Written by Board Member, Ate Charmain Tan
As we continue to celebrate our 10th year, the team of U! Happy Events would not be stopped by typhoon Butchoy, which caused continuous downpour since last night. The team headed once again to Ospital ng Makati (OSMAK) in Pembo, Makati City. Our partnership with Osmak started in 2014 and this is our 11th event with them.
The event was created with Ate Colleen, who was celebrating her birthday. Together with her husband Kuya Joseph and her childhood friends, they participated in a fun-filled afternoon at Osmak. Most of the children in the ward are recovering from illnesses like pneumonia, asthma, and dehydration, and some of the kids just underwent operation. We gathered the kids as Ate Colleen and her friends introduced themselves by acting our their profession. Some of them are in sales and others have office administrative positions. If was funny as some of them were acting out “selling” and the others were thinking how to act out “sitting in the office chair”. The children in turned talked about their favorite animal, in light with the theme for today’s mural.
The ates and kuyas then did some coloring activity with the kids. We gave out 3D cardboard that could stand. There were palm tree, spaceship, castle, and a house. The kids picked their favorites and the volunteers helped the kids to creatively color the boards. The volunteers worked hard as Kuya Harvard said he would pick one as the best design. In the end he picked a castle where the volunteer and the child drew two people figures and wrote their names, which symbolized the two of them being together. We then gave out storybooks and the volunteers had the opportunity to do some story telling for the kids.
We then went on to our main activity. We have been doing a series of Mural Workshop at Osmak where our artists Kuya Robby and Ate Blanca have been heading the team to come up with ideas for the third floor of the hospital. We have been painting the different wards for the past couple of years. We had once again transformed the plain walls into something that could bring cheer to the children. Some of our previous themes were Under the Sea, Carousel, Cars, Outer Space, and others. Today, Ate Blanca painted different kinds of animals on the pink walls of Ward 5. There were cute all-smiling animals in the jungle like monkey, giraffe, elephant, snake, and some children explorers roaming around the jungle in their safari outfit and backpacks. Ate Blanca briefed the group on the color options to be used for the different animals. We assigned the groups into the different segments of the wall.
The volunteers then headed to the paint station to get their paints and brushes. They happily bonded with the children as they guided the kids through the painting. As he kids are recovering from illness, they are mostly quiet. I asked a five-year-old patient which one he wanted to paint and he happily pointed to the smiling giraffe. His mother wanted to paint a different area but he kept pointing to the giraffe. It was heartwarming to see him smile for the first time as he happily painted orange on the spots of the giraffe and finished it off by painting the body yellow.
After the colorful activities it was time for the children to rest. We had our snacks together and we all sang a Happy Birthday for Ate Colleen. The kids hugged and thanked their ates and kuyas for spending the afternoon with them. After the event Ate Colleen and her friends went around the ward to look at our previous Mural Artwork and also to visit and give storybooks to the other children who were not able to participate in our event.
Hospitals are not the place a person usually wants to be at, especially for the children, whom at a very young age are given a big challenge in life. By transforming their temporary homes into something that could provide them a moment of peace is the least we could do for these children. Colors are indeed the smiles of nature.
