DSWD: Norwegian lass helps troubled youth in center

NORWEGIAN Tina Ramsvik, after six years of working as hairdresser in the famous Dugg in Oslo, said she wanted to do something for other people, an official of the social welfare department said.

“This is actually a homecoming for her,” according to Marcela Lim, head of the Regional Rehabilitation Center for Youth (RRCY) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development-Eastern Visayas (DSWD-8).

“Instead of just holidaying in a beach, I wanted to do something for other people and for myself,” Ramsvik said.

Lim said Ramsvik did some research, and went to the Philippines, which is now her second home.

Ramsvik said she “have come to love the boys,” referring to the 67 boys (five are recent admissions) who are living in the RRCY.

In 2012, Lim said Ramsvik worked voluntarily with the RRCY for three weeks and return to the country in Feburay 2013 and showed genuine concern for the boys.

Lim said Ramsvik has taught the boys with volleyball, talked with them, and learned their stories.

The Center, operating within modest limits, has a minute budget for such an emergency, Lim said.
Ramsvik, in one situation, also came to pay a boy’s medical needs costing P9,000 and bought a first aid kit for future use among the rest of the boys, Lim added.

“I like the system here,” referring to the way the DSWD facility was being run, and the staff who compose it. “Even by just being there for the boys, talking to them, and teaching new skills are a big help for these once wayward young people,” Ramsvik said.

Lately, Tina introduced the boys to learn how to barber cut as a means to start a living once they are discharged from the RRCY.

Besides, the Center will be saved from spending P50 per boy per month, or a total of Php 3,850.00, for the haircut in a commercial barber shop, Lim said.

Asked when she would be off to her homeland, Ramsvik replied, “April.”

What is astonishing is that she’ll be coming back again and again, at what appears to be a mission for her to be of service to the young people, Lim said. (Leyte Samar Daily Express)