Tag: House of Refuge

Amy visits the House of Refuge Orphanage in Manila.

Amy visits the House of Refuge Orphanage in Manila.

By DR June Sanico Leave a comment 19 Jun 2018

Last week Amy spent the afternoon catching up with the children from the House of Refuge Orphanage, in Manila.  

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The House of Refuge is a special place to Greg and the team, because in December 2015, Greg and the Foundation were visiting, delivering hampers and gifts to the children, and whilst there, learnt that a medical clinic was needed. He instantly decided to help and sponsored the build of this clinic, which was completed in July 2016 and called the ‘Maud Clinic’.  The Maud Clinic is named after Greg’s grandmother who herself was an orphan.

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Amy had a lovely lunch followed by some singing and dance performances from the children.  She then handed out a few books and toys and read some stories. The children were so happy with lots of giggling and laughter amongst them.

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Well done to the House of Refuge team for giving these children a second chance in happiness. heart

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Medical Mission held at the Maud Chapel Clinic.

Medical Mission held at the Maud Chapel Clinic.

By DR June Sanico Leave a comment 4 May 2017

Nearly a year has passed since The Greg Secker Foundation built the “Maud Chapel Clinic”, named after Greg’s Paternal Grandmother, who herself was an orphan with Dr Barnados.

John Secker with Maud Chapel Plaque

John Secker (Greg’s father)

The Maud Chapel Clinic was built for The House of Refuge Foundation, which is an orphanage run by Glady Quindoza Bunao.

The House of Refuge Foundation is already in its 26th year of service to children who are abandoned, neglected, orphaned or abused. They currently house 37 children but over 1000 children have passed through the Foundation since starting up.  Many of the children who have already left,  have either been adopted by christian families, reunited to their relatives or are now living independently and are working.

Last Friday was a non-working holiday in Metro Manila because of the ASEAN Summit week. However, the Clinic was busy and full of children of all ages from 4 – 17 years as it was being used for the scheduled medical/health consultations and check ups.

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The children were seen by Doctor Calaveras who volunteered her time to see the children.  Each child filled in a health assessment form and was then weighed and checked by DR Calaveras for any health issues. 

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Glady and her staff are doing a wonderful job looking after these abandoned children and we ask you all too, to offer your support, and help these children who deserve the best. 

Medical Clinic

Medical Clinic

By Marie Sorli Leave a comment 17 Jul 2016

horfi-kids-preformingHad such a great time at the Manila-based orphanage, House of Refuge, handing over the medical clinic we have sponsored for the orphanage! 

Now some of you might not know that Greg’s grandmother was an orphan who was taken in by Dr. Barnardo’s. Greg often says that if it wasn’t for him, he might not be here today. Children and especially orphans are therefore very close to the Foundations heart. Last year, Greg visited the House of Refuge, as a part of a Christmas initiative he does with staff from his companies to provide Christmas joy to the less fortunate called Basket Brigade. Each year, Greg and his companies find a local cause close to their office and donate care packages in form of food and presents for children. In 2015, the Philippines-based staff of Learn to Trade went to House of Refuge, an orphanage that cares for abandoned and neglected children who live or work on the streets.

When there, Greg heard their plans to build a medical centre for the children under their care. These remarkable young children have been through a lot, and when they are rescued, suffer from multiple conditions which need medical care. House of Refuge has doctors that volunteer at their centre, but sometimes needed to take the children to the hospital to spend the night or to do more checks. For some of the children, it was quite traumatic to be taken away from a space where they finally felt safe, so the refuge wanted to expand their services and provide the children with holistic care at their own premises. 

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Greg and the team were so inspired by the hard work of the House of Refuge staff, and the change this fantastic charity has made to the lives of hundreds of children. At the time, the orphanage had one major donor covering half of the cost of the medical centre. After speaking to the board, we decided that the foundation would help them in reaching their goal and decided to fund the remaining so the kids would have their new medical clinic. Two months later the other donor pulled through, but we felt that this was something the children could really benefit from and decided to shoulder the entire cost to help them.

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We are so happy to announce that in July that promise was fulfilled and we opened the doors to a brand new two-storey medical clinic kitted out with medical equipment and child-friendly furniture. It’s been so appreciated that the children sometimes pretend to be sick, just so they can spend the night in one of the two sick rooms and play with the toys. We are so happy to be able to assist this fantastic organisation and so grateful to be a part of these wonderful and talented children’s lives!

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The clinic is dedicated and named after Greg’s grandmother, Maud Chapel.

It’s been a truly great and emotional day for us all and with that, we sign off for today.

GSF Summer BBQ

GSF Summer BBQ

By Marie Sorli Leave a comment 18 Aug 2016

singerYesterday, we held a fundraising event for the Manila-based orphanage, House of Refuge Foundation. The funds raised go towards providing their new medical clinic (sponsored by the Greg Secker Foundation) with medical equipment, medicine, and other supplies.  

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We had such an amazing time and have had such great feedback from the guests!

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All the funds raised goes towards purchasing medical equipment and medicine for the House of Refuge who we sponsored with a medical clinic earlier this summer.Â