We are no longer using this website. Please proceed to our new website www.ruelfoundation.org for more information and to DONATE 

Ruel Foundation
Making a better life for our kids
Children Homes
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Life Changing
Operation to children in need
* Phillippines
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Crisis Center
Emergency medical treatment
* Malnourished Children
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* Disaster Relief
item Children in need
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= Something Special

Our Story

 

 

In 1999, New Zealander, David Cowie, visited Eastern Samar in the Philippines and during a visit to a local hospital he came across a boy named Ruel. Ruel’s small, emaciated body lay on a simple steel bed in this under-staffed and under-resourced facility. His face was scarred by a double cleft lip and palate, causing serious difficulty in swallowing. With his tiny body wracked with viruses and infections, Ruel was near death.

With the help of locals, Ruel received the food supplements needed to sustain his life, whilst David raised the necessary funds for Ruel’s surgery. Ruel represents hundreds of thousands of forgotten and unwanted children suffering in isolated villages and towns in developing nations.

Ruel’s story was the founding of the Ruel Foundation and today the Ruel Foundation has helped thousands of children and their families throughout the South Pacific.

In 2006, Pauline Curtis-Smith started an orphanage and a home for malnourished children in Oriental Mindoro. This was extended to a second home on Romblon island in 2017.

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Covid Update

Ruel Foundation - Give A Smile are managing very well through Covid-19 thanks to our very dedicated staff. It has had it’s challenges though with 50 children locked down for over 100 days - yes we are going slightly crazy!

Financially it has also been costly as 25 of our staff have had to “live in”, due to travel to work restrictions. This has incurred extra costs for wages, accomodation and meals.

We are not able to do our cleft lip/palate operations currently or to process our kids that are ready for adoption.

But….we are not standing still!

We have continued our malnourished program at our Calapan City base, restoring them to full health before returning them to their local village. We have also fed over 8,000 very hungry tribal people with food packs, and raised funds to provide plywood for their houses, many of which house up to 13 people and only have rice sacks for walls!                  

       

The most exciting news of all, is that we have been given permission to travel to Sorsogon to start our new child caring facility. This is based around a 12 hour drive south of Manila and is very strategically placed in the centre of the Philippines, where we can reach 100’s of children. We had just finished setting up the centre when Covid-19 struck, so we were not allowed to travel there to open the facility. We will be there by mid-July and can immediately start to accept children, offering many more children hope of a better future!

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Typhoons and Lockdown

Our kids are still on lockdown! It is now nine (9) months since they have been able to go off the property but they are vstill smiling!

They have also experienced two typhoons in the last two weeks. It was scary for them as windows shattered and the home flooded. We are hoping that we can give them a psecial Christmas, parties, presents and a lot of fun! Feel free to hit our donate button if this is something you would like to do. Spread some Christmas cheeer!

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Boys Day at the Beach

Our boys have not been allowed off our premises for over two years but finally, they were allowed out! What an exciting day that ws for them!

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