Written by Board Member, Ren dela Cruz
At U! Happy Events, we believe in furthering our mission of providing support to children by connecting our volunteers and sponsors to a wide network of beneficiaries–and so we are constantly reaching out and building relationships with various charities, foundations, and the like, enabling more individuals to know and support them. We also do this to establish closer relationships with the kids and the organizations, for us to further know their needs. Last July 12, we headed over to Tahanan ng Pagmamahal to do exactly that, through a dance workshop.
It was our second visit to the Pasig-based orphanage, with 30 kids aged 5 to 15 joining us for the workshop that afternoon. Before anything else though, we first did our customary Getting to Know activity as we grouped the volunteers and the kids into five teams, so they could bond and find out more about each other. Once the groups got acquainted will all their members, we wasted no time and followed it right away with the dancing, which I was privileged to lead. To start off the workshop, we first did our warm up dance, which included stretches and basic hiphop grooves, to get our heart rates up and for our bodies to be limber. Once everyone got pumped, we then learned choreography to dance Taylor Swift’s hit song, Shake it Off. The kids and their ates and kuyas had a grand time following and reviewing the steps, and it was so heartwarming to see the volunteers leading the kids, helping them remember the routine. After a few rounds of practice, we were then ready to dance the entire choreography! The volunteers and kids did a very good job performing the dance, with everyone concentrating on the steps while enjoying the music. Once done, we then did the cool down exercise to get our heart rates to normal, and just relax our bodies.
To our surprise, the dancing wasn’t over yet! The kids of Tahanan requested to dance the Nae Nae, which we happily obliged to. It was such a happy and spontaneous moment that the kids then asked their ates and kuyas to dance as well! After all the fun and excitement, we then proceeded for merienda to refuel everyone’s tired bodies.
Capping off the day, we had our group photo followed by giving school supplies to the children, to which the children responded with a final surprise–a ‘thank you’ song for the volunteers! The gratitude was reciprocated with warm hugs all around, as everyone bid each other goodbye. It was definitely a fulfilling afternoon and we are excited to go back to Tahanan ng Pagmamahal with more workshops and volunteers in tow!
