Luna de Miel

Snapshots of our romantic and unforgettable honeymoon at Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar in Bagac, Bataan last November 10-11, 2011.

ACTIVITY 1: Guided Tour of the Heritage Houses

 

 

 

"Our honeymoon suite at the Paseo de Escolta..."

 

 

ACTIVITY 2: Candlelight Dinner with a Bottle of House Wine

 

 

 

 

ACTIVITY 3: Late night walk around the village before heading back to our Paseo de Escolta suite...

 

 

ACTIVITY 4: Breakfast at the Casa Unisan / Cafe Marivent...

 

 

 

ACTIVITY 5: Chillaxing by the pool in La Piscina and went kayaking at the Umagol River...

 

 

ACTIVITY 6: Kalesa ride around the heritage village... 

ACTIVITY 7: Pictorial at the Fotografia dela Escolta...

 

Shindig at Subic!

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Documentation of Community Service

August 24, 2011 to September 9, 2011
Pag-asa Day Care Center Bagac, Bataan

Spirit of Volunteerism

September 5, 2011

I went to Balanga City at around 8:00am to buy the wall fan and school supplies I promised Teacher Daylin that I will donate to the Day Care Center. Our hometown is about an hour away from the city so I arrived at the Center at 12:30pm, just in time for the afternoon class. The moment I arrived, Teacher Daylin approached me and helped me carry my donations. When the class started, Teacher Daylin told the students about their new crayons and pad papers. The students looked very happy and excited because of the good news. I also felt really good for having done this simple gesture of sharing my blessings to them. 

"Sharing is loving!"

For the afternoon class, Teacher Daylin started with the singing and dancing to energize the students. It was a Monday so some kids were a bit lazy to study. Instead of writing, the class were taught about paper folding. Teacher Daylin demonstrated how to make a boat out of paper. After the demonstration, I distributed the art papers to the students. Teacher Daylin and I guided the kids with their paper folding. Some students were able to do the folding correctly, but there were others who can't follow. After the paper folding, Teacher Daylin allowed the kids to play with their paper boats. 

Colorful paper boats!!!

September 6, 2011

The weather was still bad here in Bataan even long after typhoon Mina was gone. Some students got sick and were not able to attend their classes. For the morning class, only four students arrived, but thankfully many attended the afternoon one. The day was filled with the usual singing, dancing, and storytelling. And when the classes ended, I ushered the students in groups to the Barangay Health Center to get their weight and height measurements. The measurements were conducted on an annual basis to get the height to weight ratios and to monitor child malnutrition. It's also the first step in the preparation of the feeding program that will be done next week. 

Weight and height measurements.

It was drizzling that day so I ushered 3 kids at a time. The kids were all hugging me under my umbrella while walking on our way to the health center and back again to the day care. It was such a fun experience for me because the girls were really nice and sweet, while the boys on the other hand were a bit naughty and playful. Some kids cried especially the boys while they were being weighed, a bit surprising actually. But most of them enjoyed the experience.

September 7, 2011

The Day Care Center was not able to provide free milk drinks to the students for the past few days because of the lack of supply. I also noticed that some students don't bring "baon" with them. So as a treat to the kids, I decided to give free chocolates drinks for everyone. And as a remembrance of my volunteer work in the Day Care, Teacher Daylin suggested that a class picture be taken.

Free Chuckie for everyone!

Pag-asa Day Care Center 2011-2012

Wacky photo ;-)

Reflection

I went home after my last class carrying with me the fun experiences with the kids and the lesson I learned about giving. It sure made me feel a lot better about myself, but the important thing is I was able to contribute for the betterment of my community. As a member of my hometown, I realized that it is my duty to participate and work for the improvement of the lives of my fellowmen. Our schools here in the Philippines depend on volunteers like me to give some service and resources to them that our government could not provide.

