Day 7 Post No 3:
KINGS REPORT:
Today, we set off early to Dona Mercedes, where we started by asking the preschool kids to draw what Christmas meant to them. For some of them, Christmas meant having Christmas trees everywhere they went, while for some of them, Christmas meant receiving presents. After that, we proceeded to the field to play games such as Duck, duck, goose and monkey. Although the games were only organised for the preschoolers, other students gradually came to join in. It was really interesting to see them have so much fun and it was a real pleasure for us too! After we had our lunch, we started on trekking. It was a really different experience for all of us, and much more adventurous as compared to teaching the children in the schools. Each of us had to carry a bag which contained some basic necessities to present to the villagers living in the forest. During the trek, some of us met with some accidents like Darrion falling into a swamp and Patricia slipping and falling into the mud. When we arrived at the different houses, we first presented the bags to them and then sang Christmas carols in hope of bringing the Christmas cheer to them. As we visited the different houses, we saw a 14 year old boy who had down syndrome and even a 15 year old boy who was bitten by a dog 3 years ago and was unable to seek medical treatment because of financial difficulties. The boy had forgotten his name, age and everything else and was even deaf. Immediately, we decided as a whole group that we would raise funds so that he could be cured. Overall, Kings really enjoyed the whole experience, and all of us felt that what we did was all worth it.
SAMARITANS REPORT:
We went to the Dona Mercedes Day Care Center. All of us were quite shocked to see the tiny children, as we were all so used to teaching Grade 5 students. So, we found it quite a challenge to play with the kids as we had to play simple games. We also found it very difficult to communicate with them as they could hardly speak English. We taught them simple action songs (Jesus loves me). After which, Darrion, Sharyl, Jolene and Marianne headed to Dona Mercedes Elementary School as they needed more help. After lunch, the entire mission team headed to the various houses to distribute supplies. The journey for us was very tiring, but indeed, we had loads of fun. (THE SAMARITANS ARE CRAZY! INSANE PEOPLE WHO LOVE SINGING!) We sang songs as we trekked through the area. We even sang some Christmas carols for the various households. And we could see that the villagers were all so happy to hear us sing as they smiled and thanked us. The long tiring trek was indeed SUPER MEANINGFUL, as we got to bond, have fun, EXCERCISE & bring joy to the people at Dona Mercedes.
MACCABEES + Girls from KINGS REPORT:
KINGS REPORT:
Today, we set off early to Dona Mercedes, where we started by asking the preschool kids to draw what Christmas meant to them. For some of them, Christmas meant having Christmas trees everywhere they went, while for some of them, Christmas meant receiving presents. After that, we proceeded to the field to play games such as Duck, duck, goose and monkey. Although the games were only organised for the preschoolers, other students gradually came to join in. It was really interesting to see them have so much fun and it was a real pleasure for us too! After we had our lunch, we started on trekking. It was a really different experience for all of us, and much more adventurous as compared to teaching the children in the schools. Each of us had to carry a bag which contained some basic necessities to present to the villagers living in the forest. During the trek, some of us met with some accidents like Darrion falling into a swamp and Patricia slipping and falling into the mud. When we arrived at the different houses, we first presented the bags to them and then sang Christmas carols in hope of bringing the Christmas cheer to them. As we visited the different houses, we saw a 14 year old boy who had down syndrome and even a 15 year old boy who was bitten by a dog 3 years ago and was unable to seek medical treatment because of financial difficulties. The boy had forgotten his name, age and everything else and was even deaf. Immediately, we decided as a whole group that we would raise funds so that he could be cured. Overall, Kings really enjoyed the whole experience, and all of us felt that what we did was all worth it.
SAMARITANS REPORT:
We went to the Dona Mercedes Day Care Center. All of us were quite shocked to see the tiny children, as we were all so used to teaching Grade 5 students. So, we found it quite a challenge to play with the kids as we had to play simple games. We also found it very difficult to communicate with them as they could hardly speak English. We taught them simple action songs (Jesus loves me). After which, Darrion, Sharyl, Jolene and Marianne headed to Dona Mercedes Elementary School as they needed more help. After lunch, the entire mission team headed to the various houses to distribute supplies. The journey for us was very tiring, but indeed, we had loads of fun. (THE SAMARITANS ARE CRAZY! INSANE PEOPLE WHO LOVE SINGING!) We sang songs as we trekked through the area. We even sang some Christmas carols for the various households. And we could see that the villagers were all so happy to hear us sing as they smiled and thanked us. The long tiring trek was indeed SUPER MEANINGFUL, as we got to bond, have fun, EXCERCISE & bring joy to the people at Dona Mercedes.
MACCABEES + Girls from KINGS REPORT:
At first, when we reached Dona Mercedes, we went to Dona Mercedes Elementary School and Pre-School. We were terrified, because we were only used to teaching Grade 5s. So we decided to play games with the kids (which was quite unsuccessful too). Eventually, due to the hot weather, we decided to go back to the class. We had a difficult time trying to teach because they didn't speak English. We decided to take the coloured papers we brought and fold paper cranes and paper airplanes for them. Somehow, we believed that God was with us when we were in the class and thus, we managed to pull through and accomplish our mission to Dona Mercedes Elementary School. After this, we had lunch. Then we went to trek to deliver bags of food to the houses in the forest. On a last minute decision, we decided to fold paper cranes for the families as a gift (AND KIRSTEN WAS SUPER HAPPY TO SEE THAT WE ACTUALLY HAD THAT DECISION). Even though they weren't very welcoming at first, they still welcomed us in the end and accepted our gifts with gratitude. The smiles that we saw on their faces were priceless and we felt a sense of accomplishment after completing our trek.
Day 7 Post No 2:
Day 7 Post No 1:
The teens are unable to post tonight due to fatigue, so we will just wait for their postings on another occasion. But the day passed without any incident, save for Christian Sih being confined at quarters for the day as he wasn't feeling well, and Patrick Kok who had a nosebleed of sorts in the morning and had to skip the trek. Nevertheless, both boys are fine.
The day passed without incident, with our teenagers interacting the pre-school and kindergarten kids at Dona Mercedes and going out on a trek to the interior. Details are pretty sketchy at this point, support group leader Anthony Tann, who was in the 2008 mission trip taht visited Dona Mercedes, was recognised by several villagers. A former volunteer from 2008, Jhonel who was a recipient of our scholarship and a guitar while a student at the Republic College, also recognised the group and was present at Dona Mercedes. He is now a freshman at BUCAF.
These are the updates we can provide at this point.
-From Mission HQ, Singapore
Day 7 Post No 1:
01) Weather in Bicol is expected to be fair to cloudy, with scattered rainshowers in the afternoon. But our mission will be blessed with clear skies in the morning and shletered by the clouds in the afternoon. Temperature range during teh day is between 24-28 Celsius.
02) Edward Lo and Teresa Leong are up and about and will be in the travelling party to Guinobatan's uplands in the morning and participate in the outreach activities there. But Christian Sih felt a little bit out of sorts and so was confined to hostel for the day. First time ever that the Mission Team is near its full strength (minus Uncle Al and Celestine) ever.
03) It's Dona Mercedes today up in the mountains of Guinobatan, where the teens will be encountering pre-school and kindergarten kids in the morning. In the afternoon, they will also do a trekking outreach into the interior and surrounding remote areas to distribute relief supplies and spread Christmas cheer to the villagers.
04) More updates from the bloggers tonight.
- From Mission HQ, Singapore
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