Saturday, July 05, 2008 Cabbigat: A beacon of light for the children By Faridah Kristi P. Cabbigat Light That Transforms
SINCE it opened in 2003, the Sunflower Children's Center of Saint Louis University (SLU) has already handled a wide variety of children's cases that range from problems generally related to school, peers, and family.
Very often, children are referred to the Center because others -- such as parents or guardians, teachers, social workers, principals, school counselors, relatives, or other professionals -- would say that the child's behavior is deemed problematic.
Inspired by SLU's core value of social involvement, Sunflower has set its vision to be a community of socially-involved professionals at the service of children's welfare.
Armed with the Christian spirit of commitment, our Center staff and volunteers pool together their competencies, creativeness, and willingness to assist children and families in need of psychosocial interventions.
As its primary services, Sunflower offers psychotherapeutic intervention and psychological assessment. The entire therapeutic process aims to help parents and caregivers cope with the difficulties in dealing with their children who need special attention.
The referral reasons range from problematic behaviors such as aggression, hyperactivity, or social withdrawal. Some children are referred due to observed developmental delays and other emotional concerns related to a child's personal experiences in his or her environment.
The duration of therapeutic intervention usually varies depending on the present problems of the child and also his progress during therapy.
Very often, parents or caregivers would come to our Center and share their difficulties in handling their child's behavior. Throughout the therapeutic process, however, they also gradually learn more about their child, thus, bringing about greater understanding of how the child thinks and feels.
The child's attending therapist meets with the parents and other caregivers to discuss the therapeutic findings, and more importantly, the recommendations.
Consultation with the guardians of the child is also possible even after the intervention process in our Center has been terminated.
Recognizing the reality that a child may need more than the services that our Center offers, we may also refer the child to other professionals such as developmental pediatricians, child neurologists, child psychiatrists, or physical/occupational/speech therapists.
Our partnerships with them enhance the interventions that a child may need. It actually increases the chance for the young one to flourish as he or she is helped to become more adept in his or her interactions.
Sunflower is likewise a strong advocate of spreading its knowledge of child development to other helping professionals such as teachers, counselors, and social workers. Through speaking engagements in schools, government offices or non-government organizations (NGOs), our Center reaches out to a greater number of people who will also promote children's overall well-being.
Moreover, through trainings that our Center conducts, the network of professionals nurturing children's development becomes broader. It also becomes an avenue to disseminate information and experiences so that others would gain more knowledge and confidence in handling children's difficulties or concerns.
For the past five years, Sunflower Children's Center has taken on the challenge of becoming a beacon of light that helps young people who are embattled by difficulties arising from within themselves or from their environment. These difficulties often tend to put them down, thus, they present problems that others may find difficult to understand and even accept.
Inspired by SLU being the “Light of the North,” Sunflower was established to be a symbol of hope for the children and youth who are faced with seemingly insurmountable concerns.
The therapeutic process allows us to work side by side with families, schools, and other people whose hopes still abound for these problematic children and youth. This comes with the belief that someday, their light will also shine so that that they would be able to fulfill their potentials, and that they are transformed likewise into a brighter beacon of light for their respective communities.
The SLU Sunflower Children's Center is located at Home Sweet Home compound, Gov. Pack Road, Baguio City. Fr. Geraldo Costa is the Director and Faridah Kristi P. Cabbigat is the Assistant Director. For more information, contact us at telefax no. (074) 446-5664 or mobile phone no. 0915-541-5501. You may also e-mail us at sunflowerslu@yahoo.com or visit our website at www.slu.edu.ph/offices/auxilliary/sunflower/.
