Our Visit to Hospicio de San Jose
On Saturday, December 10, staff from the Makati office and their guests traveled to the Hospicio de San Jose in Manila to deliver a mountain of donations as part of a “Reverse Advent Calendar” of giving. New clothing and school supplies were presented to the orphanage’s residents, along with sacks of rice and other food.
Many thanks to two of our clients who kindly made corporate and personal donations to this event.
The hospicio is a Roman Catholic welfare institution that was established more than 200 years ago, making it the first social welfare agency in the Philippines. In 1810, it moved to the Isla de Convalencia, where it occupies the entire small island in the middle of the Pasig River, Manila.
Throughout its history, the hospicio has accepted the poorest of the poor, families in crisis, orphans, the abandoned, special needs people and the elderly. It has sheltered them, educated them, cared for them and found families or restored them to their own where possible. The hospicio has provided a home for life for those without one, and buried them when they passed away.
As is always the case when visiting orphanages in the Philippines, it was challenging to see homeless children growing up without families, but so much better for them than living on the streets. The children we met were happy, friendly and very interested in their visitors.
