Written by: Ate Charmain Tan, Vice President – External
We all headed to Moises Salvador Elementary to spend our holiday morning with the children of Tulong sa Kapwa Kapatid (2KK) Sampaloc. Established in 2003, the foundation aims to create opportunities to help the children fight poverty through education. 2KK has programs that provides tutorial sessions for grade school students in the communities of Sampaloc, Escopa, and Payatas. They also provide scholarships to deserving high school and college students. Today was the joint birthday celebration of Ate Judith and Ate She. They were joined by some of their friends to celebrate with the kids of 2KK. The kids said their hellos as they welcomed us once again.
We introduced the volunteers to the kids by sharing what kind of jobs they do and singing their favorite Christmas songs. They mostly work in Accenture, BDO, and a tv network. The birthday celebrants work in the human resources department of their companies. Their favorite Christmas songs were Jingle Bells, Rudolph the Red Nose Raindeer, and others. We grouped the 40 kids into five and the volunteers joined the groups. They got to know the kids in their groups, their names, age, and their wishes for this holiday season. Most of the kids’ wishes were simple, just to have noche buena with their families and to be able to finish school. The teams also came up with their group names and they prepared for the Best Cheer competition. Team K-Pop, led by Ate Joycee did a Baby Shark dance performance. Team Regalo, led by Ate Arvie, did the Mobe Dance. Team Bait of Ate She and Ate Bianca did a cheer of their team name Bait and sang the ABS-CBN christmas station ID Just Love Ngayong Christmas. Kuya Raf’s Team Petmalu One also did a performance of the same song. Lastly, Ate Judith’s Team Petmalu Two did a cheer of the group name Petmalu and thye also did the Mobe dance. We picked Team Bait as the team with the Best Cheer for the group’s good performance and coordination.
The first activity we played was the Ball Relay. Team members formed a line in pairs. Balls were given to each team. Before the start of each round we would specify where the balls were to be put in between the pairs. The pairs had to run all the way to the end, around the chair, then back to their teams. They then passed the ball to the next the pair. The team that finished first got a point. We asked them to put the balls side to side, back to back, head to head, elbow to elbow. Everyone was all energy as the kids ran so fast. It was funny as some pairs went around the wrong chair out of excitement. The volunteers cheered so hard for their team. In the end it was Team Petmalu One who won the game.
The second activity we did was Dress Me Up Relay. Each team was given a shirt and a jacket. The players had to put on the shirt and jacket then run all the way around the chair. They then had to pass the clothes on to the next person. The ates and kuyas helped their kids pass on the clothes. Everyone ran so fast. In the end it was Team K-Pop who came out as the winner.
After all the fun we got to enjoy our chicken afritada lunch. For desserts all the kids went in line for the sorbetes. Some of them headed to the sorbetes cart first before finishing their food. They had second and third serving of the ice cream. The kids of 2kk also did a dance number. Headed by the dancers Francine and Natalie, the kids did a performance of the Mobe Dance. Ate Judith and Ate She then gave out noche buena gift packs for the kids. We also gave out prizes for the three team winners. As we sang a Happy Birthday song to Ate Judith and Ate She, the kids presented the thank you poster they prepared in different languages. The kids hugged and thanked everyone as we said our goodbyes.
