We Did It Again!

Hello everyone. It’s been a long time since I last posted here. Kumusta? I hope you all had a great time celebrating Christmas and welcoming 2010. As for me, my over two months of silence was dotted with happy and sad events—Pens of Hope distribution, a cousin’s wedding, a family reunion, a friend’s death, an aunt’s terminal illness—all of which have reminded me of God’s precious love, the significance of family ties, and the value of each day that passes our lives.

For today, I am posting about the Pens of Hope distribution which happened before Christmas. This is long overdue, I know. But I want to share with you this happy event. The pens and pencils you sent to Pens of Hope did not fail to paint smiles on the faces of 100 children in Mapanas, a small sleepy town lying on the coast of the Philippine Sea. For this distribution, I was assisted by some kind-hearted people.

From Catarman, the capital of Northern Samar, we had to ride a fully-loaded jeepney going to the town of Laoang. The trip lasted an hour and 30 minutes.

From Laoang, we traveled for 30 minutes going to the town of Palapag on one of these motorized bancas going to the town of Palapag.

From Palapag, we took another jeepney going to Mapanas. The almost two-hour trip was challenging because of pot-holed, uncemented, and muddy roads. But I am happy because contrary to my last trip to Mapanas a few years ago, there are concrete roads already. Hindi pa nga lang buong route.

It was drizzling when we arrived in Mapanas and we had to wait for the drizzle to stop before we could start. We had school-based distributions in the past so we decided to do something different this time. We did a community-based contribution. Inspired by the first distribution of Pens of Hope in Davao, we started with some fun games which the children really enjoyed.

The trip to Mapanas was tiring but these happy faces are worth it I hope you’ll take time to look at the pictures and see how happy you made these children with the pens and pencils you have sent to Pens of Hope.

I would like too thank you once again for the support you are extending to Pens of Hope. We did it again, we made more children smile! Big, big thanks also to the Organization of Young Filipino Americans of the University of Virginia through Ms. Christine Quilpa and Ms. Claire Cororaton. They held a fundraising event so they could send pencils to the children of Northern Samar.

Maraming, maraming salamat sa inyong lahat! God bless you for your kind heart.

———————–
There are still a lot of pencils available but I will have to wait until June (start of classes) for the next distribution. This is due to the following reasons:
1. the school year is about to end; and
2. the election campaign period is about to start and I don’t like Pens of Hope to be associated with any campaign gimmicks.

The “Ambush” Distribution

With so much going on at work, Miss N had been holed up for a couple of weeks. And when she was able to settle some things she finally came up for air, longing for another adventure.

So, she decided to call an airline company and was lucky enough to have availed of a promo ticket. The next thing she knew, she was already coming out of the plane and flagging down a tricycle. She asked the driver to take her to the schools on the outskirts of the town of Catarman, the capital of the province of Northern Samar. With her were pencils for distribution.

It was going to be something different from the distribution done here and here. Because this time, there were no previous arrangements made with the schools. She was in for an adventure: find schools, ask permission from the school heads, then distribute.

Here, my dear blogging friends, are the children you made smile this weekend with the pencils you have sent. May they also make you smile and soothe your heart in these trying times.

For some more pictures, please click here.

It was another heartwarming experience. But, as in the previous distribution, I was also saddened by the pitiful condition of these children in the classroom.

Take a look at this picture, for example.

That is not a portion only of the classroom. That is the whole of it. It’s not actually a room, but a space between adjacent rooms which the school utilized for an extra room.

And on this other picture, please take a look at the stools which the children use as writing desks.

There are still a lot of things to be done in many public elementary schools in the country. I can only hope and pray that these will be done soon.

On behalf of the children who benefited from your generosity, my heart sings most sweetly with gratitude. Maraming, maraming salamat po for  continuously supporting Pens of Hope. Mabuhay!

Big Day in Davao!

I was feeling a little low recently because I had to move the scheduled second distribution of pencils in Northern Samar to a later date due to rough weather. But God is good, He made me feel so much better through some kindhearted people in Davao City.

All that was needed to lift my spirit up were these:

These were taken from the first distribution of Pens of Hope in Davao last August 9. Kikit and her team composed mostly of volunteers from Ateneo de Davao’s Social Involvement Coordinating Office (SICO) with the help of Kabantan-onan Nga Aktibo ug Responsableng Dabawenyo Andam Moalagad sa Syodad (KARDAMS) have thoroughly planned the activity. The result was a day of fun and excitement for the children as well as for the volunteers who did not only distribute pencils but also played with the kids! Cool!

