Bringing Smiles to Children

It was my rest day from work and I was in a bus bound to elbi (Los Banos, Laguna) last May 28 2012, around noon time, when I felt like longing to go back to Marinduque. That same day would be the celebration of Flores de Mayo in our barangay and it has been years when I last seen the event. I checked the time to see whether I could still catch up the 4pm "RoRo" schedule in Lucena Port and it seemed that the probability is small. Maybe due to that longing, instead of going to elbi, I transferred bus going to Lucena. Unfortunately, due to heavy traffic, I reached the port around 7pm. The next schedule would be 10pm and for sure the celebration I am supposed to attend has ended before I'll arrive. I still continued with my travel, anyway, I have my family waiting and for sure I'll enjoy my stay.

May 29 2012, we organized an event for kids, a post-Flores de Mayo celebration. My sisters and I prepared games and gifts for prizes. In the afternoon, kids and some of the parents gathered in our basketball court. The first game was stop dance exclusively for small girls. 

A resident dancer served as guide for the steps.

Of course we also prepared something for small boys. The first one to find the coin hidden in a bowl of powder wins. 

The kids started to blow the powder.

There were other games for small kids such as calamansi relay, "Tanging Hinga (the one with longest breath while saying Flores De Mayo-ooooooooo" wins), and many other games.

For teenagers, we had "agawang buko," a separate category was made for male and female. It was an exciting game because you could see how competitive the players are. 

The girls trying to win the coconut coated with oil.

The boys preparing for the "agawang buko" game.

For the parents, we prepared Pinoy Henyo and Coke-drinking contest. It was supposed to be "tuba"-drinking contest (tuba is a local wine), however, we were not able to prepare for it.

The parent's getting ready for the contest.

For the Pinoy Henyo, all the categories were related to stuffs used by women.

"Mirror? Shampoo?"

Parents also did other games such as Tanging Hinga Mo. Prizes taken home by parents are kitchen utencils.

We ran out of prepared games and we still have some prizes. One kid suggested this "pahabaan" game and true enough, they were very active and even removed their clothes just to win the game.

Slippers, shirts, and even shorts were on the floor.

The activity brought back my memories as a child. Back then, I would say I only have few friends. Despite that, I still managed to enjoy my childhood. I remember every weekday morning and afternoon, as we walk going to school and back home, we threw jokes, riddles, and out of this world fantasy and horror stories. Sometimes along the way, we climb fruit trees  (sampaloc, balimbing, papaya, banana, etc) or cast stones so we'll have something to eat together, catch butterflies during rainy seasons, look for spiders, and do some karate moves. That was our way to enjoy the almost one hour walk (we lived in the quite mountainous part of the province) which we did for seven years.  

I am considering doing the activity every year with my family and friends. Hopefully we could gather resources so we could bring smiles to these children, who are the hopes of our small barangay, the hopes of our province, and the future of our country. 

L-R: Ate Precy (co-host), Me, Haidy (cousin), Rose Ann (sister)