Written by: Carlos Romulo, Core Member
On 18 February 2018, the team, headed by Ate Amy proceeded to one of U! Happy Events partner communities, Living Faith in Jesus Ministry located at Naga Rd, Las Piñas City. The event was sponsored by Kuya Carlo Roxas, together with his family and relatives. We were welcomed by 25 awesome kids whose energies were off the charts from the get-go.
The program kicked off by having our sponsors introduce themselves to the kids and have them share something about their personal lives. And wow, the kids were amazed and inspired as Kuya Carlo’s family is composed of members engaged in various professions (i.e. Doctor, IT Expert, Engineer, Accountant, Teacher). We also discovered that Kuya Carlo and his family’s favorite childhood games were taguan, langit lupa, luksong baka and tinik, and habulan, to name a few.
The kids were grouped into 5, with each group comprising of 5 kids and 2 volunteers. The groups were tasked to prepare a short cheer, and required to choose their group name based on a popular childhood game. It was also at this moment when the kids were given the opportunity to share their dreams and aspirations to us. Some wanted to become teachers and doctors, while some dreamed of becoming part of the military and police forces.
It was then time for the kids to play, and there was no other perfect game to match the kids’ energy but to play the game of speed cones. The game is played by 2 teams (Kids v. Volunteers) who are tasked to either erect or knock the cones off in the playing field. In this case, the kids were required to knock the cones off the floor while the volunteers were required to have the cones erected on the floor. The objective of the game is to have the most number of cones erected or toppled at the end of a certain time limit. As expected, the volunteers were no match against the kids as the former were defeated easily by the latter in a score of 3-0.
After the game, we had to calm the kids down and so we prepared a balloon twisting show to challenge the kids’ creativity and enhance their imaginations. The kids intensely observed, paying attention to every detail and movements of the show master. It was a very entertaining show as the kids were amazed and surprised as to how many things they can make out of a balloon (e.g. dog, sword, crown, sheep, boat). The kids were so happy as each one of them went home with an item.
We then had our lunch inside Living Faith and the for the last part of the program, Kuya Carlo’s family gave each of the kids gifts and items which they can use for their everyday lives. We concluded the program by having a pictorial with the kids and a short reflection with the volunteers.
We would like to thank our partner community, Living Faith in Jesus Ministry for allowing our team to make the kids smile. We would like to express our gratitude to Kuya Carlo, members of his family and relatives for spending their time and sharing their blessings with the kids of Living Faith in Jesus Ministry. Thank you for making the kids smile and for being an inspiration not only to the kids but also to our society. You guys are indeed, an epitome of generosity and kindness.
