After a long and almost hopeless search for a home for a partially blind and autistic orphan, God provided a miracle.

And John Wigley, 25, of the Associate Missionaries of the Assumption from Manchester, England, said it was wonderful to be involved in that miracle.

On Tuesday, Wigley accompanied Ricor de la Cruz to his new home at Calvary Chapel Children's Home in Bacolod City to live with missionaries Billy and Joe Rosmarino and their 169 other children, after learning about their work, through an article published in the DAILY STAR that was used by a national newspaper in November last year.

Wigley came to the Philippines in September 2009 to work with the Philippine Blind Union in Jaro, Iloilo, as part of a mission that helps the blind and the deaf.

It was at the blind center in Jaro where he met Ricor who was abandoned by his father when his mother passed away.

Ricor, who Wigley believes is seven years old as there are no records of his birth, roamed around with no clothes, played in polluted gutters and had little or no care.

With financial help from friends and family in England, Wigley took Ricor, who had a respiratory problem, for medical treatment. He was also diagnosed to be suffering from autism.

The missionary was also told that there was a chance Ricor could see again so on Dec. 18, 2009, he found the resources to have the boy undergo a cataract operation.

The operation gave a little of his sight back to Ricor for him to be able to run around objects, but Wigely said he is praying that someday the boy will also be able to see colors.

Wigley said that, with the money he raised, he was also able to put Ricor in the care of a caregiver in Santa Barbara, Iloilo, where the country air helped him recover from his respiratory problem.

But when Wigley’s money from England ran out he had to bring Ricor back to the blind center in February this year.

“The blind at the center in Jaro should be given lots of credit for having taken Ricor in despite their being very poor, too. Some earn money giving massages, while some beg on the streets, yet they took Ricor in. It is not easy to take in a blind autistic boy,” he said.

Wigley said he visited the blind center everyday and Ricor, most of the time, ran around unsupervised without any clothes on.

Worried because his stay in the Philippines is ending on July 14, Wigley began a serious search for a suitable home for Ricor.

He searched everywhere on Panay Island and approached maybe 100 Catholic churches, and the Mormons and Jesuits, Wigley said.

Wigley also went to the Department of Social Welfare and Development Office in Iloilo on a near daily basis begging them to find a home for Ricor.

“I was desperate, I needed to find a home for Ricor before leaving the Philippines. I prayed to God for a miracle,” he said.

Then one day in February while at the DSWD again looking for help for Ricor, a woman he did not know handed him a newspaper clip about abused and abandoned children who found love at Calvary Chapel Children's Home in Bacolod City, and told him to contact the woman (Anna Balcells) mentioned in it and she will help him find a home for the boy.

Wigley said he did not even look at the woman who gave the article to him in the eye, he was so frustrated and angry that he could not get help for Ricor, he just stuck it in his bag.

Then four weeks ago as he continued to pray for a miracle for Ricor, Wigely said he remembered to read the article and found the email address of Balcells, president of Kalipay Negrense Foundation Inc. (www.kalipaynegrense.org), which helps raise funds for the care of abused and abandoned children.

In his email to Balcells dated May 6, Wigley wrote: “I am in search for a suitable home for an abandoned boy named Ricor de la Cruz. He is a very special child with autism and visual impairment. He has no family and is currently being looked after by a group of blind persons. As a result he is losing weight at an alarming rate and I worry immensely for his future. Can you help? If your foundation does not cater for a boy like Ricor, do you have any contacts that may be able to help me find this boy a home?”

Balcells said she was out of town and eventually got his email on May 13 and assured him that she would find a happy home for the boy.

She said she knew the Rosmarinos would be perfect for the child but did not want to burden them with another, knowing how many they already had to care for with limited resources.

So she contacted homes in Manila but on May 24, while with Nanay Billy Rosemarino in Bacolod, she told her about Ricor.

“I told Billy I did not want to burden her with another child knowing how many children Calvary already had, but needed her advice on where to place Ricor,” Balcells said.

“Right away Billy wanted to know where Ricor was and by Monday, she and a delegation from Calvary were in Iloilo checking on how he was,” Balcells said.

On Tuesday, Billy Rosmarino, accompanied by Wigley, brought Ricor home to Calvary.

Balcells said that when the Rosmarinos saw Ricor, they were so excited it was like they were welcoming their very first child.

“Ricor has come to a home where he will have lots of love and care, the woman who handed the newspaper clip to Wigley so he could find me so I could lead him to Calvary, must have been God’s angel,” Balcells said.

Billy said Ricor just fits perfectly into their home, it was totally the Lord who brought him to them.

“He’s adorable and we love him. He will never be naked and shamed again,” Billy said.*CPG

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