Written by: Ate Claudine Regino, Official Photographer
Receiving gifts may well be one of the best things about being a child. May It be Christmas, one’s birthday, or graduation, every event is spent with a cherry on top when a special gift is received. As we grow older, however, we receive less and less gifts as a sign that we are more capable of buying things for ourselves; that we are now capable of being the ones who give to others.
On July 28, Saturday, as ate Angelique turned a year older, she made the grand gesture of being the giver of gifts to the children of Gawad Kalinga Laura (GK Laura), a community in Taguig.
Ate Angelique has always been fond of children. In fact, she is a teacher who wishes to share her blessings and be a source of happiness for others. On the other hand, GK Laura has been a partner of U!Happy since July 2014. Kids in this place are known to be very participative in activities and appreciative of their guests. This perfect tandem thus made way for a beautiful and memorable day for both ate Angelique and the kids.
While waiting for ate Angelique and her friends, the kids were divided into five teams of six and sat quietly among their groups afterwards. While others were chatting, some fell in line to get their free face paint of various figures and colors. Animals, superhero trademarks, hearts, and flowers were some of the widely-picked designs. Meanwhile, other kids requested songs for them to dance and sing along with. The go-to songs, of course, were the famous hits “Bboom Bboom,” “Dahil Sa’Yo,” and “Titibo-Tibo,” which the children danced and sang in unison. In fact, there were even shoo-ins when it came to certain performances. The pictures speak for themselves.
As soon as ate Angelique and her friends arrived, they were asked to introduce themselves to everyone by stating their name and occupation. They were also asked to dance “Bboom Bboom,” while the kids led the steps for them to copy. It was truly a joy for the children and their ates and kuyas. Afterwards, the adults were assigned into the groups, which already had their team names.
Ate Anna and ate Iza joined team Little Angels, ate Anne and ate Sarah joined team Mabangis, kuya Chris and kuya Romward joined team Hypebeast, Ate Xianthe and kuya Alvin joined team Digimon, and lastly, ate Angelique joined team Blue Sky.
The first activity in line was the game “Reverse Charades.” In this game, a representative must be chosen from each group, and instead of being the one acting out a certain word for the group to guess, he or she must be the one to figure the word out while the whole team is giving out clues. This twist makes the game more challenging, noisy, and of course, a whole lot of fun! The mystery words to be guessed were all related to the next activity, which was baking. Some of them were “cupcake,” “candy,” and “pineapple.” To win, the members of the team would have to work together for them to communicate the word to their representative without causing confusion. The group which was able to do it was team Digimon, who were proclaimed the winners after guessing the words successfully for two rounds.
After the fun game, the kids proceeded to their next task, which was baking. An hour before this, the kids were already ecstatic to learn how to bake as they smelled the chocolate and saw the materials being prepared. When their most-awaited moment finally came, their energies just couldn’t be contained. All smiles could be seen in each table as the bowls, brownies, candy sprinkles, and containers of melted chocolate were being distributed by their equally excited ates and kuyas. When all things were already settled, kuya Byron and his wife Ate Tuts started to teach the kids how to make cake pops.
Generally, the steps were very easy to follow. The ates and kuyas were also there to help the kids crush their brownies, shape them into circles, pour chocolate all over them, and design the cake pops with candy sprinkles. However, what made it hard for some kids was the temptation to eat their delicious-looking soon-to-be desserts. One could catch some children taking a small bite of their brownies, finger-licking some chocolate from the bowl, or getting some sprinkles to put it in their mouths. Their ates and kuyas couldn’t do anything but laugh at the kids’ sneaky moves.
When the baking workshop was finished, the kids posed for some pictures to show their finished products off. Moments after, they were given the signal to eat their very own cake pops, which were finished in no more than a minute. Soon, the snacks were distributed to everyone as it was now time for merienda. The kids and their ates and kuyas ate together in their groups and shared stories while doing so as well.
Before saying goodbye, the kids received their giveaways from ate Angelique first and they sang a very energetic happy birthday song for her as well. After she made her wish, ate Angelique blew her candle and thanked the kids for a lovely day. The final group photo was then taken and before going back to their homes, the kids attacked ate Angelique with tight hugs and many words of thanks. In moments like this, one could truly feel the joy of giving to others, a gift that yields fulfillment like no other.
