MANILA, Philippines - Feliciano Jaime Atienza, known to everyone as ?Chito,? is a Filipino immigrant and a career Tesol (Teacher of English to Speakers of Other Languages) professional in New York City.
The New York Times recently named him Teacher of the Year. In the ?70s he taught English to Vietnamese refugees in Bataan.
Chito is a compassionate professional whose classroom is characterized by a healing and empowering concept of ?skinship? and trust. He has a cheerful ?can-do? attitude and time-tested skills as a teacher, teacher trainer, mentor, test-giver and facilitator.
When I saw him in New York in 1998 when Llita Logarta held her first solo exhibit at Philippine Center, I saw how he tremendously enjoyed what he was doing. I lost track of him, until he e-mailed me about this award and the miracle that happened to him in Paray le Monial a few years back.
The miracle
?I lost my health insurance two years ago and I was walking with a cane for five years,? wrote Chito.
?I went to France to visit my favorite place, the Lady of Lourdes shrine in the south of France. I forgot my cane while hurrying to JFK Airport for my flight to Europe. I took the opportunity to go to other shrines: Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Church in Rue du Bac in Paris; St. Therese of the Child Jesus basilica in Liseux; St. Bernadette?s Chapel in Nevers; and the church in Paray le Monial where the Sacred Heart of Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Alacoque. I went to the place where He appeared and I kissed the ground.
?I had to walk half a mile back to my hotel. I was limping, without the cane. It started to rain hard, so my first reaction was to run and, yes, I?ve been running since then!
?Amazed at what happened, I went back to the church and thanked Jesus for making me walk straight again.
?I went to Lourdes after that and though I?d been there a couple of times, I had never hiked the mountains to walk the Stations of the Cross.
?Finally, I was able to do it. My friends at work asked me why I was even feeling better now without an insurance, but deep inside I was telling myself that my insurance is up there and His name is Jesus.?
Amputees given hope
Lyne Abanilla, past governor of Rotary International District 3810, told me this amazing story of how a man from Pampanga who had been an amputee for 32 years (both legs) was given hope to finally walk again when the Physicians for Peace, Rotary International and the Philippine General Hospital worked together to put up the Prosthetics and Orthotics Center at the PGH.
When artificial legs were finally attached to the man?s stumps, he was even able to drive a motorcycle. The sight brought tears to the eyes to those watching him.
Helping make this miracle possible were Roy Navarro of the Clark Development Foundation and Benny Ricafort of the Kapampangan Development Foundation.
This lucky man is one of 200 amputees from Bicol, Cebu, Palawan, Batangas and Occidental Mindoro that have been helped.
Since there wasn?t a place to sleep in for people from the provinces, the Rotary Club of Pasay Millennium put up the amputee ward in PGH. A Chinese couple who wished to remain anonymous put up the therapy room.
Dr. Penny Bondoc, a rehab doctor, supervises the attaching of the artificial legs. Rolando de la Cruz, a technician sent by Physicians for Peace to study in Connecticut, is training other technicians to do the process.
Two American technicians are sent to Manila every quarter to further train local technicians. The Physicians for Peace donate the materials for artificial legs to the Philippines.
There will be a convention on Prosthetics at Manila Hotel on July 14. Former senatorial candidate Butch Pichay heads Physicians for Peace Philippines as president, while Dr. Ted Herbosa is chair.
Call PGH Prothetics Center at 5369605.
The Virgin of the Poor
While Marian devotion is specially focused this year on the apparitions in Massabielle, Lourdes, France 150 years ago in 1858, pilgrims and devotees are also giving special attention to the Virgin Mary?s appearances to an ordinary girl in a tiny village in Banneux in the city of Leige, Belgium 75 years ago, in 1933.
In that same year, Our Lady appeared to five children in Beauraing, another town in Belgium.
They may be on a lesser scale than Lourdes, but Banneux and Beauraing have their share of religious history that is certain to give pilgrims and devotees the same spiritual uplift and ardor, as they recall the Lady?s apparitions in Banneux eight times to Mariette Beco, whose simplicity and innocence paralleled that of Bernadette Soubirous of Massabielle fame.
For travel inquiries, e-mail Adam?s Express Travel at adamstvl@pldtsl.net or call 5211651/38. Departure is on May 18. The trip will take pilgrims not only to miracle sites in Lourdes and Fatima, but also to Madrid, Paris, Amsterdam, El Escorial, Salamanca, Avila, Burgos, Loyola (St. Ignatius), Paray le Monial (Sacred Heart), Nevers (St. Bernadette) and Lyon. The flight back to Manila is on June 1.
La Consolacion homecoming
The 82nd alumni homecoming of La Consolacion College Manila was held recently with hundreds of alumni attending. It was a joyous time.
The celebration of the 125th anniversary of the Augustinian Sisters of Our Lady of Consolation a month later was also like a homecoming.
Chit Picache Vizconde, president of the alumni association and who experienced God?s miracle through the intercession of Mother Consuelo Barcelo, led the Prayers of the Faithful during the Concelebrated Mass officiated by Bishop Deogracias Yñiquez.
The Mother Consuelo Barcelo Auditorium was filled with nuns and alumni.
Augustinian seminarians and nuns composed the choir. It was a glorious celebration with pictures of Mother Consuelo facing the crowd.
Fr. Eusebio Berdon, OSA, delivered the homily. Testimonies of miracles wrought by God through the intercession of Servant of God Mother Consuelo Barcelo were collated into newsletters that were then given away to those who attended.
Those who wish to receive a novena can write me care of the Inquirer. Please enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope for easier mailing.
Please tune in to Radio Veritas tonight, 846 AM band, 7-8 p.m. for the ?San Expedito, Ang Santong Madaling Lapitan? radio program. Fr. Diwane Cacao will do ?healing on the air.?
