Blog Mo, Ipasuot Mo: May 2012

BMIM's Second Encounter.

April 21, 2012

It took me a long time to overcome the overwhelming feeling of being a part of the BMIM project. This second encounter was a lot different than the first one. The place, the kids, the situation itself. All of us has no idea of how many kids are there, what kind of place we are gonna go, and what kind of people we are going to encounter. I even had this "I want to survive this immediately" feeling.

There were a lot of unexpected things happened that day. First was the number of bloggers who attended the event. All we thought was that those people who attended the general meeting plus those who excused themselves are the only people who we're gonna see that day. Personally, I expected only like 8 or 9 of us but on the day of the event, there were 13!! A lot of hands and brains to help and support the project. After packing the shirts sponsored by Sir Joel ("bulakbolero"; we really want to thank him for choosing BMIM to take part in celebrating his blog anniversary), fixing and waiting for others to come. All geared up and ready for battle, we headed to Araneta Avenue and started our mission. Being the spokesperson of the group, since I was the one who suggested that venue but not been able to prepare the exact place, I was so nervous and a little anxious thinking that the people around won't accept our purpose or would find it hard to entertain us due to some unexplainable matters. As I approach two mothers standing in front of a sari-sari store, and asked them "ate, may mga bata po ba dito?", there was this awkward feeling that there are a loooot of kids waiting for us. And as expected, yeah, I was right. We were lunged by a bunch of kids and we almost panicked asking ourselves what are we going to do. We were given an OPEN basketball court, and it was so hot that we almost got burned. But we ignored the summer heat like "Hello SUUUN! We're still going to continue no matter what happen!!"

We planned for a short time regarding the food and the registration, good thing the Purok Leader was there to help us out regarding the food and on how are we gonna cook something for the kids. Then, we started the activity by listing the name of the kids from ages 7-12 years old. After collecting their names, I immediately called the attention of the kids that are 8-12 years old and started some relay games. The first game was the "softdrink bottle-straw race." Followed by a game called "the tomato race". As the kids ignored the bursting heat of the sun, so as the blogger ate's and kuya's helping them all throughout as marshals of the games. There was even this game called "The boat is sinking" (that we did in tagalog version because one of the kids shouted at me saying: "ate! tagalugin mo! di namin maintindihan!") stampede edition."

A lot of things happened during the games. We didn't expect that those kids will stand the heat, despite the fact that it's already 11am and the sun's getting hotter and hotter and we don't have anything to hid on except this small space with a billiard table covered with a tarp. Such strong kids. :))

We've ran out of games and the food is not yet cooked. So since Ate Mads, Sir Kuli and Yvette bought some papers, notebooks, crayons, pencils, and sharpeners, which I can't decide whether I will use it as a prize for the games (coz I'm scared some might get jealous of the prize), I've decided to make an activity for the kids to think about and enjoy a little more.

I asked them if they have "dreams/goals in life."

And they said, "YES!"

So I gave them a pencil and a paper and asked them to draw or write their dreams and goals in life. What they want to achieve and all.

We were so glad that the kids were able to share even a portion of their knowledge to us. Some even wrote "thank you" messages to us. Heartmelting, yeah.

While waiting for the food to be served, the kids were given the shirts. Those listed on the registration happily received their simple presents from the BMIMers. Those who were not able to receive shirts (cause the shirts were not enough for the kids) received enough food to fill their tummies. We were also happy to receive our own shirts from Sir Joel. :))

It was indeed a tiring day. But we were able to give happiness not only to the kids but also to the parents of the kids who appreciated our little help. They were so thankful but we were more thankful for the people who helped us.

More "sabaks" to come guys!

More power to Blog Mo Ipasuot Mo project!!

FOR THE KIDS!