Honestly, I'm not new to community service because my father is a former Vice Mayor of my hometown. My family has been helping our community ever since I was a little kid. And it is not a normal day for us if there were no people asking for our help. But compared to my past involvements in our community, my Day Care experience was something different and memorable. It's not just because I was serving solo this time, but also due to the fact that I really gave an effort to help and provide the needs of the Center. My volunteer work in the Day Care not just helped my fellow citizens, but in the process also helped me develop my social skills.

Volunteer Work as an Assistant Teacher

I woke up early and a little bit excited. It was the day of my storytelling!

August 25, 2011

I arrived at the Day Care Center at 7:30am. Teacher Daylin was already there and she told me that I'd be doing my story telling not on the morning class but on the afternoon one. The students arrived one by one. We waited for a few more minutes and Teacher Daylin started the class at around 8:30am. The first thing that the class did was the usual singing and dancing. After the first song, the students were asked what else they wanted to sing. Some of the students shouted "Bahay Kubo! Bahay Kubo!" I'm guessing that's their favorite.

Coloring time!

After the introductory singing, I helped Teacher Daylin draw shapes on the pad papers using a black marker pen. I was also the one assigned to distribute the papers and crayons to the students. I taught some of the students how to color correctly and at the same time praised those who did great. Before the students could submit their papers, I first checked their works to see if they were able to fully color the shapes.

When all the students submitted their papers, Teacher Daylin asked them to keep quiet and listen to her storytelling. This time, she shared the story of Ibong Adarna. She used the names of some of her students for the characters which made the storytelling more interesting. Questions were asked afterwards. The students were not able to answer all of her questions but overall, I could say that the students did learned something. To energize the students after the story telling, Teacher Daylin asked them to all stand up for the Follow the Leader game.

Follow the Leader / Teacher :-)

When it was time for the students' recess, I helped in the preparation and distribution of their milk drinks. I watched them drink and finish their milks as well as helped them with their food. After they finished eating, I told the kids to pick up their trash and throw in the trash can. I played with some of them and answered a lot of their questions. Honestly, most of the kids were very nice to me. But the one thing that made me smile was the way they bragged about their stuff, like this one student who kept on showing me her new shoes. The class ended at 10:30am but some kids waited for their "sundo" till 11:00am.

After my one hour break, I went back to the Day Care Center. I prepared myself for my story telling. And at exactly 1:00pm, Teacher Daylin started the afternoon class. She first sang a few songs with the students and then asked me to start my story telling.

"Good afternoon! I'm Teacher Ivory..."

I greeted the students and introduced myself. I told them that I'd be sharing a short story. It was about a dog named Clifford, a very helpful dog that gets rewarded for his good deeds. I first asked the kids if they have pet dogs and they all answered "Opo!" While I was doing my story telling, I could see that all the students were listening.  They were able to answer my questions which made my experience more enjoyable. For the moral lesson of the story, I told the kids that they should always be nice and helpful to others for them to be rewarded with toys and chocolates.

The kids listening to my story telling.

When my story telling was done, Teacher Daylin then taught the class about the letter E and made them pronounce it again and again. She also drew figures that starts with the said letter and then called on some students to pronounce the names of the figures in Tagalog / Filipino (like elesi, eroplano, elepante). When it was time for their practice writing, I helped Teacher Daylin in the writing of letter E's on the pad papers as guide and distributed the papers to the students. I guided some in their writings and also persuaded those who were too lazy to write. Most of the students focused on their seatwork, but there were also those who played and even punched holes on their paper using their pencils. I had to give new papers to the makulit kids because theirs were either crumpled, torn, or with holes.

The class ended at 3:00pm and I left after 30 minutes when I was already done with the room cleaning. But before I left, Teacher Daylin and I talked again and she told me that the 2 wall fans in the Day Care were all donated. I can't help but wonder why the local government could not afford to provide the basic needs of the students. Was there an allotted fund or not? But instead of just asking, I decided to do my part, volunteer, and serve the best way I can.