Little Angels

July 7, 2010, Wednesday we were divided into three groups for our Volunteer Community Activities and my first activity was in the Boys and Girls Club of Carbondale.

In my mind I felt eager to meet the children and mingle with them but I also thought on how my approach would be especially they are of different culture than my country. Back in the Philippines I was always going out to conduct volunteer activities to the sponsored children of World Vision Iloilo as a part of my Bayer project. “This wouldn’t be too hard for me”, I said to myself. As we came back to Boomer hall after our class I prepared myself for this activity which was going to be something new for me. We left about 12:45 and arrived at exactly 1:00 in the Boys and Girls Club. To my surprise the children were running around the place together with some volunteers . I was amazed to see this big or number of children were handled only by a group of 3 or 5 volunteers for the entire day. Sean, the coordinator for the club divided our group into 3 so that we could associate ourselves with some volunteers also. Luckily I was stationed on the recreational area where the children are allowed to play around.

Sean told us the children had prepared questions for us to answer and these were probably out from their curiousity about our native places. But before we could start the Q and A, two representatives from AISIN- a international company that manufactures automobiles were there to explore the club and give a donation that would help the children in the club. I was astonished to see these people who have the heart to share what they have for the children.I’ve always believed that these children are the new generation and we should give them everything they need for learning.

The questions came popping out like popcorns from the children, it was almost as they had prepared a dozen and still had more. They asked many questions, some of them were about where we lived and what we had for food at our homes but one kid had a different one. Emmanuel, ask me ” What kind of music do you like?” and I said “ Well I like Hiphop and RNB” he immediately said “who the singer?” I said “JAY Z ofcourse, he has his own empire and still writes good songs that are very influential” and the kids went wild like cowboys in a tavern. They didn’t expext an asian like me would like JAY Z but I do.

I also met a Filipina girl named Areaj whose mom was a pure Filipina and a native of Leyte. Areaj told me she likes Filipino food and she could also speak a little bit of Tagalog. Another one also was Michael- the funny joker and inquisitive one. He would make funny jokes and questions with me. Taylor, the dancer presented his talent, breake dancing on the floor in front of me. He even told me he learned it only on youtube. Boy, kids that use the net are getting younger nowadays. I liked Taylor because he was very interested in the place where I came from, he even taught me a couple of moves on the floor like the Jerk and the Pindrop. It seemed like I learned more from them than they learned from me. I also met the twins Alicia and Patricia who had the same experience I had when I was young. They were identical and very beautiful.

As we approached the end of the session the whole group met in the basketball gym. We divided the children into two groups regarding of age and we played dogde ball. I was into the game because of my competitive spirit and I cheered my team all the way. We won. 2-1 was the result but the important thing was all of us enjoyed and got a chance to play with the kids. I remember giving piggy- back rides to some of the kids after the game to make them feel rewarded for winning.

Like all the days, these was about over and we had to leave the children. With a heart filled with joy and delight I said goodbye to the children and told them I would never forget this day that I spent with them. These taught me a very important lesson I forgot in life and that is to remember my childhood and have fun in everything that I do.