1003 Ate Selena's Gameboard Workshop with Young Focus

Written by: Ate Charmain Tan, External Vice President

It was a rainy afternoon as we celebrated the birthday of Ate Selena at Young Focus Tondo. Tondo is one of the most densely populated districts in Manila. It is also one of the poorest communities in Metro Manila. Focusing on education as a means to tackle poverty, Young Focus provides educational assistance to the out of school youth living in the communities around Smokey Mountain. As these children donā€™t have the opportunity to go to school, Young Focus provides programs for the children to enhance their social and intellectual development. Some of these children have to scavenge in the Smokey Mountain landfill just to earn a little money. Dedicated teachers and staff of Young Focus are there to ensure the development of these children who otherwise wouldnā€™t have the opportunity to learn. It is my second time to visit the three-story building and the center has indeed been transformed to a great place where these kids could learn. It was established in 2008 and is continuously being funded by sponsors from abroad.
The children were very excited as we arrived at the center. All the kids respectfully greeted us ā€œGood Afternoonā€ and kept saying ā€œHiā€. Ate Selena just graduated from college and wanted to celebrate her 22nd birthday with these children before she starts with her new work. Together with her friends, she wanted to share her blessings with these kids. She brought her adorable dog, Summer, to join the event. The kids were so excited as they all kept hugging and petting Summer.
We first introduced the volunteers to the kids and they shared whom their favorite actors are. The usual favorites are JaDine and Liza Soberano. We then grouped the kids into four. Each of the volunteers then joined the groups and they got to know the children in their group.
The first game we played was a trivia game. We gave a category and the teams had to write as many items as they could within the category. The scores per round would be tallied and the team with the most score was the winner. The first category was yellow-colored fruits. They named the usual fruits like lemon and pineapple. It was funny as Ate Michelleā€™s group said orange, which was clearly not yellow. Ate Justineā€™s group said Kiwi and there was a little debate as not everyone have seen a yellow colored kiwi. As it turned out there is a yellow-colored kiwi. The second category was countries that started with Letter S. Groups named Singapore, Scotland, Switzerland, Somalia, Samoa, and others. Some groups had a hard time thinking of the countries. Other categories were restaurants in the Philippines, animals with two legs, and others. In the end it was Ate Justineā€™s group who got the most points.
The kids then got to try out playing different board games. There were four board games. There was Spell A Word, where kids had to form as many words as they could using specific letters. The second was Guess What, which was similar to Pinoy Henyo, where kids wore a band around their head and cards are placed on them. The player had to guess what item was written on the card by asking questions answerable by yes or no. There was Donā€™t Let the Ball Drop game, where they inserted sticks that held all the balls in place. The last game was Jenga, where blocks are piled to form a tower and players took turns pulling a block making sure the tower stayed upright. After a certain time teams switched board games so they could try the others.
The next program was a performance by our supper funny ventriloquist Kuya Better. He brought his mongoose pet named ā€œTeteā€ who came running around his shoulders. He then introduced his best friend puppet named Junior. Kuya Better did some funny skits where Junior kept talking. The kids laughed as Junior sang the ABC and Bahay Kubo songs while mispronouncing the lyrics. The children laughed so loud that some of them were already rolling on the floor. Even the teachers and grown-ups laughed so much.
After watching the great performance the kids got to enjoy their spaghetti and hotdog snacks. For dessert Ate Selena prepared an ice cream cart. The kids were so excited as they hurriedly went in line as soon as they finished their meals. They all had second and third serving of ice cream. Ate Selena gave out toiletries set for reach of the kids. We gave out prizes for the winners of the game. We also turned over the board games to Young Focus. As we sang Ate Selena a Happy Birthday song, the kids hugged and thanked us for spending time with them. We donā€™t get to visit their center that often and everyone is very appreciative that Ate Selena chose to celebrate with them. As we always say, the heart that gives, gathers. We wish Ate Selena luck with her new job as she is about to embark a new journey.
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