Dec. 2011 – I remember the first time I went to the Philippines after a typhoon hit. It’s completely devastating especially for those who are poor. When devastation hits, it hits BIG. It’s really hard to explain if you’ve never seen it before.

When a typhoon devastated parts of the Philippines in 2009, I traveled there on a mission to help. Our team loaded up a container full of relief items and distributed them to thousands of victims. It was a lot of work but it helped. You have no idea how a bag of items helps a family. It helps a lot if you have nothing at all.

So watching this news coming from Typhoon Washi has been devastating for me. As I sit here in the comfort of my home, I realize hundreds of thousands of people are only hoping for one more day to live. Can you imagine that?

In the days right before Christmas, when many are spending thousands of dollars on gifts… there are many others who don’t know if their relatives survived this devastating storm. There are many others needing help and aid now.

So in the comfort of your own home, please join me in helping these victims. If not monetary, please spread the word.

Thanks – Christine, Founder of Child United.

I sat in another meeting… seems like I’m in a lot of them these days.  All good things of course… Child United is gaining new partnerships and support. The past 6 months has been amazing for Child United. We are going full speed ahead on many new things and the potential of changing the lives of children has gone two-fold.  My dream is to have 10 offices worldwide where we’re reaching millions of children.

Anyways, in the meeting someone had said that I needed to get out there and really tell the genuine side of me because it’s what keeps Child United running.  I said that it wasn’t about me but it’s about the kids.  They say… I’m wrong.  I took a couple of days to think about this.  So here I am writing… I am wrong so here’s my story:

Have you ever seen something so profound it has changed your life forever?

This happened to me… this is why Child United started.  I remember being in the Philippines and seeing children walk up to cars begging.  They lived on the streets and they knew no better than to survive that day.  But this is NOT what started it for me… these images are just one of the many things that woke me up.

Three girls and two boys.  That’s what did it.

I went to my mom’s hometown in a rural farming area of the Philippines in January 2006.  You would literally miss the turn into the street which took you to the rice farms if you didn’t know where to go.  This small town consists of thousands of families.  I remember when I was a kid, the street was made out of big rocks… they upgraded to concrete a few years ago.  It was here at this very place where life turned around for me.

I remember sitting in front of my aunt’s home and seeing the children’s heads popping out behind the home next door.  They were laughing, just curious about their new visitor.  In their native language, their father told them to come meet their ‘American’ auntie.

So the kids came out and said hi… They were laughing because they tried saying it in English.  I couldn’t speak their language and they couldn’t speak mine fluently but we had a connection from that moment on… They were happy when my mom and I brought them new clothes and toys.  They played and laughed, having a great time.  You know what was sad?  They were happy for something that I had bought and it only cost me a few dollars.  It was then I realized how little they had but how happy they were.

Their father is my first cousin.  His family lives in a bamboo hut with no running water.  They didn’t even have a stove.  Every day, they would light a fire and cook their food outside.  Their toilets don’t even work.  They have to get a pail of water and dump it into the toilet for it to flush.  This is where those kids live…

As I played with them, I saw myself in their eyes.  This could have been me.

If my parents stayed in the Philippines and never immigrated to America, this would have been my life…. living in the bamboo hut with no running water, toilet or stove… in poverty.   Many children who live in this town don’t have dreams or goals to be anything because it’s so out of reach for them.  They don’t know anything more then what’s in front of them, in poverty.

I live my life with goals and dreams… it’s what keeps me going through my day.  But imagine a life where your only dream is to survive.  What a distinction!

Three girls and two boys.  Seeing myself in their eyes.  What could have been… This reality changed my life and now through Child United, it’s changing the life of thousands of children around the world.

What if we provided these kids with inspiration?  What if we showed them they could have more than what’s in front of them?  What if LIFE were possible?

On my last visit to the town, one of the girls told me what she wanted to be when she grows up.  You know what she said?  Joy, a 13 year old girl, told me she wanted to be ME, she wanted to change the world.  This brings tears to my eyes as I write.  Through my every day life of meetings and work, THIS is why I do it.  I do it to change children’s lives and it started with three girls and two boys.

I was editing a video for a presentation for the Women’s Empowerment Summit.  I was told last week that I was being honored at the event for my work on Child United.

When the founder called to tell me, I was stunned.  You see, Child United is who I am and thinking about honors in any way is surprising to me.  As great as I feel about being honored it made me think about how far we’ve come in the three years we’ve been operating.

In the Philippines

If it weren’t for the hearts and kindness of many individuals, Child United wouldn’t be where it is today.  I couldn’t have gone anywhere if it weren’t for my right hand man, Casey Hills (yes, Casey I am acknowledging you).  Then there’s new people who have joined the organization like Susan West who is doing our PR and Media.  Gerald, my brother, continues to contribute his financial know-how to Child United.  I can’t forget Donn Castro who has the biggest heart of any man I know and of course, for the countless people who have come and gone.  Many have left a lasting difference like my friend, Maureen Francisco.   These are all good people with huge hearts!

Most of all, I can’t forget my family here and in the Philippines.  They spent countless hours giving… I was just looking at the pictures of my relatives unpacking many boxes and driving around distributing the goods to hundreds of the poorest families.  It is amazing to see their strength when they too are living in the same poverty conditions.

I will never forget this whole group.  Without their strength and dedication, Child United would still be an idea… with no where to go.  So this honor and award I will be receiving for Child United is dedicated to every one of my team members and everyone else who has contributed greatly to the organization.

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been blasting our twitter and facebook followers with our $10 donation campaign. A good friend of mine, whom I lovingly bestowed upon the nickname of Buttons (she really likes buttons, especially after a few Hoegaardens), sent me a text the other night a few minutes after I sent out one of my many posts. Our text-versation went something like this:

Buttons: How come your organization always has something to do with the Philippines?

Me: It doesn’t.  We’ve raised money for Haiti and Samoa.  But our founder is Filipino, and that is where we’ve established a presence and where all our contacts are.

Buttons: It just sounds like it’s mostly over there, and because of the founder.  It just sounds a little biased.

Me: Biased?  That’s a bit short-sighted.  You can’t just point your finger on a map and pick random countries to help.  Sending aid and sponsoring children internationally is a complicated and expensive process.  We’ve had to establish contacts.  Bring people on to our team.  We have to qualify kids, and establish money delivery and shipping agreements.  It’s just like running a business.  It takes time to expand.  We did try to expand to Indonesia, but it fell through.  And dealing with the governments is always a challenge.

Buttons: Just saying…  And why not?  Why not point your finger and pick?  They’re not random countries.  They’re countries with children that need aid.  Why not pick a country and get in touch with any of the missionary teams that are there, and offer some assistance?  Just saying.  From an outsider looking in at all your posts, it only sounds like you aid people over there.

Me: There are nonprofits that help only Africa.  There are nonprofits that help only orphaned female babies in South Korea (Buttons is half Korean).  This is a common misunderstanding of what nonprofits like mine do.  We have to establish a presence.  Develop relationships.   If we were to pick three random countries, there would be no way of ensuring that the aid will reach the children.  In many cases it would get stolen.

We are looking to expand into other countries.  But as I explained to my friend Buttons, we want to ensure that the work we do helps those who are actually in need.  In order to do that, we have to establish a presence and trusting relationships within those countries.  This takes time and money.

-Casey