Written by: Ate Charmain Tan, Vice President – External
It was a touching birthday celebration of Ate Mae, a pediatric nurse based in New Zealand. She and her sister Ate Patricia are in the Philippines for a month to spend time with their family. Ate Mae wanted to have a meaningful celebration this year and since children have a special place in her heart Ate Patricia created this event for her. We chose Bahay Aruga, a halfway house for children with cancer. There are 30 children currently staying in Bahay Aruga. They are undergoing chemo treatment in Philippine General Hospital (PGH). These children and their mothers come from the provinces. Prior to living in Bahay Aruga, these parents and children have to travel to Manila during their scheduled chemotherapy. The long travel takes a toll on the children and there are times when funds are low so they would end up missing their treatment session. Thankfully to Miss Mayet who started Bahay Aruga years ago, these children have a home to stay during their treatment and recovery period. Some of them are relatively new, being in the center for only a year, while others have been living there for three years. There are children as young as a year old and those who are in their teens.
As we started the day Ate Mae and her family arrived excitedly as the children of Bahay Aruga welcomed us once again. The children were all smiles and said “You’re back!” We played the song Baby Shark at once and the adorable children Angelo, Diyosa, and others all danced happily. The volunteers introduced themselves to the children by sharing their favorite Christmas song. They were asked not only to name the song but also to sing the song. The family was very enthusiastic as they sang and danced to Jingle Bells, Ang Paso Ay Sumpait, and others.
We grouped the children into three and the volunteers joined the groups. They got to know the kids in their groups by asking their names, ages, and what their Christmas wishes were. It was funny as the kids wanted to have portable DVD player and remote controlled helicopter. It was heartbreaking as one of the kids said his wish is to get well this Christmas. The groups came out with their groups names namely, Team Santa of Ate Patricia and Team Bitoon of Ate Mae, bitoon meaning star in Cebuana as some of them were from Cebu. The last team was Power Raindeer, in which everyone laughed as we all expected it to be Power Rangers.
The first activity we did was the Banderitas Challenge. Each team were given strings, colored papers, scissors, and glue. Teams had to make as many banderitas as they could within the given time. All the volunteers and kids were getting ready as we started the clock. Everyone worked as a team as some members would cut the papers while others would attach them to the strings. As the clock winded down they all tried to work double time. As the time ended we counted the banderitas the teams made. It was a close fight between Team Power Raindeer and Team Santa only having a difference of four banderitas. It was Power Raindeer with 69 banderitas who came out as the winner.
We then watched the Balloon Twisting show by Ate Divine. She made different items and asked the kids to guess what they were. The one who guessed correctly got to keep the balloon. She made sword, flowers, heart, monkey climbing up a tree, gun, and others. It ended up being a competition between the ates and kuyas as they tried winning a ballon for their kids.
After the Balloon Twisting we watched a spectacular Bubble show by Kuya Allan. He started making a series of bubbles and the kids couldn’t help it but reach out and pop them. Then then made a long range of bubbles and dragged them across the room. He did a cool trick where he first made a small bubble, then without breaking the hold he formed a bigger bubble outside the small one. The first small bubble was so stable that it looked like a solid ball. He then made a couple more bigger bubbles outside the smaller ones. Towards the end he made huge bubbles and life-sized ones which the kids could go into. The kids was so excited as they got to go inside the bubble with their ates and kuyas and had their photos taken.
After all the activities Ate Mae, Ate Patricia, and their families gave out pillows for the kids. It wasn’t only the kids who got excited but also the mothers. They happily hugged the pillows they got. The fun wasn’t over as the children fell in line for their ice cream. They have been eagerly waiting to go to the ice cream cart earlier in the afternoon. Some of the kids tried pushing the cart pretending they were Mr Sorbetero. Everyone enjoyed their ice cream, even the mothers got to have second serving. There seemed to be a never ending supply of ice cream as the mothers got big containers to fill them out. We sang a Happy Birthday song to Ate Mae. She was teary eyed as she told the mothers to be strong for their children. It hit close to home as she always deals with children who has to undergo treatment. However, the situation here in the Philippines is different. In the hospital Ate Mae works at, the kids get as much treatment as they need but here, due to financial problems, it is always a challenge to be able to afford the medicine and to get treatment. It was heartbreaking to see the struggles these children and parents have to go through. We thank Ate Mae and Ate Patricia for spending time with the kids of Bahay Aruga. We wish Ate Mae and Ate Patricia a safe tripe back home and hopefully we see them again next year when they come visit.
