1119 Ate Cathy and friends Celebrate with Bahay Aruga

Written by: Ate Charmain Tan, Vice President External

It is often said the greatest gift you can give someone is your time. When we give our time to others we are giving a part of ourselves that we will never get back. It is why this group of friends gathered together once again as they shared their blessings with the children of Bahay Aruga. Ate Cathy’s barkada travelled all the way from Laguna this Sunday morning just to spend time with these kids. Last year for their first barkada outreach activity they visited an elderly home in Calamba. This year they chose Bahay Aruga as their barkada’s thanksgiving outreach beneficiary.
We started the fun morning by introducing the volunteers to the kids. The group of friends laughed as they showed off their dancing skills. After that we grouped the children into three. Group 1 was Kuya John’s Team RB, which stands for retinoblastoma, a rare form of eye cancer. The name was chosen as a means to give encouragement to one of the kids in the group who has this illness. The second group was Team Chika of Kuya Kalag. One of the kids, Jocelyn, is always so energetic as she headed the group cheer. The last team was Team Rainbow of Ate Cathy. The name was chosen as they were Aldrin’s, one of the Bahay Aruga kids, favorite colors.
The first activity we played was pass the ball. Each team was given 2 balls. When the music played everyone in the group had to pass the ball around. When the music stopped the two persons holding the balls had to stand up. The first team with both players standing up got a point. In Team RB, one of the Aruga kids, Jasper, kept holding on to the ball. It was funny as the volunteers tried asking Jasper to pass the ball but he kept holding on to it. Since Kuya John was carrying Jasper, he made sure he stood up fast eveytime the music stopped. All teams were competitive as they all got points. In the tie breaker round it was Team Chika who ended up being the fastest and winning the game.
The second activity we had was the storytelling workshop by Kuya Bryan, a storyteller from Adarna House, an established publisher of children’s books in the Philippines. The first story Kuya Bryan shared to the kids was Salusalo Para Kay Kuya written by Ergoe Tinio. It tells the story of how everyone celebrated the birthday a loved one even if he was no longer with them. It was a festive birthday celebration, there were lots of guests and a lot was put in during the preparations. The event was a way to remember the person’s life and the joy he brought everyone while he was still with them.
The children enjoyed the story that they all wanted to hear more. Kuya Bryan shared a second story, Si Lola Apura at si Lolo Un Momento. It tells the story of a grandma and a grandpa who were opposites of one another. The grandpa was brown skinned while the grandma was mestiza. The grandpa was more meticulous in doing things but because he was too careful he tends to be slow. On the other hand the grandma does things really fast but sometimes she tends to forget things because of too much hurry. In the end even if both of them were the opposites they helped each other out. They story showed how the two people, though very different from one another, still complimented each other
The next activity was the art workshop by Teacher Nikki. Since all children like playing board games, she taught the kids how to make do-it-yourself snakes and ladders. She started by giving colorful square papers to the kids. The papers were to be put on the white board across and vertical. The volunteers helped the kids put on their squares. When they finished the kids could design their game by drawing the snakes and the ladders however they want. It was fun as some of the kids wanted to draw lots of ladders. Some drew long snakes while other drew shorter snakes. Teacher Nikki then gave out dice to the kids and the volunteers helped the kids put on the numbers on the dice.
Throughout the day everyone got to enjoy the Photo Booth by Funlipix. Ate Cathy and her friends had group photos. The people that enjoyed the most were the kids and the mothers of Bahay Aruga. They had their photos taken by twos, by fours, and they kept mixing the groups. They took so much photos that they had a stack of photo cards by the end of the day.
Ate Cathy and her friends gave so many gifts to the kids. The kids got colorful neck pillows, gift bags, and toiletries kit. The winners of the game also got prizes. They gave fruit baskets to be shared by everyone in Bahay Aruga. We then gave out food for the children and their moms. We sang a Happy Birthday song to the birthday celebrants of January and February. Ate Jen, Kuya Kalag, and Kuya John blew their birthday candles and gave a message for the kids. We thank Ate Cathy and her barkada for travelling all the way from Laguna and spending their Sunday with the children of Bahay Aruga.

 

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