Benjamin and Lucie went to the Philippines for 3 weeks at the Passi center as on-site volunteers. Lucie tells us their story:
“We had decided to consecrate a part of our summer 2018 to a travel project a little different than the standard tourism. We wanted to take part in a meaningful activity. It was chance that we chose the Philippines…From there, we tried to contact multiple organizations looking after children. We immediately got “the feeling” with CAMELEON, which is why we decided to do a partnership with them. With both of us working, we couldn’t consecrate more than a month to travel: three weeks with CAMELEON and a final week for us, “vacation mode.” Being that Benjamin is a filmmaker and CAMELEON needed images to illustrate their website, it was very easy for us to agree on an objective for our mission: make a film on the association. So we spent the first 2-3 days at the center to observe and understand how it functioned. This time to observe also allowed the girls to get used to our presence before starting to film. During our stay, we were well supervised by the CAMELEON personnel, notably Shaline but also Japhet, Heide, and Laurence herself. Our days consisted of visiting the CAMELEON beneficiaries, listening to their stories and understanding how CAMELEON had changed their daily life. Although we only passed a short amount of time with the girls from the center, we nonetheless got to know them a little and get attached to them. They organized two dance shows for us, one for our arrival and the other for our departure, both very moving. Our mission was really a total success. We discovered that the sexual abuse of children is a scourge in the Philippines and around the world. We realized that with the help of CAMELEON, these children can make it through and that their lives can become joyous again. We strongly recommend this experience to those who would like to render themselves useful and listen to the laughter radiating from these little girls in the Passi center.”
Lucie et Benjamin