Learn about the BATA Foundation through a visitor's perspective and find out how full-of-life the orphans are.
By: Francis Arnaiz
On Sunday, August 28th, my wife Bebe Arnaiz and myself visited for the first time the home in Marikina where the young women of Bata Foundation reside. With us was our son-in-law Martin Tuason whose family is behind this project. What a wonderful day it was.
When we arrived the girls were just finishing up a literacy class. When they saw us, we were greeted with so much excitement. After what seemed countless hugs and hellos, some singing and a martial arts exhibition performed by the girls we all drove off for lunch at a restaurant called Chicken Bacolod. As we were having lunch the girls shared with us a lot of stories about school, their favorite recording artist (Taylor Swift) their favorite basketball player (Steph Curry and Lebron James) and many other things that young girls of their age normally talk about.
It is hard to imagine how outgoing, full-of-life and confident these girls are. I think that is a direct result of the love and care that they receive from everyone involved in the Bata Foundation. After three or four hours or so that we spent with them our hearts and stomachs (or mine at least) were almost to the point of bursting from the food and from all the love that we felt that day. What a wonderful experience.
To the staff and houseparents of the girls congratulations for a job well done. To our daughter Tammy Arnaiz Tuason and her husband Martin, keep up the good work! And to all the people who have given their support to this great project a big thank you!