All set for the outreach

Our group is all set for the coming Feb 4 outreach. I am happy because of the outpour of people who wanted to help us in this activity. A lot of our friends and officemates were gracious enough in giving money, effort, prayers just to push through with the activity. We’ve even solicited more than enough for the scholarship program of PEARLS. My boss donated money for one scholar, which made me really happy. :-)

We called ourselves D' HOPEfulls for obvious reasons. We have high hopes for this country and for the Filipinos. This is the first activity of our group and we wanted to do more. We do not look at the little effort, only the big impact it could create.

Last week, with the help of our very passionate and able friends, we were able to pack the hygiene kits for 200 kids. We will distribute this on Feb 4. The kit contains shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrush, face towel, etc. which the kids in Ulingan could use everyday.

This week, we taught Origami (the art of folding paper) to our group and the other volunteers who will join us during the outreach. We will teach this to the kids of Ulingan. What I like about Origami is that it keeps you focus and "no scissors needed" as what I usually say.

Origami...cranes, balls...we will also teach them how to make paper box so that they could put the cranes and the balls in it.

As of today, we still continue to receive donations and pledges. We told them about Project PEARLS so that even though we're done with the Feb 4 outreach, help and assistance will still continue to pour. We also told them about the Saturday feeding program which they could regularly participate in.

Again, thank you Sidney Snoeck for introducing PEARLS to us. You are are blessing to us. I am also in great awe for what you have been doing for the Filipino and for this country. Thank you!

A day with the Ulingan Kids, please support us!

We will sponsor one Saturday for the Ulingan Kids in Tondo on February 4. Please help us raise the funds we need. We will also distribute hygiene kits to 200 kids for them to use.

All proceeds will go to Project Pearls. To know more about their programs and their advocacy, please visit their site at: www.projectpearls.org

Ulingan Kids in Tondo and meeting Sidney (yea, the famous Sidney Snoeck)

“The lives we touch will touch many others. When you bring encouragement, humor, hope, fun and positive energy, you touch lives you have never met. That’s the Ripple Effect. Life is short and time is precious. Waste not a single minute.” – Michael Potter

Oki and I met Sidney on a Saturday morning to go to Ulingan, a slum and garbage dumpsite community in Tondo, Manila. Sidney picked us up together with the other volunteers who would joined the outreach. We got there on-time. Oki specifically told me that Sidney would not wait for late-comers. I smiled and said, "of course, we should be there on time. Filipino time is always on time!"

Everything I know about the PEARLS Project, I first heard from Sidney and then from Oki when she reiterated that we should volunteer and so I searched about it. It was from here that we decided to sponsor one Saturday to feed and teach 200 kids and (perhaps) sponsor at least a scholar. To do this, we would solicit from friends and people we know. All proceeds will go to PEARLS. This will be on Feb. 4. Oki asked me to make a poster for this activity so that it's easier to solicit and spread the word.

Everything is in order (as of the moment). A lot of our friends had already signified their interest and pledges for the activity. I will post the poster here soon.

Anyway, our first experience in Ulingan was exhausting but definitely rewarding. I have no problems with poor sanitation, lack of water, dust, rats...but I was having a rough time getting through the thick, black smoke coming from the Ulingan factory. But anyways, I managed.

I encouraged Oki to go there again before our Feb 4 outreach, if time permits. I fell in love with the Ulingan kids. They are so "malambig" (sweet) ... but my heart breaks for their conditions. They seem to be contented with what they have amidst the extreme poverty and the health risk caused by the ulingan factory. I wish there would be medical missions for PEARLS. I wish I could do more!

Oh, did I just mention I met Sidney already? After eight years, he said, we met in the flesh! A nice fella as I have expected him to be. He doesn't like his photos to be taken, but I guest I was too stubborn to follow such a request (or was it an order?). I also met his adorable son, Bryan, a nice-looking kid who speaks Dutch, French, English, Filipino, and Bicol. He plays rugby! :)

I miss being with the kids

I just came from an outreach that my DGroup conducted recently in a rehab center in Taguig. I love doing outreach activities for the kids. I think more than the help I could give and the time I could spend with them, they are giving me much more than I could offer. Spending time with them, seeing the smiles on their faces, and feeling their gratitude as if we have already given them the future (when in fact it was just a day)…is the most rewarding feeling which I could not contain. It's like I wish I could give them more...

This February, a friend, OKI is organizing another outreach activity. She’s eyeing the Pearl Project as the beneficiary. We first saw and learned about it through Sidney. Oki is already based in Japan and will return in March so hopefully everything goes smoothly before she leaves the country.