I hope you can visit the blog of Pens of Hope in Davao to read more about what transpired on that day and leave comments to inspire the volunteers more Oh, did I mention that they are now gearing up for the second distribution? Wish them luck when you visit their blog. More pictures of the distribution can be found here.

To Kikit and all the volunteers, congratulations for a job well done! And thank you very much for bringing Pens of Hope to Davao!

Pens of Hope: First Distribution in Northern Samar

Dear one and all,

Today I am going to share with you some more pictures taken on the first distribution day.

It was a cloudy day. Most of the children came in white t-shirt. Others, I noticed, came wearing a sando or a colored shirt. They all looked so serious (or curious) like it was the first time they saw a stranger. Most of them were wearing slippers. I was told by their teacher that children are now allowed by the Department of Education to go to school even if they are not wearing uniform or shoes because not all parents could afford to buy them. I think it’s a good decision on the part of DepEd. It just isn’t right to deprive a child of his right to attend school only because he or she isn’t wearing school uniform or shoes.

I started taking pictures of them, hoping that it could solicit a smile. But it was a failed attempt. I continued taking pictures. One of the children noticed that an image registered on the LCD of my camera right after I took each shot. The child walked towards me and pointed to my camera’s LCD curiously without saying a word. I understood what she meant. I showed her the LCD and randomly displayed the images I previously took.

The girl giggled upon seeing the pictures of her classmates on the LCD. Her classmates noticed and they all ran to my side. A few seconds later, I was hearing giggles and laughter and teasing. Thanks to my camera–it was all I needed to make them loosen up. Apparently, it was the first time they saw the digital gadget. They were so amazed seeing that it can display pictures right away.

Time for distribution. Teacher Lourdes asked them to settle down. When she took out the contents of the big bag that I brought, I heard “Wooows” from the children. And then I saw their eyes lit up with excitement, a sense of excitement that I seldom see in adults like me. My heart leapt up with joy.

Here are some pictures I took as the children receive the pencils. Though I prefer pencils only, one blogger had sent out three bags which I raffled off. The children who got them were really, really happy. I wish I had taken a better picture of them receiving the bags. But something went wrong with my focus and the camera had a hard time hunting. The children also got crayons and colored pencils.

Another blogger had sent out a dozen packs of notebooks. It was supposed to be raffled off to 12 children. But when I saw how excited the children were upon seeing the notebooks, I decided to take them out of the packs and distribute.

Each child got one notebook. “Duha na akon notebook!” (I have two notebooks now!”) I overheard one child at the back. I knew it was the voice of a happy child, a proud owner of two notebooks, a new one and his old one, probably his prized possessions. But to a certain extent, I have to admit that what I heard had defeated the joy I had felt earlier on. A first grade child with only two notebooks didn’t seem a great news to me. Perhaps I was looking at the glass half-empty and the child was looking at it half-full.

Thank you so very much everyone–for the pencils, the notebooks, the sharpeners, the scissors, the bags, and the erasers, for the prayers and the well-wishes, for the trust, and for spreading the word about Pens of Hope. I feel a fuzzy warm feeling inside my heart and I want to hug you all. Thank you for joining me on this ride.

With more gratitude than I could ever hope to express,
Miss N

P.S.

There will be some more rounds of distribution in the months to come. There are still enough pencils to distribute until Christmas.

LP6: Nakakakilabot

Bigas at ulam. Ayon sa mga magulang sa paaralan kung saan ay katatapos ko lamang mamigay ng lapis ng Pens of Hope, ang dalawang ito ay una sa listahan ng mga bibilhin sa araw-araw.

Saka na lamang bibili ng lapis, papel, at notbuk kung may matitira sa badyet. Kung may matitira. Ngunit paano kung wala? Kadalasan ay kulang pa nga ang badyet sa pagbili pa lamang ng bigas at ulam.

Habang nag-aabot ako ng mga lapis at tinitingnan ang mga ngiti sa mukha ng mga bata, iniisip ko kung ilan sa halos isandaang batang nasa harap ko ang magkakaroon ng pagkakataong mapabuting lalo ang kanilang buhay. I could only hope and pray that it will be all of them.

Kung magpapatuloy na ganito ang sitwasyon sa maraming liblib na bayan, tayo ay nahaharap sa isang nakakakilabot na katotohanan: na parami nang parami ang mga batang maaaring hindi magkaroon ng magandang kinabukasan. This appalling truth is looking at us right in the eye, but not too many of us, especially those who have the power and capacity to help alleviate their situation, can see. Or perhaps we can already see it but we just choose to turn a blind eye.

I hope you’ll all feel blessed realizing that you have so much more than what other people have. Maligayang Huwebes sa inyong lahat!