I remember when CRIBS was the first and only foster care agency in the Philippines.

 

I remember when CRIBS was a completely volunteer foster care group. We began by fostering children referred by RSCC in Quezon City in the days of the mid 1970’s.

 

I remember when the decision to register CRIBS as a Philippine entity and form a Board of Directors was made in our sala by volunteers. This was a costly decision because it meant we would lose funding for the children in our care-more than 15 at that time. That was in 1979, I believe. My husband and I were on the first board of CRIBS and remained involved until 1997.

 

I remember when CRIBS had no outside support whatsoever. And I remember going to individuals and asking help with hospitalizations- we had many in those days. Often, however, foster families would pay the bills!  In those days the children we placed in foster care were in precarious health and often needed hospitalization or frequent doctor’s visits.

Tracing the Roots of CRIBS

By: Rhoda Bradshaw

Mrs. Bradshaw (left), one of the original board members and foster parents of CRIBS

Pioneer foster parents

I also remember that only one of our foster families was Filipino, possibly the first in the country. They were also involved in setting up our identity here. The Castillo’s always fostered handicapped children; the other foster parents were expatriates or “ex-pats”, mostly Americans. As a volunteer, my work initially was to tap foster families. We attended the Union Church of Manila and had many ex-pat families attending. The congregation was very supportive of CRIBS and there was a period of time that 12 CRIBS babies were regularly in the UCM nursery on Sunday mornings! From this pool of families we got much help in the form of baby equipment and clothing. Our bodega at home was filled with cribs, high chairs, play pens, toys, and clothing which we constantly recycled!

                

                 I remember when we hired a nurse and social workers to work at RSCC in Quezon City to augment the staff there and to put us on alert when there was a child desperately in need of a foster family. Those were the Marcos years and institutions like RSCC were under-funded and under-staffed. And I remember Timmy, Peter, Agnes, James and so many others our family fostered over a period of eight years. What a fulfilling experience! Precious little ones who often came to our home with scabies, ear infections, malnutrition and fail-to-thrive syndrome, who left to live with their forever families as happy, chubby, and totally lovable children. What a privilege that was!

                

                 I remember too, one windy, rainy typhoon day away from RSCC with six sick babies on mattresses in the back of our station wagon. First stop was Cardinal Santos Hospital where I dropped my college-age daughter with an infant weighing less than 2 kilos, dropped another at a stay-in clinic in my village with our cook, then went home and dialed up four families I knew had foster care licenses. All agreed to take the other four. Immediately! All four ended up adopting those children!

                

                 I remember the American Embassy doctor’s wife telling me that fostering two children had been the most memorable and satisfying part of their assignment to Manila.

                

                 And I remember also the decision to open a receiving home to prepare unwell infants for foster care. Now that was not easy! It required more staff - lots more staff! And finding a place to rent! What a headache that was. Our first home burnt to the ground. The last one was sold out from under us. Finding a place for 25 infants was a challenge. You can imagine our joy when a large donation came through a Christian family in Michigan who had sold their business and gave the tithe for a permanent home for CRIBS in Marikina.

                

                 Every organization goes through growing pains, and CRIBS certainly has. But when I walk into the cheerful office, and enter the delightful receiving home with it’s beautiful murals and finishing and see 25 precious, well-cared-for infants and toddlers and know their future will be with permanent/”forever” families, my heart wells up with gratitude to our Great God who has brought all this about with the help of dedicated staff, committed Board members, volunteers and donors,. From such small beginnings has come a premier and permanent institution that we can all be proud of.

The Official Newsletter of CRIBS Foundation, Inc.