Friday, December 28, 2012

Thinking Back



Time really flies, but it's always the time that give us the chance to reform ourselves for the better.

Every year ahead is a big party in the making. Be taught that whatever music played on, we have no choice but to dance with the beat.

Happy days are are always there, you just need to make little effort to see that tiny space.

Learn to greet the day with a blissful thought. Let our hearts be aware of the prize and joy of living life.

 Capture the moment you wish to immortalize, for every second that passed will forever be gone.

Be thankful for every satisfying things that comes your way, 
the faces you've met and the places you've been are all ventures worth preserving.

For a year-ender post like this, let me end the 2012 with  a big THANK YOU, 
and welcome the coming year in very high spirit.

Happy 2013 to us all!

















Tuesday, December 11, 2012

The Brighter Side


It was very heart warming to witness eager little learners go to school, even with a worn out slipper, without rain covers on a cold, rainy season, some without bags and protecting their things in a plastic bag.  
They must be rewarded for their enthusiasm to learn. And this brought us to the kids to GIVE.


Gaming consoles and other electronics are unknown to them, but their happiness over simple things are very much felt. They are still kids and to run around and play are their usual things. 

The mountains are their background, the grass is their carpet, and the streams their swimming pools. 
Who won't be envious of their beautiful environment especially when you're from the noisy and polluted city?! 

 The moral of Jennifer W. says, "Focus on the brighter side of things: Learn to see through a child's eyes, where clouds are made of fluffy cotton candies and the world is filled with happy smiles. Have a little patient - just as how a kid waits for her parents to come home."


Wednesday, December 05, 2012

Learn to Travel, Travel to Learn..


It's been months of preparations and expectations.
Now that the event has ended, the reaching out never cease.

 I tasked myself to write about the journey and the experiences of the volunteers who bumped with foreign travelers and share the road of fun and laughter as we spread smiles for kids of the mountains.

But i can't help it, the experience is so beautiful that there are no words to describe it.

Ifugao is set in the mountainous Cordillera.

The terrain is bumpy and dusty and cold wet on rainy season.

The kids walk to school on foot, passing mountains and streams.

And during the rainy months, we picture how hard it is to walk on the rice field knowing it is a rice terraces.

For us, it is not the giving we want them to remember, it is the value of education, since they are still kids and their minds are still young.

We hope that the values we share, marked on their consciousness, we wish the famous Rice Terraces to reach another millenium for the world to see.

 To tell stories of their marvelous and awe-inspiring culture.

For the people and groups who contributed, our heartfelt gratefulness. 
This won't be possible without the help of friends, friends of friends, private individuals, and people we don't know.

We also would like to extend our thanks firsthand to Mr. Clemente Bongtiwon for his generosity and kindness to the group since the very beginning; and to Maureen, whose patient enough to deal with spontaneous, crazy travelers like us, we thank you for inviting us over and moving with us whenever, however; and to Paggad, our 4x4 driver, easy on the road Pags!

There's nothing more rewarding than seeing sincere happiness on every single kid that we touched.

  That even in our small way, we brought smiles on these kids faces.
400 happy faces went home with joyful spirit.

The road may be unpaved, there may be misunderstandings along the way, but we won't be stopped by any storm, we are stronger together as a group and we won't be swayed by waves.

At the beginning, people thought of us  as swindlers, people thought that what we did 5 months ago won't materialize, and here we are, we now have the sunshiny feeling and confidence to tell tales of our accomplishments in Ifugao. How noble it is to give without anything in return or without any favor to ask. 

If you could only see how my friends carried those loads of stuff we brought in the mountains, you wouldn't have a second thought that we did this out of love. 

Because our responsibility as I believe doesn't end at home nor to our families, nor to our neighbors.

 We also have the environment that needed our utmost care.

And that's what drives us from going and sharing more.

It's the love that inspires us to do our part and spread the news of our passion.



The Places we Visited during the GIVE IFugao event:

Hungduan- Hapao and Baang Elementary Schools
Mayoyao- Tulaed Elementary School
Alfonsolista- Kiling and Caragasan Elementary Schools

The Giving Part 3




Hapao Elementary School













Baang Elementary School








The Giving Part 1
The Giving Part 2

*Click on the thumbnail to view larger or Right-click then Open in a new tab.
***Photos are for reference purposes only and must not be duplicated or copied.