MANILA, Nov. 16, 2016 – Persons with intellectual disabilities neglected by family and relatives finally find shelter in the welcoming arms of a religious community in Quezon City.
Located in Pasong Tamo, Tandang Sora, the Guanella Home for Special Children was built to provide permanent home for special persons, said Fr. Charlton Viray, who is the community’s superior.
“The Guanella Home for Special Children serves as [a] lifetime home for anyone who comes,” he said. “As long as they are here we will provide [for] their needs.”
Not useless
According to Viray, donations from charitable individuals and groups here and abroad help fund the center and its needs. The The Servants of Charity also fund raise for the Guanella Home for Special Children through various events and activities.
The center currently shelters 20 abandoned persons with intellectual disabilities from different parts of the country.
Disabilities include autism, Down syndrome, global development delay, cerebral palsy, and mental retardation, Viray said.
According to him, persons with intellectual disabilities should be taken care of, instead of being shunned as useless people.
Multi-sectoral effort
Depending on the degree of disability, “some of them can be trained to do house chores,” he said, noting how some of the center’s residents help clean the house.
The Church, civil society, and the government could come together, said Viray, and look into what they could do to help improve the conditions of persons with intellectual disabilities in the country.
In a recent reflection, retired Manila Archbishop Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales called on the faithful to accept and recognize persons with disabilities as well as help provide for their special needs. (Oliver Samson / CBCPNews)
