‘Damayan’ brings cheer to school children

Sometimes, the sweetest sound of all emanates from the heart.

When The Philippine STAR’s Operation Damayan group of volunteers visited the hearing-impaired children of the Maria Lena Buhay Memorial Foundation, they were like music to the children’s ears.

They were a source of much fun and laughter, and they boosted the self-esteem of the children. Why, even a TV star played with them!

Damayan, the socio-civic arm of the Philippine STAR initiated by the newspaper’s founding chairman Betty Go-Belmonte, was one of the first groups to bring Christmas cheer to the students.

"We are having this simple party because we all want you to have fun. Christmas is not in our pockets. It is in our minds and hearts. We’re now celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ," Miguel Belmonte, president and chief executive officer of the Philippine STAR, told the children.

The Damayan group’s visit was like a Christmas carol to the children – cheerful, loud and clear. The group was accompanied by TV actress Dimples Romana, STAR Face of the Year 1999 finalist Alexandra Ortigas, and regular donor Elvie Estavillo.

"It feels good to see these children having fun," said Estavillo. "Despite their impairment, they are full of life."

During the celebration, students received presents – toys, clothes, candies and cookies from two Damayan Santa Clauses and a Selecta mascot. They also got a colorful swing from Belmonte. During the party, they feasted on Selecta ice cream and Little Caesars’ pizza.

Laughter filled the barangay hall of Blue Ridge B subdivision, where the party was held. As if to prove that they are conquering their hearing impairment, the students outdid themselves in a game of "Trip to Jerusalem" or musical chairs, a popular party game where students grab limited seats whenever the music is suddenly turned off. It is a game many children take for granted, but for children with hearing impairment, it is a game that tests their hearing skills.

Among the other "beneficiaries" of the Damayan Christmas party were the parents of the Foundation’s students, who themselves were delighted by the Damayan volunteers’ visit.

Touched by the sight of her daughter Hannah having a nice time at the party, Rosita Andang said it looked like Santa Claus himself paid her a visit.

"I wanted to cry when I saw my daughter Hannah singing. I am proud of her. She has become more sociable, as if she did not have any hearing impairment," she said, in near tears.

Hannah was born deaf because of the German measles her mother contracted in her third month of pregnancy.

Rosita says Hannah, because of the support she has been getting at the Lena Buhay Foundation, has in fact already taken a fancy to the videoke.

"She can really sing," says Rosita proudly.

Belmonte says Damayan treated the students of the school to a Christmas party to help raise awareness about the plight of children who are hearing-impaired, and to draw attention to the fact that it is possible to help them overcome this impairment.

According to Leticia Nietas-Buhay, executive director of the school and a noted speech therapist, children with hearing impairment can still learn to talk if guided by speech therapists.

"In this school, we discourage the use of sign language. There is this impression that the deaf are also mute, but that is not true. They just are not able to develop their speech properly because they cannot hear. They just need hearing aids," pointed out Buhay, who set up the foundation in memory of her daughter Lena, who died of leukemia.

The school is the first oral skills school for the hearing impaired in the Philippines.

When children who were once trapped in a world of silence are set free, Christmas becomes one happy song they can hear.

Damayan wishes to thank the following:

•Little Caesars Pizza and Selecta Ice Cream (through philstar.com)

•Teen Philippines through editor-in-chief Ginggay Joven for the stuffed toys

•Elvie Estavillo, who gave P25,000

•Frank Pe, for P10,000

•Pilipino STAR Printing Co. for P3,000

•Pilipino STAR Ngayon, for T-shirts and shorts

•STAR employees for P23,970 and toys