Written by: Ate Charmain Tan, Vice President External
Another fulfilling afternoon was spent at Philippine Children’s Medical Center in Agham Road Quezon City. It was a post birthday celebration of Ate Pia who was joined by her mother Ate Jane and sister Ate Nish. They travelled all the way from Las Pinas to share their blessings with the children of PCMC. The hospital is a government hospital under the Department of Health. It specializes in pediatrics and surgery. It also provides training programs in general pediatrics, adolescent medicine, hematology and oncology, pulmonology, intensive care, and many others.
As we arrived at the hospital the senior house officer led us to the hematology and oncology ward. As a safety precaution we were required to wear masks and there was a limit on the number of people who could go in the rooms at a given time. We had a volunteer briefing on the program flow and we divided everyone into groups. There was a mix of volunteers and U! core members per group as each was assigned to a room. As we entered the rooms the parents and children welcomed us as we started with the activities. We played a Bring me Art game where we named two objects that the parents had to cut using the colored papers we gave. In line with the Valentine’s season we asked the parents to bring us heart and star. The parents tried their best to do the cutouts. The first one that finished got prizes for their children.
The second activity we did was Rock-Paper-Scissors. The parents and volunteers got two stickers each on their shirts. The players had to challenge each other to a rock-paper-scissors game within the allotted time. When one wins he gets the sticker of the opponent. Whomever gets the most number of stickers within the allotted time wins the game. In my room one of the mothers did really well as she ended up getting all the stickers of everyone in the room. She even finished way before the time was up. In Ate Pia’s room, one of the teens did very well as he kept on challenging Ate Pia. They went back and forth trading stickers each round. In the end he won the game.
After the two fun games we gave out storybooks to the children. The volunteers did a storytelling activity for them. The listened to the different stories we shared. After the activity the children received the storybooks as gifts. Ate Pia and her family gave out huge pillows and lunch for the children. We also went around the surgery ward and gave out more gifts for the children. The mothers were very happy as they said they have a great need of the pillows during their stay at the hospital. Some of the children were very young while others were in their teens. Some of the parents I have met during my previous visit at PCMC. They always thank us and say they’re very appreciative of the activities we do for the children. We pray for the parents to stay strong for their little fighters. We thank Ate Pia and her family for spending their time with the children of PCMC. We look forward to partnering with them again in the future.
