It was in 2003 when the Rotary Club of Calamba decided to
adopt HOPE Intervention Center, a
school for autistic children.Partially
subsidized by the city of Calamba’s
DSWD, the school came into existence thru the efforts of the parents of those
families who cannot afford to send their special children to private schools
because of the high cost of tuition.Its
school is situated at the open space of the Laureola Subd. at San
Jose, CalambaCity, a 60 sq. meters
structure build via a low-cost construction materials and standing side by side
with the barangay hall of San Jose. It started catering a few children of
Calamba until the news of its existence spread-out in the nearby towns of
Calamba.Presently, it has 40 students
with autism disorder, 1 SPED teacher as the head, 2 occupational therapists,
and 6 other teachers.
RC Calamba’s objective in adopting the center is, “to
participate in education autistic children towards having a life similar to
that of a normal person”.The first accomplishment
of the club was the donation of therapeutic tools and equipments acquired thru
the “Partner-in-Service Program of RC
Makati” amounting to P103,000.00 in 2004.In the same year, RC Calamba sponsored a rotary volunteer from RC Deloraine,
Tasmania, Australia by the name of John Christie who himself
manages a school of special children way back home.Thru him, RC Calamba was able to send 2
occupational therapists in Tasmania in 2005 and
2006 for purposes of developing their skills and bringing back everything to HOPEInterventionCenter.Presently, both teachers are back and
applying everything they learned from Tasmania.Rtn. John was also responsible in extending
financial help for use of the teachers which his club raised thru their
handicrafts projects.From that time on,
the center has been a beneficiary of the various projects of RC Calamba like
feeding programs, seminars for teachers, study tours and others.
In 2004, RC Calamba’s biggest project for the center
started.The club worked-out for the
acquisition of a lot thru donation from Laguna
Lands Estate Development Corp. headed by PDG Kit Reventar.A 500 sq.
meters lot at Villa Remedios Subd., CalambaCity was awarded to RC Calamba which
in turn was donated to the city government who will finance the construction of
the school building where HOPEInterventionCenter
will be permanently housed.Rtn. City Mayor JC ChipecoAt present, the said building is under
construction. worked hard
for the City Council’s approval of P2.5M budget for its construction.
It is also interesting to note that another blessing
came.The Calamba Doctors Medical Educational & ScienceFoundation, Inc. who has been a partner
of RC Calamba in different community activities, decided to participate in this
humanitarian project. The foundation has just approved in principle its
donation of a school room to be constructed also in the same lot where the main
building will rise for an amount of P500 K.Thanks to the efforts of AG Ronald Pua. RC Calamba plans to have the said
school room be utilized as public library and its clubhouse.
