Written by: Kuya Carl Tan, Admin Officer
It was a rainy Friday afternoon when the patients of Ospital ng Makati were greeted by Kuya Harvard, a familiar face from visits before. But today he brought with him a party, a party that celebrated the birth of Ate Ria Marquez, who instead of doing a usual lavish, extravagant party, opted to spend her birthday bringing smiles to kids in need.
Though events are usually held in the wards, this celebration was held in the 3rd floor lobby of Ospital ng Makati, due to all the wards being full. Despite this change in location, patients were excited for what was to come, with kids as young as 3 years old and as old as 12 years old gathering in the lobby with their parents.
The program kicked off with a few introductions from Kuya Harvard, where he had the volunteers and sponsors talk to and get to know the patients. After getting to know the volunteers, they were divided into groups for the games. The first game, Stock Me Up, tested the mathematical ability and speed of the teams, with them making pyramids with cups based on the math questions posted by Kuya Harvard. After a few rounds and a few more games (such as Act Now), the program proceeded with the introduction of Kuya Jay, the storyteller for the day.
Before starting off his story, Kuya Jay introduced a novelty item to his audience: the kumbing, a bamboo jaw harp. After telling the audience about its background, Kuya Jay provided a brief, but captivating demonstration of the small harp’s sound. This seemingly random lecture on Philippine culture was explained that the story he would be telling today would be about Philippine folklore.
After a compelling story on a Filipino princess that captivated the audience, food and prizes were distributed to the patients and winners respectively. Though some kids were upset that they did not receive prizes, their qualms were immediately addressed when it was revealed that Ate Ria had prepared it so that no child would leave empty handed. Ate Ria had prepared storybooks for all the children in line with the storytelling activity today to hopefully encourage the children to explore the wonderful world that lie within these books.
After a joyous singing of happy birthday, a wonderful picture-taking and a number of thankful goodbyes, the event came to a close, with the children leaving with both their bellies and hearts full. Though the venue was small and the volunteers few, Ate Ria proved that day that it doesn’t take a lot of people to make a difference, nor does it take a lot of capital. In this case, all it took was Ate Ria and her generous heart.
