Written by Kuya Harvard
It was our first event at National Center for Mental Health and we look forward to visit more in the future. We thank Ms. Kathy Tan for connecting us to reach out to children who are physically and emotionally abused.
Ate Joyce Molina, our very enthusiastic sponsor does her birthday celebrations with marginalized children. We were fortunate to partner with her this year.
Although it was our third straight event that day, we were still filled with energy and happiness. We prepared a game at the start to break the ice. The kids started to warm up with us through Hula Together. The goal of the game was to bring the hula hoop down together without getting any of their fingers detached. It was a game about communicating well and working as one.
We had mainstay magician Kobe next for entertainment. Yes! Fascination was all over the room. He even got volunteers on stage to perform with him.
Our main agenda that afternoon was next. Kuya Rich Rodriguez from Alitaptap Story Tellers gave an enriching and entertaining workshop geared towards telling the story effectively. He even got the teams to perform at the end to showcase what they learned.
Last activity was another game. We call it Cheese Ring Relay. In this game, teams had to pass one cheese right at a time using only a straw. This one probably was the most exciting!
The afternoon turned to night this time and we settled in for dinner. Our new supplier, Oh Bento, served “How To Train Your Dragon” themed bento meals. It was too cute eat according to most volunteers.
Finally we ended the celebration and shifted our attention to Ate Joyce Molina. We sang her a birthday song and gave her the floor for a short speech. From being the bubbly her, she got emotional. She tried to hold her tears but failed. She poured her heart and wished happiness for the children. After, she distributed cupcakes, story books and toiletries to all children. 🙂
