Written by: Ate Char, U! Happy Officer
It is the season of giving as Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone. Only about a week to go before Christmas and we feel everyone’s excitement all around us. This Monday afternoon we visited the UNO kids once again. These are children living in the community around Leveriza, Malate. I have been visiting these children for the last five years and have seen some of them grow up. Today was the Christmas thanksgiving celebration of SWM Shipmanagement Inc. They wanted to share their blessings with the children of UNO.
As the ates and kuyas arrived the energetic kids welcomed them to Makabata Guesthouse. The volunteers shared what they like to eat during the holiday season. The usual favorites are popular Filipino dishes like chicharron, fruit salad, and lechon. As they shared their favorites dishes the kids kept saying “wow!” and “sarap!” as they listened to the ates and kuyas. After introducing themselves they then joined the groups of kids. They got to know the children in their groups, learned their Christmas wishes and what they wanted to be when they grow up. Some of the kids said they wanted to help others while others want to be teachers and policemen.
The first activity we did was a Rock Paper Scissors game. Everyone was given a round colored sticker to be put on their shirts. The kids and volunteers in each group competed with one another. When a person wins, he gets the sticker of his opponent. Everyone competed with one another until one winner per team emerged. One of the kids, Toper, was the first winner for his group. He then competed with another group winner, Chikai. Chikai won that round so she got to compete with another kid Wency. Wency won and competed with AC. In the final showdown it was AC and Maxine who competed for the grand champion title. Maxine was the overall winner of the game.
The second activity we did was the Ball Relay. Each team formed a line in pairs and balls were given per team. For each round we would specify where to put the balls between the pairs. All pairs had to run all the way and around the chair and back to their groups. The team with all pairs finishing first got a point. It was fun watching the kids as we did head to head, elbow to elbow, neck to neck, and others. Some of the volunteers were very competitive as they carried their kids with the balls in between them. Everyone was cheering and having so much fun. Teams 1, 2, and 5 got two points each. In the end Team 5 was first to reach three points and won the game.
The next activity was the Rapid Fire Challenge. Each team had six inverted paper cups arranged as a pyramid in front. Everyone was given rubber bands and had to stay a certain distance. The challenge was to use the rubber bands and hit the paper cups. All six paper cups have to fall for the team to get a point. The first team that reaches five points won the game. Everyone braced themselves as they got ready with the rubber bands. Even the ates and kuyas were very competitive as they strategized on how to hit as much cups as they could. In the end Team 5 was again the winner of the game.
After all the fun it was time to watch the entertaining performance of our magician Kuya Koby of the Salamangkero Group. Always a crowd favorite, he captured the audience with his spectacular performance. He made doves fly out of a book and the kids screamed in delight as they tried catching the doves. He made flowers appear from his magician’s hat and he converted fabric into sticks. One of my favorite tricks was when he threw round paper cutouts on a piece of black fabric and the same dots magically appeared on the cloth. He made umbrellas appear from fabric and made giant fishes appear from a box. He drew a face on a white board and the eyes and mouth magically moved. The kids laughed so much as they kept saying “It’s moving!” He then got a kid volunteer Toper to help him in his tricks. He first used a giant comb to fix his hair. He then put a contraption around his neck. Everyone was excitedly waiting on what was going to happen. He drew a sword and put it in between the contraption without harming Toper. When Toper saw what was happening his eyes grew wide and then he laughed. The other kids also laughed with him.
After all the fun it was time for our early dinner. The kids got to enjoy chicken and spaghetti meal which they ate with their ates and kuyas. SWM gave so much gifts to the kids. They got baon packs, back packs, and board games. The kids of Group 5 got fluffy slippers and finger puppet as prizes for wining the games. As a way of saying thank you some of the kids did a dance performance of the song All I Want for Christmas. Kenon, Jefferson, Bernice, and Saura were such great dancers. We had our group photo taken as the kids hugged and thanked the volunteers for sharing their Christmas love.
