We dropped the three Balikbayan boxes
at the drop-off place before we flew back to the Philippines last May. I
estimated it will arrive around September, if not October. I kept
telling the children that there is a special surprise for everyone in
those boxes. I couldn't believe when the boxes arrived earlier than
expected (at least a month ahead – WOW – thank you, Lord!)
When I finally had the time to open
them I found out I need to repack some of the hygiene stuff. Since
there wasn't enough towels and blankets to pass around, I opted to
repack them so that each recipients would have either just a blanket
or a towel in their package. Each repacked package now contained
wash clothes, toothbrush, toothpaste, bath soap and either towel or
blanket. I found out it worked out just fine.
We have a neighborhood clean up day
every last Saturday of the month. Each household is required to have
one member of their household show up to help with the clean up.
Michael took the packages on a two-wheeler to the shed where everyone
meets for the clean up and we distributed them. I noticed some, when
they opened them, wanting to trade for a package that had a blanket
in it and vice versa.
There were donated items like travel
size lotions, shampoos, etc., that I handed out to the teen-age girls
in the neighborhood. They appreciated it a lot.
EXCITING ART CLASSES
With the news that the boxes have
arrived, there was excitement in the air among the little folks in
our neighborhood. I secured permission to use the neighborhood shed
for the feeding and the art class for the children on Saturday
afternoons. Yes, Virginia, we upgraded from this;
to this:
There is a cooking station in the shed where, unlike our makeshift "stove" before, it is on a platform so that we don't have to squat while cooking. Do you see the two pots in the background of the above picture? What a blessing to have a place like this to cook our champorado.
The younger ones now eat around the table in the middle of the purok shed.
The bigger ones sit on the built-in benches of the purok shed:
We do the art class while the food is being prepared. During art class, I normally spread all
the materials (crayons, glue, scissors, etc..) on the table for the
kids to use freely but within limits. Eventually, they realized they
didn't have to fight over any of these things because, they found
out, now there are plenty to go around. I do take the materials back
home with me every time and bring them back on our next session. The
kids get to take their finished work with them to show to their moms
and dads although some moms come with their children and help out
with their projects. This is a big help for me as I have a lot of
pre-K attendees who need one-on-one attention. And on top of that
there are teenage girls who come too, so I have extra help from them
as well.
In the Philippines, in smaller towns
like Hinunangan, Local Government Unit (LGU) had been created. A
town is divided into Barangays which is then divided into Puroks or
Districts. The purok or district is then sectioned into Purok 1
through 4 (depending on how big a barangay is). Our area is in Purok
4, by the way. Each purok or district has elected officials who
reports to the barangay captain, who in turn reports to the mayor.
And each purok or district has their own purok shed where purok
meetings are held every month. This is where we do our feeding and
art class on Saturday afternoons now for the past three weeks. We
are thankful for the Purok 4 families who enthusiastically allowed us
to use the facility for the children. We basically serve the kids of
the 47 households in Purok 4.
Additionally, each barangay in every
town has a Day Care where children pre-K to K attends for free.
There is one paid teacher in each Day Care. In our barangay Talisay,
there are 17 students. I learned from my visit that Canipaan, the
next barangay north of us, has 25 students. I assembled art supplies
to hand out to these two Day Care centers and showed up unannounced
one day. The teachers were elated to get brand new art supplies for
the children.
SUNDAY SCHOOL/ART CLASS AT NASA,
BANGCAS B
Our church conducts Saturday classes
for the children at a seaside neighborhood known by the locals as
Nasa in Bangcas B, Hinunangan. I took over the program and we now
meet on Sunday afternoons. It is dry season here so we meet on the
beach for our class. We make do whatever we find for our seats when
it's Bible story time. We do the normal Sunday School class, we have
Bible story time, singing, Bible verses, games and art class. Since
we don't have seats, much more a table to use for our projects, the
children are very resourceful when it comes to finding places to do
the crafts. I also introduced the game “Duck, Duck, Goose” and that's
the most requested game as of now. I found out it's very hard to run
on a dry, sandy soil, still my arthritic feet feels good after a
game...kind of therapeutic, hahaha.
This is a makeshift bench between two coconut trees that the kids can use as a table for their project. Last week someone tied their horse on one of the trees so we couldn't use it.
I debated whether I should give each
child a set of their own art supplies to take home. In the end, I
figured it would be best that I collect the supplies at the end of
our session and distribute them the next time we meet. It works just
fine although I have to do a lot of explaining at first.
I want to thank everyone who gave to
fill the three Balikbayan boxes with art supplies, towels, blankets,
wash clothes, toiletries, etc.., so many lives are blessed because of
your generosity. Thank you, thank you, thank you. We love you all
and thank you for following.
