PAYTON. FOUNDATION. CHANGING LIVES.

Making a better life for children in the Philippines.

Ruel Foundation have three Children’s Crisis Centres – caring for the most impoverished children in the world and those subjected to other life-threatening situations such as physical abuse, sexual abuse, orphaned or abandoned.

Located in Calapan City, Romblon and Sorsogon in South Luzon, the team at Ruel see a huge number of children in with serious physical and emotional distress; and work to bring them health, healing and improved quality of life by providing them with free surgeries, medical care and education.

The Ruel Foundation works closely with local authorities to help rescue children that are close to death from starvation or abuse. In many cases they just provide milk powder to assist a family in getting a child’s weight up, however, in some cases this is not enough.

The local health authorities refer children to the crisis centre to be cared for until the child is strong enough to return to their family or be placed for adoption.

This can take from three months to several years.

When children are accepted into the crisis centre, the team work hard to provide comfort, dignity and spiritual strength to both the child and immediate family. Families share their deep gratitude for giving their children a chance when no one else would.

Earlier this year Ruel took over a property in Sorsogon, strategically placed to care for children in desperate need. The team have a vision to see this facility become their largest children’s crisis centre.

But the first step is to get the doors opened. Until they can employ a social worker to care for up to 20 children, this facility remains unused.

31.4% of children in the Philippines live below the poverty line, 33% are stunted due to malnutrition and 8 in 10 Filipino children experience some form of violence, including physical, psychological, sexual or online abuse.

In that context, the Ruel Foundation’s provision of safety, care and hope is a lifeline; caring for the most impoverished children in the world, bringing them health, healing, spiritual strength and improved quality of life.

1. Fund the team: – $500 per month will fund a 5% raise for 32 staff in the Philippines

The pandemic, flooding and typhoons has caused disturbances at every level of the supply chain in the Philippines. The result, costs of food have skyrocketed and people are facing huge financial pressure to buy their basic needs.

~ For example a cabbage was $1, now $6
~ carrots was $1 now $4,
~ meat was $4 per kilo now $9,
~ fish $1.80, now $6 per kilo.

We are hearing stories of the team going without because they can no longer afford to buy these items. The staff also need to be cared for, so that they can care for others. Being able to buy vegetables or meat will give them a huge boost in their moral and health.

2. Cleft lip/palate operations for children – $350 per surgery

A cleft lip and/or palate is one of the most common birth defects in the world. A cleft usually occurs in the first 6 to 10 weeks of pregnancy during which time the baby’s upper jaw, nose and mouth are developing.

In the case of a cleft defect, the parts of the mouth and lip don’t fuse together properly. In the Philippines 1 in every 1,000 babies is born with a cleft lip and cleft palate.

Children with a cleft will often have difficulties with basic functions such as eating, breathing and speaking. Along with the physical issues, most children will also have difficulty being accepted socially and will not attend school or hold a job in the future.

Fortunately for most of the modern world, Cleft Lip and Palate is addressed early and the effects are well hidden. The surgery is simple and the transformation is immediate.

Due to the pandemic there is a backlog of children in need of surgical intervention, but unable to afford it. Despite restrictions, a plastic surgery team has agreed to come to Calapan in March.

The costs for the process, covid testing as per hospital requirements, preoperative clearance tests, operation, scouting and transport is $350 per child.