Cru Baguio officially opened in December 2009, although it had been operational a few months before that. It currently houses up to 12 children at a time and the small staff group based there mostly ’stay in’ or live on site, including Marissa Dela Peña who manages the Home. Many of the kids in this area come from far away provinces to be treated at Baguio General Hospital and Benguet General Hospital. Often they have had 4 to 8 hour journeys to reach the hospital and so having a recovery unit is vital in this area as many kids once treated never make it back to the hospital for their follow up check ups. Its been a major frustration for the hospital and doctors but we are hoping to be able to help.
Our social worker jenny had to do a home visit last month and travelled for almost 8 hours. That included bus, jeep and hours of walking up mountains. When she arrived she was glad she’d brought MaryDith with her as they’d gone so far away that the people there actually spoke a different dialect! Thankfully Marydith was able to communicate with the family of our patient.
When that patient Marcelino arrived at CRU he couldn’t speak or walk. He had suffered from “acute Diffuse Encephalomyelitis”. (ADEM) We had to feed him by tube through his nose but thank God by the time he went home a few months later he could speak, walk and eat very well by himself! In fact the first word he learnt was “amen” and “this is the day”.. He used to shout “this is the day, this is the day” when he wanted to eat hehehehe… Well, at least he took in the songs they taught him there! Well done guys!
see pictures before renovations
