August 24, 2011 to September 9, 2011
Pag-asa Day Care Center Bagac, Bataan
Friday, September 9, 2011
Spirit of Volunteerism
September 5, 2011
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.
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.
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| "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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Free Chuckie for everyone! |
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| Pag-asa Day Care Center 2011-2012 |
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| 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.
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