The Love146 Round Home is a weirdly beautiful place—A tree house is used for therapy sessions. A volleyball court is available to play on. There’s a punching bag for children to work out their aggression.
There’s also a vegetable garden and farm. By having this outlet for love and caring, the girls are becoming more deeply involved in their own recovery, an incredibly important step in their road towards restoration.
Here’s how Dr. Gundelina Velazco, Love146 Director of Asia Survivor Care, describes it:
“There was a time in these girls’ lives when no one cared. They were so powerless over what people did to them. Now they are free… They have a choice and people listen to them. What could be a better way to make them feel that, than to let them care for the weak and the helpless?
“By caring for creatures that are weaker than they are and ones they can help live, the girls acquire a sense of power and eliminate that old sense of helplessness and weakness.”
Here’s how the children in the Round Home describe the vegetable garden and farm:
“Everytime I eat the mushrooms we’ve grown, I close my eyes because I remember my family and I’m hoping that they are also eating mushrooms.” – Sonya, 9
“The vegetables should be taken good care of like humans.” – Jasmine, 8
“I am happy because it was only here in the Round Home where I saw and learned to eat mushrooms. Whenever I am in the mushroom house, I feel that I am in heaven because the mushrooms around me are all white.” – Ariel, 12
“In raising the quails, I learned that we should not hurt animals. Also, we should not neglect small animals like the quails. Like a mother, she should not hurt her child because she is small and pitiful.” – Jasmine, 8
