Written by President, Kuya Glenn Costales
As we ushered in one of the busier seasons of 2017, we headed off south to be reunited with the playful kids of Gawad Kalinga in Brgy. Laura, Taguig. Our volunteers consisted of employees from East West Bank’s Retail Banking Group who pooled personal resources to enjoy an active day with their young counterparts.
A total of 25 kids joined us for an event filled with lively activities. Before being distributed among a total of 5 teams, we first asked the volunteers to introduce themselves up front and also tell the kids about their favorite game to play when they were younger (or for some, much younger). This served as the ice breaker for the kids to get acquainted with their kuyas and ates. To really bring them together, we asked each group to come up with a team name. Soon enough, we had MG Squad, Happy Squad, Kevin and Friends, Pak Ganern and Hep Hep Hurray.
The 1st game we played provided a calm start to the festivities with ‘Stack Me Up.’ Though played sitting down, the teams had to work together and use their heads to figure out the paper cups they needed to use for each of the pyramids they had to stack up. After taking a couple of rounds to settle into it, the teams were soon neck and neck in stacking their pyramids. In the end, MG Squad won the game.
The following game needed us to make use of a bigger space with the Hula Hoop Relay. With each team lined up, the members passed a hula hoop over and around their bodies while holding hands the whole time. The team to finish first won a point in the race-to-3 contest. Some of the teams got a hang of it really quickly and they saw their team race off to take the lead. With some mixing-and-matching of how the teams were lined up though, Kevin and Friends emerged as the winner.
The last game combined the use of physical dexterity and some memory with Replacements. In this unique game, we asked the groups to select a pair of volunteer and kid as representatives for each round. The pairs were then shown a picture which they had to memorize so they can position their members exactly the same way. The game was tiring but it sure got everyone engaged in some fun and good-spirited competition.
To wind down, we had the kuyas and ates do a quick story-telling session with the kids. Using colorful and values-filled books, the kids became absorbed in the turn-of-events, and more importantly, the lessons from the stories narrated by the volunteers.
It was finally lunch time and the sumptuous meal arrived just in time for some needed nourishment and refreshment. The volunteers also distributed some ripe red apples to the kids to also encourage them to eat fruits.
Before we saw everyone off, we wrapped up the event in a joyful group photo to capture the energetic and meaningful time spent between the kids and volunteers.
It was a pleasure to meet the animated volunteers from East West Bank. Thank U! for your bundle of energy and especially for making the kids happy.
