Receiving the Gift of Reading from Ateneo de Cebu

Hello Hive friends! How was your weekend? Ours was, unexpectedly, extra meaningful. My son and I, along with other parents and kids, experienced a beautiful day of gift-giving from the Ateneo de Cebu teachers and priests last Saturday.

_{Thank you teachers and Fr. Mike and Fr. Irmo for sharing your time and treasure to our daycare centers.}

I was actually planning to go to school last Saturday to repaint the door of my classroom but a day before this, I was added to the group chat for the parents of the daycare pupils and teacher. There, we received an invitation to an outreach activity of the Sacred Heart School- Ateneo de Cebu on Saturday. All daycare centers here are recipients of this activity and the barangay captain and the teachers invited all daycare pupils and daycare parents. 😊

Last month, I had enrolled my son to the local daycare center. I signed him up for the afternoon class as he was still struggling with waking up early. As I was added to the group chat for parents, I felt that I have another community to belong to. And this outreach activity will be the first time I'll meet parents and kids of the daycare community.

I felt excited to see my son experience this outreach program as he will surely be able to socialize with other kids and adults. I was also curious about the program as I am a book lover myself.

The outreach program is called "Gasa sa Pagbasa"(which can be translated into English as "The Gift of Reading"). They will be donating a lot of books and toys for the four daycare centers here. Aside from that, they will also be having a storytelling activity for the children.

_{This invite was sent to everyone in the group chat.}

We were instructed to go to the venue at around 8:30 in the morning. Arriving there before the time, I saw a lot of parents and kids eagerly waiting. I also saw some local officials preparing the sound system. While we waited for the guests to arrive, the daycare teacher, ma'am Rachel, distributed milky buns and cheese for the kids.

_{He saw the cheese and he wanted to eat it at once.😂}

When the guests arrived, they still needed time to set up and bring out their boxes of books and toys. They had also prepared eco bags with supplies and snacks inside. When they were ready, they started the program and held some games for the kids and the parents. These games were highly interactive. I noticed that the teachers were very jolly and confident. They were also doing their best to manage the crowd of kids.

_{The teachers were very patient and considerate.👏}

_{They also had games for the parents. I joined this game but lost to these two.😅 Bravo mommies!}

After introducing their teachers and the two priests that came with them (one of them is the school president), they held a storytelling activity for the kids. They organized it well in a way that kids can choose what story they want to listen to and which teacher they will go to. My son chose to listen to the story of "The Little Mouse and the Big Lion". While kids joined this activity, the parents were asked to go to a nearby classroom for a quick chat with Fr. Irmo and some teachers.

_{I was a bit worried to leave my son since some of the kids were already crying when they saw their parents leaving them there. Good thing my son loves stories and he was too busy listening.}

The parents were gathered in a classroom and we were asked to express our concerns and needs in the day care centers. They also asked us about our concerns in the community. They told us about their plan to create a bigger impact to the local community by helping us more than giving us the books and the toys.They wanted to know "how" and "in what areas" they can be of great help with.

This was actually an interesting aspect of this outreach program. These people were interested in giving more and helping more. They wanted to know what problems they can possibly help address. I heard there was another group of teachers plus Fr. Mike who were talking to the local officials. I really hope that they will continue helping the community in whatever way they can. 🙏💜

After this, we all went back to where the kids were. They were already done with the storytelling and they were given snacks as well. I am very happy to see that my son didn't cry while I wasn't around. He just sat on a chair, happily drinking juice. He immediately told me about the story of the lion and the little mouse and how the mouse gnawed the rope that trapped the lion. My mommy heart felt very happy. 😍

_{Thanks for the Yum burger and juice, Ateneo de Cebu!💜}

The teachers asked the kids to play another game and this time, my son was extra participative. My son joined in and thankfully became one of the winners. Upon hearing other kids sing, he also offered to sing. I can't contain my happiness at that moment. I felt really proud of him.

_{He sang the song "You are My Sunshine". Other kids were also able to sing along.💜🤗}

The kids were then given the blue loot bags. Then it was time for the turnover of the books and toys to the daycare teachers. The look on their faces gave me the impression that they were really happy and grateful for this blessing. Teacher Rachel, my son's daycare teacher, said in her message that this was the first time the daycare centers became recipients of an outreach activity like this one. The teachers were thankful because the centers will now have more books and toys for the kids to enjoy and learn from.

_{Words of thanks won't be enough for this blessing you have shared. Thank you very much for putting a smile to these hardworking daycare teachers.}

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Realizations🤗

Joining this activity made me realize a lot of things. I haven't really thought of the gravity of the needs that the daycare centers had. The daycare centers here needed more love and support. Knowing that there are now more books and more toys made me think of how I can be of help. This activity didn't only benefit the kids, but also, the parents who are now more aware of the challenges the daycare centers have. With all these thoughts, I am beyond grateful to these kind-hearted people from Ateneo de Cebu for choosing us, of all places in Cebu. Thank you very much for this meaningful Saturday. May God bless you a thousandfold!

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Thank you dearest Hive friends for taking the time to read. Wishing you meaningful days ahead. 💜

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Note: All photos, except for the invite, were personally taken using my phone. The invite was sent to everyone involved and I got permission from the daycare teacher to use this. I used Paint 3D to crop photos and used Canva to make the collage.