Written by: Ate Chynna Salazar, Core Member
Ate Lei’s Birthday Bash with the Kamuning Elementary School Kids
Ate Lei Conde, being already based in the States, visited the Philippines hoping to be able to celebrate her birthday here before she leaves, and what better way than to celebrate it while giving back! She, with her family and friends, came to the Kamuning Elementary School last July 15, to celebrate her 40th birthday with 40 kids from the school.
The celebration was held in the school, and at around 2pm, students from ages 5 – 12 started pouring into the room. The room was definitely decorated for a party, with balloons hanging up from the ceiling and around the room and the music playing. The kids’ high spirits were evident from the start and their excitement started building up once the event started.
The kids were grouped into 5 groups with 8 members each, who were then joined by Ate Lei and her family and friends. The ates and kuyas got to know the kids from their group, from their names to their dreams, and the groups created their group names and group chants. Once everyone got to perform their chants and shout out their group names, the games began.
Long, blue straw strings, colorful Japanese paper, glue, and scissors were passed around by the U! Happy members to each group, and to make the event even more festive, the Longest Banderitas game was in order. The groups had to create beautiful and creative banderitas in 15 minutes, which will be judged by Ate Lei’s mom. The groups got to cutting and gluing, and banderitas of different shapes and colors started to emerge. After 15 minutes, the groups had held up their creations, showcasing it for the judge. After the winner was announced, all the groups put up their banderitas around the room.
After the game, the groups settled down for an arts and crafts workshop led by Ate Iza, a U! Happy core team member, wherein they were taught how to make pop-up birthday cards which they can make for their family or their friends. The kids were very concentrated while making the cards and after, most of them gave their birthday cards to Ate Lei as a birthday present.
After packing away the materials from the workshop, the kids settled down to watch the much awaited bubble show! Kuya Bubble Master showed off his bubble blowing and making skills by creating huge, multiple bubbles at a time and almost filling up the space with flying bubbles. The kids jumped up and ran to the bubbles in excitement. Then he asked Ate Lei and the other volunteers to take the kids inside the bubble pool wherein Kuya Bubble Master can create a bubble with them inside it.
As the kids said goodbye to Kuya Bubble Master after his bubble show, the kids got ready for snack time, but first sang Ate Lei a ‘Happy Birthday’ song and Ate Lei blew her Hello Kitty cupcake cake which had 40 cupcakes. The groups ate together happily while getting to know each other more. After snacks, Ate Lei gave her thank you message to the kids and gave out school supplies to the kids, but the surprises did not end there! Ate Lei gave the kids a cupcake from her Hello Kitty cupcake cake as they left the room with smiles on their faces and a hug for the ates and kuyas.
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