Friday, October 03, 2008 Center serves ‘poor’ children
MORE than 100 children enjoyed games and prizes during a recently held celebration of a center in Compostela.
Founded 37 years ago by Rev. Fr. Emmanuel V. Non, S.J., Sapak is home to extremely disadvantaged children.
Fr. Non, now 85, continues to be the main guardian and backbone of Sapak, where more than 100 children are housed and receive an education from grade one to the 4th year high school level.
An additional 100 small children attend nursery and kindergarden classes.
Assisted by a small staff of highly motivated teachers, Non has provided the Sapak kids with a structured environment of discipline and textbook learning, coupled with limited vocational training that would prepare them to be productive citizens.
During the celebration, several special activities were lined up for the day.
Gym instructors from Fitness First conducted an impromptu aerobics class.
The children got to sing and dance and participated in a mini-Spelling Bee and an oral quiz on the capitals of various countries. Winners got candies.
Sapak has already helped more than 3,000 children.
The Friends of Sapak, which is a group of 12 to 16 expatriates, balik-bayans and Cebuanos, mostly retirees, sponsor a monthly luncheon for the children and the staff.
Sapak also greatly appreciates the monthly contributions of Hank Aboitiz, the children of Donna Maria Montenegro Aboitiz, who donated the original six hectares of land that Sapak resides on, and the King family.
The group plans to give scholarships, purchase farm hand tools, repair the dormitories and improve the sleeping and sanitation facilities of the center.
The Friends of Sapak wish to invite anyone interested in visiting, participating in or supporting the activities at Sapak to contact Virginia Wommack at 231-7497, email to dwommack@gmail.com or Gloria Baccay-Campbell at 346-0296 or email to baccaycamp@aol.com.
