916 Ate Marianna’s Fluffy Sheeps with Mano Amiga

Written by Vice President for Internal, Ate Charmain Tan
It was another fun afternoon as we celebrated the 6th birthday of the adorable Ate Marianna. Even though her parents, Ate Sab and Kuya Ian, created this event for her, it was actually Ate Marianna who wanted to celebrate with the less privileged children. At a young age she’s already aware of the current situation of these kids. We visited Mano Amiga Academy in Paranaque. We were joined by 27 energetic third graders in our event. As the kids came out of their classrooms they started dancing and signing to the songs we played. We have previously visited their home in the FTI complex in Taguig and have done numerous events with them in the past.
We grouped the kids into five then introduced our volunteers to them. Aside form Ate Marianna’s family they were also joined by three of Ate Marianna’s friends and their parents. The adorable kids turn six this year. We asked the groups to come up with a group name. They were Game Master, Brain Champs, Awesome, Wrestler, and Team Blue. The volunteers then got to know the kids by taking about their favorite food and what they wanted to be when grow up. Most of the kids wanted to be painters, lawyers, engineers, chefs, doctors, and offers.
Our first activity was the Storytelling Workshop by everyone’s favorite, Kuya Rich. He started with his popular Achuchicha-achuchicha-achuchichacha warm up exercise. He asked the kids to stretch their arms, lock their knees together, put their face sideways, while dancing and singing achuchicha-achuchichacha. All the kids laughed so much as they chanted and danced. Kuya Rich then told the story of Tuko, the Tenor Wannabe. It was the story of a Gecko who believed he was a good singer even though he wasn’t a gifted one. Kuya Rich sang different kinds of songs in a funny tone and mimicked the sound a Tuko makes while the kids literally rolled on the floor and laughed. The Tuko never gave up and in the end he became a conductor. Through the story the children learned that if they wanted to do something they should never give up but, they should also try doing other things they may end up being good at.
After the storytelling workshop we played two games. The first game was Fish Be With You. Teams were given bilao and paper cutouts of sea creatures that they had to fan into the bilao. They can only use the paper plates in fanning and weren’t allowed to use their hands and touch the paper. The challenge was not to fan too hard else the cutouts already inside the bilao will be fanned out again. All the students were really honest as nobody tried to cheat. In the end group Brain Champ won the game. The second game was Bring Me Art. Instead of brining the item we specified the teams had to cut out the item on the papers we gave. In line with Lent Season we asked them to bring us Easter bunny, Easter eggs, cross, fish, and others. Team Awesome won the game as everyone was really fast in cutting.
We then has our Art Workshop by artist Ate Carla. She taught the kids how to make cute and fluffy sheeps using cotton balls as its body. The kids cut out the paper plates then glued the cotton balls on them. They then cut out the face and put plastic eyes on them. They also attached gray colored cardboards as their legs. The end project was so cute especially when there were lots of them clustered together as we took group photos of the kids with their artwork.
We then got to have our delicious carbonara and fried chicken snack. We also got to enjoy ice cream and candies. The kids then sang a Happy Birthday song for Ate Marianna who’s actual birthday is the day after. Throughout the afternoon Ate Marianna stayed energetic as she bonded with the other kids. Ate Sab said her daughter is usually shy around people she doesn’t know but today she warmed up to the kids pretty fast. She also gave out school supply set for each of the children. The kids thanked everyone by doing their thank you cheer. For Ate Marianna and all the children of Mano Amiga, Walt Disney says, “All their dreams can come true if they have the courage to pursue them.”

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