Miss G wears Purple: Visiting the Purple Centers

IT WAS LAST JULY 22, 2017 when I first worn a purple shirt…a color that I never liked, which shall now bring great memories of smiles filled with hope for a brighter future… 

I signed up for our company's CSR (Company Social Responsibility) activity just because a colleague encouraged me to do so. Don’t get me wrong here, I didn't have the intention to join initially because of my schedule---I’m on night shift the day before and on the day itself, so for sure I won’t be getting enough rest. But since it has been quite some time when I last participated in an outreach program, I finally agreed to sacrifice possible lengthy sleeping hours and beauty rest for some charity deeds. And it was a perfect decision *smiles*

As early as 7 in the morning, our team of volunteers hit the road bound to Tondo, Manila, where the Purple Centers Foundation is situated. It was almost an hour drive from City of Dreams Manila and I’m a bit lightheaded for having only two hours of sleep. When we arrived there, I was astonished by the purple buildings and the fact that it is a school---I suddenly missed my students and remembered the years when I was still a teacher. Then I heard the students (kids wearing purple shirts, clothed with their best smiles), I smiled and told myself, "This is gonna be a great day". 

I love kids simply because they are the most honest souls. They will show you if they like you or not; they will tell you if they are happy or sad; their words and actions will express what they truly feel. At first, I was a bit hesitant to squeeze myself into the crowd of kids, but that’s why we were there “to mingle, play, share stories and make them feel loved”. I went to straight to a group of third-grade pupils and introduced myself. We were awkward for a few minutes, but after that, we became like the best of friends! 

SETTING-UP. Kids were excited to go down and meet us!

NEW FOUND FRIENDS. All posed "cute" in this shot. Now who's the prettiest? :)

CAPTURING GOOD MEMORIES. All smiles with these awesome kiddos!

The team prepared quite a handful of games and the kids were all active and eager to participate. The games were mostly educational, which showed how intelligent the students of the Purple Centers are! They also enjoyed the storytelling / puppet show, got both ears glued on every word and laughed hard on the crazy punch lines. Of course it won’t be complete without a dance battle! I am so surprised that they are like skilled dancers at the very young age! From there I’ve realized that this school is teaching the kids more than the knowledge from books, but also honing their skills and molding them holistically. 

Aside from entertaining the pupils, we were also there because of our three main goals: (1) to give them the gift of knowledge (by donating educational books and school supplies), (2) gift of protection (by giving them new rain coats and boots) and (3) the gift of family. Though these things may not seem that much, but they were all given with genuine love. Now after all the fun activities, we all enjoyed some good food, prepared by COD's resident chefs, in the comfort of their humble classrooms. The food that we shared were just ordinary but I wonder why it tasted differently, because it was extra delicious! Maybe because we shared it with the awesome kids *smiled widely*

ALL EARS. The kids really paid attention to the storytelling / puppet show prepared by the Tables Games team. 

READY, SET,GO! Played the good 'ol "The boat is sinking" game and all went crazy!

PUZZLE GAME. Busy bees race to complete the image of a popular tourist site.

COLORFUL RAINCOATS. The kids received their cute rain shields with matching rain boots!

YUM YUM! Joined the kids for lunch. We were as hungry as dinosaurs!

As we bid goodbye, I’m surprised to receive tight hugs and warm kisses from the group of pupils I was with. They didn’t cease in uttering “Thank You” and was begging me to visit them again. For a moment they made me appreciate life more, for I have more compared to them, yet they seem to love life and enjoy living their lives more than I do. Most of them touched only a little of their food, because they preferred to share those with their family. Some, when asked, told us that they will be sharing all the gifts they received to their younger siblings. They hugged each packs tightly and smiled widely, like they have received the greatest gift ever. I am so thankful for this humbling encounter, it made me look into my plate, tilt my head up and thank Him. 

At times when you feel like you don’t have enough, when you are comparing your life with that of others, when you are frustrated that you are not becoming what you want to be, go out and seek places like this---You’ll find contentment. Me, I tend to aspire more, I always strive to be something or someone everyone would admire, I continuously seek the best in everything…but that’s not how it should be. As I look at this people, living simple lives, I’ve realized that life is too short to worry, what you must constantly do is just appreciate every bits of it---Let life surprise you. 

FAMILY PHOTO. We are now a one big happy "family"! Thank you to the pupils, teachers and administrators!

I came there without anything on my hand, just my willingness to volunteer. You may not have the capacity to give material things to the less fortunate, but you will always have the best thing that could do wonders in someone’s life: LOVE. 

Share some love, be a volunteer!