Written by Secretary, Glenn Costales
It was a couple months’ worth of anticipation for Ate Ven and Ate Anne (a U! Core member) but they finally made their way south of the metro to celebrate with 25 kids from SOS Children’s Village. Located inside Ayala-Alabang Village, SOS provides a home-nurturing environment to abandoned, orphaned and neglected children from different communities.
Together with their friends, our 2 sponsors were joyfully welcomed by the uber-enthusiastic kids. Our volunteers, suffice to say, had an ‘exciting’ time trying to keep up.
After being divided into 5 groups, the volunteers and kids spent the next couple of minutes exchanging names, their favorite color and their favorite Christmas food. With new friends made, everyone gamely proceeded to the 1st activity – the Cheese Ring Relay.
In this relay game, the teams lined up with straws in their mouths. They then had to pass the popular snack to one another using only the straws. The object of the game was to see who would be able to pass the most number of rings in the time allotted. One team eventually edged out the 4 others with the most (not to mention the fastest) rings passed.
The next game was called ‘Stack Me Up.’ In this game, each team was given 45 cups which they had to form into perfect pyramids. However, each round required different sizes of pyramids which the teams had to figure out. Aside from the excitement in forming the pyramids, the teams also had an interesting time working out the number of cups needed for each size. After a few rounds, one team stacked their cups quicker and better than the others and won the game.
After getting physical and mental with the 2 games, the kids and volunteers then sat down for a story-telling activity courtesy of Kuya Jay of Adarna House. Adarna publishes story books aimed at imbibing values, as well as the importance of reading, to children. A few minutes in, the kids were already as animated as the story-teller. It was indeed a welcome sight to see the kids listen and focus on the turn of events and the lessons being presented in the story.
Next up was a special appearance from arguably every kid’s favorite – Jollibee! The colorful mascot gave an amusing dance number which definitely won the hearts of the kids (and probably the volunteers too). Everyone then took turns hugging and taking pictures with the event’s special guest which was one of the highlights of the day. The kids and volunteers then enjoyed a delightful meal prepared by our sponsors.
As the event was wrapping up, the kids of SOS took the stage for a dance number of their own. It was quite the treat for the volunteers as the kids got to express their “Thank you, ang babait ninyo…”
Lastly, Ate Ven and Ate Anne handed out their Christmas gifts to the kids before letting them go back to their homes. The kids though did not leave without saying goodbye and giving the volunteers a tight hug to remember them by.
We wish Ate Ven and Ate Anne an abundantly blessed year ahead. Thank you as well to the volunteers for being a part of this early Christmas celebration with SOS Children’s Village.
