Do miracles still happen? To the victims of the November 29, 2004 disaster in the towns of Real, Infanta, Gen. Nakar in Quezon and Dingalan in Aurora province, and to those who have the inner eyes of faith to see the race of God in the ordinary (and not so ordinary) events of their day-to-day life, Yes, they still do.

Four years after the 2004 ‘Sodomic experience’, many visitors who come to Infanta find it miraculous that there is hardly any sign of devastation. On the contrary, there are many signs that show a developmental jump forward. One of these is the John Paul II Village which rose in the rust colored hills of Barangay Agos-Agos, in the outskirts of the town of Infanta, far away from the raging waters of Agos River.

A year ago, after the Medical Mission conducted by the Augustinian Missionaries of the Philippines (AMP) sisters, they came to the alarming conclusion that many children were undernourished. The Prelature of Infanta took on the challenge of looking seriously into the problem. A thorough examination of the children with ages six months to 12 years revealed that 227 should be enrolled in a feeding program. Hapag-asa came as an answered prayer and a trusted partner in providing solution to the problem of undernourishment.

Last January, the Hapag-asa, a six-month feeding program started with 150 children of JP II Village. Every afternoon children of varying ages, weights and heights lined up to the feeding center carrying their multi-colored plastic plates and cups to be filled with the special menu of the day, to their palate’s delight and stomach’s content.
However, on the months of March to April, what started as 150 children dwindled to 101. No thanks to the irresponsibility and lack of cooperation and support of some parents.

After much encouragement and prodding from the Social Action Staff and from the core group of parents who continued to cook delicious meals for the children every afternoon, last July 26 we celebrated the Graduation of the first Batch of Hapag-asa Feeding Program. A total of 101 children
completed the program. The result which is a miracle in itself, is an average of three to four kilos weight increase per child. Worth mentioning is one child, Marites Sollano, whose weight at the age of 2 years and 10 months was only 6.8 kilos. She could not walk nor speak.But thanks to the miracle of Hapag-asa her weight is now 12.5 kilos and she jumps, plays and sings her heart out like any normal child.

Seeing the remarkable results among the children, the parents who did not approve of the program are now the ones asking for a second batch. Other Barangays expressed their eagerness to join the program too.