Written by Vice President for External, Kuya Glenn Costales
The week-long sporadic weather brought frequent rain showers all over Metro Manila. It wasn’t enough though to dampen the spirits of our volunteers last Saturday at the Museo Pambata in Manila.
Last June, Ate Mary Nicole De Guzman was adjudged Juicy Cologne’s 2016 ‘Up, Up and Away Ambassador.’ Juicy Cologne is a line of perfume products from Cosmetique Asia. As part of her own thrust to give back to the community, Ate Mary took 41 kids from the Educational Research and Development Assistance (ERDA) Foundation for a trip to the first hands-on discovery museum located in the heart of Manila.
Ate Mary’s family and friends from Juicy Cologne also took part in the celebration. Their enthusiasm was evident from the get-go as they got the museum early to put up a few decorations and displays in our venue.
After the kids arrived, their kuyas and ates for the day soon joined them to play the Boat-is-Sinking game. This was an easy way for everyone to get warmed up in the chilly environment, while organizing them into groups at the same time.
The usual getting-to-know activity was next up as the members got to share a bit of information about themselves. This was followed by the highly competitive Pass-the-Charades game. In this game, the groups lined up to pass a secret word (kinds of animals) to each member by only using gestures and actions (charades-style). We must admit the groups had to get used to how the game was played. But it sure didn’t take long for the competitive juices to start flowing. Soon enough, the kids were into it too. The funniest parts of the game came when some of the words got lost and completely changed while being passed. In the end though, Ate Mary’s own team came back from behind to win prizes for their kids.
The much awaited tour of the Museo Pambata came next. The groups again lined up to take a proactive tour of the gallery/ exhibit especially for kids. This museum is special because it educates kids about the environment, science, history and even about different careers they can aspire to become one day.
As the groups returned to our venue, Kuya Rich was eagerly waiting for them for a very animated story-telling session. The kids gathered around one of our resident story-tellers for a very dynamic and highly engaging story about a grand-mother with a very long hair (Ang Pambihirang Buhok ni Lola).
With the activities out of the way, it was time for the most (physically) satisfying part of the event – snacks! Aside from a generous and healthy serving of pancit, the kids were also treated to some more fun food with Snow Cones and French Fries.
After the sumptuous meal, Ate Mary shared her message to the kids. It turns out that Museo Pambata wasn’t just some random venue. Ate Mary’s parents used to take her to this place when she was young girl. Her experience in the museum with her family was really a memorable and inspiring time for her growing up so that was exactly what she also wanted to share with the kids. As a parting gift, the kids also received school supplies, loot bags from Juicy Cologne and story books.
Thank U! to Ate Mary, her family and to Juicy Cologne for sharing a wonderful time with the kids of ERDA.
