after hours of working or begging on the streets,” Ms. Silva said.

Through ChildHope Philippines, which she established in 1989, they champion the cause of children who work and live on the streets. For a more holistic approach, they work closely with the 30-year-old Families and Children for Empowerment and Development Foundation, understanding that the families whose children are on the streets also need help and are a critical part of the long-term solution. In 1999, Ms. Silva organized Tahanan Sta. Luisa, the first crisis intervention center for abused and exploited street girls, to give them a home and a safe place to recover.

#igivehope this Christmas

This year, Ms. Silva and her team of social workers that include former street children beneficiaries, introduced #igivehope.  The program offers planned activities allowing volunteers of sponsors and corporate partners the chance to interact with the street children under ChildHope Philippines’ care.

“Many of our company donors are eager to support the children, but they are busy with their work so we thought of designing the activities ourselves and they are welcome to make changes so the day will be more engaging for their employee volunteers,” Ms. Silva said.

To their pleasant surprise, many donors signed up and to date, 285 children have joined 291 volunteers in T-shirt painting activities and received holiday packages.

Executive director Herbert Carpio said the children were very thankful for both the time of the volunteers and the ‘take home’ material gifts that they received through #igivehope. “The kids value the time and effort spent by the volunteers. Through these interactions, they realize there are people outside of ChildHope that understand their situation and care for them,” Carpio said.

On learning about #igivehope, graphic design agency Mauve was one of the 11 corporate sponsors which generously signed up.  Mauve’s management decided to hold their holiday party with the street children and was pleased with the festive affair. 

Employee volunteer Sam Lopez found it to be humbling experience. “As grown-ups, we sometimes lose the reason for this season.  At Mauve, this is the time of year when we have so many campaigns to finish so I’m grateful for the chance to spend a morning with the children.”

To Sam’s delight and her co-volunteers, they discovered that each child has a different story.  “We are bound to learn lessons from their stories as much as they are able to learn from ours. It’s quite humbling - it makes you look back and realize that you have been blessed in life, and you feel that you want to share your blessings more to the less fortunate.”

Hope year-round

While #igivehope was designed largely to bring holiday cheer to street children, Ms. Silva is quick to point out the need for help year-round.

Childhope Philippines’ Street Education and Protection Program responds to street children’s needs through alternative education. They have a chance to learn basic literacy and receive primary health care, basic social services, counselling, and capability-building and skills development opportunities. During summer, they stage the Hope Sports Fest, providing opportunities for enhancement of children’s skills in sports where they learn the values of cooperation, camaraderie and teamwork.

“It’s getting harder every year to raise funds for the continuation of our programs and services. International donors have scaled back their financial support because they believe the Philippine economy is doing well. They assume that a booming economy will create more opportunities the poor. This makes it difficult for us as Childhope Philippines is largely dependent on grants and donations to be able to fulfil our needs for finances,” Ms. Silva said.

ChildHope has had to make a painful decision to cut back the number of street educators in its employ by half, which also meant working with half the pool of beneficiaries they used to accommodate.

“And yet we observe that the gap between the rich and the poor has been increasing over the past few years.  This has led to more poor families neglecting their children, resulting in the proliferation of street children.”

Enduring solutions to age-old problems

With #igivehope’s success, Ms. Silva and her team are energized to find more ways of getting more people involved and experience first-hand the work that they do with the street children.

“We encourage them to know the children’s personal stories, their struggles, their ways of living. It is easier to care and give when you’ve made a personal connection,” Ms. Silva said.

She has no plans to retire and continues to take an active role in addressing the age-old poverty problem in the country.  “We’re determined to find enduring solutions. With continued support from our partners and stakeholders, I am confident we can continue on our mission to change the lives of street children and give them hope for a better tomorrow,” she concluded.