Written by: Kuya Justin Regino, Core Member
It was a rainy afternoon on the 2nd of June 2018. However, it did not prevent Ate Ynna from sharing her blessings and celebrate her birthday with the children of Gentle Hands orphanage, located at Project 4, Quezon City.
Gentle Hands is a ministry dedicated to helping the urban people of the Philippines. It promotes child and youth welfare, meant to be on the front lines of rescue and rehabilitation of the medical, social and educational needs of at-risk children and youth. With the change that Gentle Hands wishes to make in our country, choosing them as a beneficiary was the perfect way for Ate Ynna, together with her friends, to have a meaningful birthday celebration, while contributing to the cause of the ministry.
The event began at 2:30 pm in the afternoon and was facilitated by Ate Ren, a core member of U! Happy Events. To start, the volunteers were asked to gather in front the kids and introduce themselves. What made the introduction very lively and energetic was how individual kids from Gentle Hands led each of Ate Ynna’s friends to show off their dance moves as a pair. This was a great warm up for the upcoming dance workshop, the main event for the afternoon.
After introducing our volunteers, the 25 children were then arranged into four groups of six, together with two Ate’s and Kuya’s. The kids introduced themselves by sharing their name, favorite food and favorite actor or actress. The groups also came up with their own unique names such as Team Happy led by Kuya Del, Team Oppa led by Ate Ynna, Team Victorious led by Kuya Ric and Team Glorious led by Kuya Rj.
The first activity was a game called “Highest Tower”. Each team was given a set of plastic cups. Upon Ate Ren’s instructions they will form small, medium or large towers by stacking these cups, depending on the number specified. The first group to finish and prevent the cup towers from collapsing wins the game. This activity was meant not only to test the speed of the participants, but also to encourage teamwork in delegating tasks and following instructions from group leaders. After a series of three rounds, Kuya Del and Team Happy emerged victorious, having the fastest tower arrangement and showcasing a great strategy of forming a circle to protect their pyramids from the wind.
The second activity was a dance workshop led by none other than our own host, Ate Ren. As before any exercise, the kids and volunteers lined and prepared for warm up. A series of stretching is vital for injury prevention and is a valuable habit to teach to the kids should they wish to participate in other physical activities. After warming up, Ate Ren began the workshop by demonstrating a few dance moves which our kids and volunteers can follow. In just a few minutes, everyone was able to execute the entire dance choreography with bravado and upbeat energy.
The third activity was a puppet show by Kuya Dennis, our guest performer for the afternoon. Kuya Dennis is a ventriloquist, an entertainer who makes their voice appear to come from a dummy of a person or animal. Together with him was Dada, a six year old boy puppet, wearing a formal suit. Their performance brought huge smiles and laughter to both the kids and volunteers. There was a mixture of jokes, sing-a-longs, and question & answer that piqued everyone’s curiosity and sense of humor.
The last activity was an art workshop led by another U! Happy core member, Ate Nikki. The goal of the workshop is to create a colourful fish out of recycled paper plates, colored papers, strings and other materials. With problems like pollution, global warming and deforestation that our environment is facing, teaching our kids the value of recycling is a good way to effect the change that we want to see tomorrow. This lesson, coupled with creative stimulation and enjoyment made the art workshop worthwhile for our participants.
After two hours of fun, sweat and laughter, it was now time to replenish everyone’s energy with a delicious meal prepared by the celebrant. The kids were served a balanced meal of fresh fish fillet and pasta, the right dish to reenergize them after a series of tiring exercises. Ice cream was then served as dessert to satisfy the cravings of both our kids and adult volunteers alike.
As the saying goes, “No act of kindness ever goes to waste”. For some, Ate Ynna’s birthday event may seem as just a one-time celebration with the children, a passing day like all the others. But for the orphans of Gentle Hands, it was a moment with their foster brothers and sisters who shared fun and education through meaningful activities together. As Filipinos, it is so easy to care for our own families and friends. But in order to effect change in our society, just like Ate Ynna and her friends, we must practice spreading acts of kindness throughout our lives and promote a culture of strangers caring for strangers.
Written by: Kuya Justin Regino, Core Member
