The Stella Maris Baby: Davao, Philippines
 Since
its opening in 2000, the Stella Maris Center in Davao has
offered pastoral care to hundreds of seafarers and their
families. AOS chaplain Fr Jack Walsh tells us how one family
benefitted in a very special way.
In the Port of Davao, the pastoral team was blessed with
the necessary funding to renovate a former guest house and
communication centre which once belonged to a mining
company. The renovations were completed in 2000 and the
building re-opened as the new Stella Maris Seafarers’
Centre. Surrounded by a hectare of land, it is conveniently
close to Sasa Wharf, one of the 30 berthing areas of the
Port of Davao.
The centre includes meeting rooms, a dining room,
kitchen, laundry facilities, television room, and
accommodation in private rooms, family rooms and a crew
dormitory with space for up to ten seafarers. News of the
spacious and reasonably priced accommodation soon spread and
more and more seafarers and their families came to take
advantage.
 One
seafaring family stayed with us for nearly a year. The
husband worked on a ship which regularly carried bananas to
the port of Talinn in China, returning to Davao every 15
days. Meanwhile his wife was caring for their 18 month old
son Budoy who was undergoing major surgery for a medical
condition.
Recently the father returned to our centre and proudly
announced the birth of a baby girl. She was declared the
first “Stella Maris Baby”, conceived and formed in the
Stella Maris Centre. Naturally, the baby is to be christened
Stella. Her brother Budoy, now two years old, has
successfully undergone four operations in Davao Hospital. It
is reported that he now aspires to be a newer model of the
Filipino champion prize fighter Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao!
Our friendship with the seafarers who work on the banana
boats means that we are regularly offerred “banana rejects”.
These are perfectly good bananas rejected by strict Japanese
inspectors due to tiny blemishes on the skin. At harvest
time, the captain and company port manager calls us to send
our truck. Sometimes we collect several hundred bunches of
bananas. These make very popular, and nutritious, gifts for
all our visiting seafarers.
Photographs: (1) Ms Virgie, one of the Stella Maris
Centre staff with two year old Budoy (2) Ms Lisa Candelon,
administrator of the centre, with Budoy and Mrs Tumanda with
baby Stella. |