Disability Rights Philippines Project #44031

Life Changing Care for Disabled Filipino Children

by Cast Your Nets Ministry Inc

Project Report | Oct 7, 2021
Frustrated, But Still Fighting!

By Joel R Jurasinski | Project Leader

Greetings to all our Friends and Donors from Siquijor Island, Philippines.

It is frustrating for us to report that we are still in a severe lockdown situation due to the ongoing pandemic. In fact, on this island, we are currently experiencing our first real outbreak of the virus, as the restrictions over the past twenty months had been effective at keeping the island safe. Now we are in a much tighter lockdown which stifles most of our efforts to help handicapped children. With this reality we have recognized new opportunities to serve God through our neighbors.

As the economy of our island is driven by tourism, and tourism has been shut down here for the last eighteen months, many residents have lost jobs and income. While most of the world made governmental subsidies to their citizens, there has been no such safety net for local Filipinos. Many of our neighbors and local children are now faced with an everyday struggle of finding their next meal, many subsisting on rice and porridge only. Faced with this, we have been using our existing ministry funds to sponsor feeding of malnourished children, supporting the local police food bank and food distribution program, and partnering with other concerned organizations to sponsor feeding and food subsidies. This was not our primary mission eighteen months ago, but God has placed us in this situation and we feel he is demanding we do all we can for our neighbors. This will be the primary focus of our efforts over the next several months.

Also, as we have in many years past, we receive clothing from John Cooper Academy, in The Woodlands, Texas. In the past, we distribute these clothing items to children, but with the current situation we are having to adjust this to distributing clothing to the front liners as a “Thank You” for all they are doing. We have distributed to the Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection and the Regional Health Unit. They truly appreciate the gift! Once we are able, we will continue our distribution of clothing to the children.

We would like to thank all of you who have given to our organization over the past few years and we hope you recognize that this change in focus is just temporary. We really wish this whole pandemic would go away and we could get back to our primary mission. We really hope that you will understand and continue to support us through these trying times.

God Bless All of You and Your Families,

Joel and Rhonda Jurasinski

Cast Your Nets Ministry

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Jun 9, 2021
Still Under Lockdown, Local Projects take Priority

By Joel R Jurasinski | Project Leader

Greetings from sunny Siquijor Island, Philippines!

Wanted to give all our donors a quick update on our status and activities. At this time, not much has changed regarding our ability to travel and bring children for needed surgeries. Due to the pandemic the Philippines is still locking down each island and province and making it very difficult to travel. Therefore, our efforts have been limited to our home island.

In our last update, we mentioned that we were working to establish accessible physical therapy to all citizens of the island. We have made great progress here as the provincial government has hired two full time physical therapist who rotate to provide services at each municipality at least once per week. Each municipality has provided space for a center and we are working to supply each one with the basic equipment needed. To date we have acquired six sets of hand weights, resistant bands, balance boards, various size bolsters, and other equipment for local use. The therapists are now seeing over 30 patients per week and the word is still getting out to the population in each community. We will have a formal dedication and equipment turn over in each municipality in the near future.

In addition to the physical therapy centers, we are continuing to provide a once a month feeding to malnourished children in the area. This program is a supplement to the barangays current feeding program and doubles their efforts to help these children lead a normal and healthy life.

We also would like to thank Janet LeBlanc and the parents who donate shirts at John Cooper School in The Woodlands, Texas. We have been actively working with the local police in Maria Siquijor to distribute clothing and food at their local Barangay informational meetings. This has been a huge blessing to a number of families struggling during this pandemic. Thanks to all of you for you continued support both prayerfully and financially.

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Feb 19, 2021
Pushing Forward in 2021

By Joel Jurasinski | Project Leader

I would like to start this report with a big THANK YOU to all our donors this giving season. Due to the pandemic and local lockdowns, the effectiveness of our ministry has been reduced and we have temporarily been forced to find other options to help the community around us in other ways. Through this all, your support has been unwavering and we are truly thankful to all of you for this support.

Our current situations finds us still currently locked down on our home island of Siquijor. We are still limited in our ministry options as travel is still not feasible due to quarantine requirements each time we change island or province. We are anxious to return to our primary mission of helping children receive life changing surgeries and we will do that when the laws permit. In the mean-time we are keeping busy serving our clients in different ways.

Follow-up Physical Therapy.

We are still providing follow-up therapy for a number of children that we have helped with surgery in the past, particularly the four we brought to Davao last February before the lockdown. All four of the children have made great progress, we are including a before and after picture of Ryan Paul and note the change in his feet! His physical therapist in Dumaguete reports that he not only walking normally, but has now broken out in a run! Praise God, we have worked with Ryan Paul for over three years and it brings us such joy to hear this. Below is a quote from Ryan Paul’s mother:

Ryan is now able to walk flat on his feet. Unlike before where he always walks on his toes. His walking position has also improved and he can now jump without having to worry about getting toppled over. As a parent it makes me feel proud of every little progress he has made and of course, we are grateful to the people behind his success!

We are continuing to provide therapy to many of our clients both in Dumaguete and our island of Siquijor. We will give more individual updates in future reports.

Provide for Therapy Center for the Island of Siquijor

We mentioned our plans to work with the Provincial Government of Siquijor to build a rehabilitation center in our previous reports. We made an extensive and detailed proposal to the Governor in October; however, we received no reply from them. We are now exploring ways to provide such a center without the help of the local government. In January we began working with local craftsmen to build some of the equipment needed for basic therapy and we are currently looking for space to use as a center. We do have a local physical therapist that we have been working with and we are seeking ways to fund her salary to accomplish this goal.

Feeding Malnourished Children

Last fall we began working with a nearby barangay (neighborhood) to enhance their feeding program for malnourished children. We are continuing to do when the local government allows us to gather together. We were forced to cancel our Christmas feeding due to local coronavirus flare up, but we were able to provide that meal in January. We continue to support these parents and children whenever we are allowed, they are such a blessing to us!

Again, many thanks to all of our supporters and please keep us in your prayers as we move forward!

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