Starting the Year 2023 with some Hive Love: Amancion Elementary School Christmas Party.

To be honest, I'm still hung up with my 3-week long holiday vacation and also binge-watching Naruto. Who would have thought right? Anyways, I need to be back here to release some thoughts and feelings about the events that happened recently. One such thing was the Almancion Christmas Party. You probably have already read about it from @ybanezkim26's blog Transparency Report: Amancion Elementary School Christmas Party Was A Success! | Project L.I.B.R.O. So here, I will be sharing with you what transpired on that day from my point of view.

This event was an initiative of @ybanezkim26 and his friend @queenielee. Kim has always been supportive of my charity events so I knew it was my turn to be of service to him. A few days before the main event, we purchased the necessary items to be donated to the recipients - the kids attending Amancion Elementary School - which included raincoats and water bottles. We also went to downtown Cebu City to have the tarpaulin, Hive stickers, and shirts printed and bought the rain boots, toys, and giveaways.

Then on January 04, 2023, we finally were able to mobilize to our target destination - Catmondaan - where the school was located despite the uneasiness we had prior days because of the constant rain. It was decided that rain or shine we would push through. We were grateful that the skies poured light rain showers during our 2-hour drive from the city. However, the real challenge began after that...

Once we arrived at the junction where we were supposed to meet up with the school teachers, we each rode on a habal-habal that was willing to take us to Brgy. Amancion - a 3-hour ride across winding mountain terrain. The first hour was a smooth drive over a cemented road though there were some areas, especially that crossed over small rivers that were flooded. It was a good thing though that the water level was low and so we didn't need to disembark on the motorbikes for us to reach the other side. Some children can be seen walking across the flooded area with their backpacks on trying to reach their schools.

The cemented road didn't last and so we had to conquer the rugged, sometimes rocky and most of the time muddy areas along the way. Sometimes, I would forget to breathe as my fear would creep because of those moments when the wheels would skid along the slippery soil. There were numerous times that we had to walk on foot because the habal-habal drivers couldn't move as they would get stuck and had to push their vehicles forward. There was also a landslide that completely covered the road which we had to traverse on foot ahead of our habal-habal drivers. We didn't know how they managed to successfully cross over later on.

For me, the hike or trek was all worth it as we were able to enjoy nature, stopping every once in a while to breathe in the fresh mountain air, feel the cool breeze, and see the vibrant greenery and beautiful mountain scenery all around us which I haven't done in many years. There were times when it was only a drizzle and there were times when it rained a little bit more but luckily it didn't end up worst like heavy rain and strong winds. Who knows how long it would take us to school?

Along the way, we were able to catch up with the school teachers. There were misunderstandings with the food that we were supposed to share with the kids but good thing there were still some houses/mini stores along the way for us to purchase some ingredients we could use to cook our food.

After 19 km of riding and hiking, we reached the school! A sigh of relief and smiles were exchanged as we settled in one cottage and met with some of the kids who were already there waiting for us. The school was plain and simple, had 3 classrooms adjacent to each other, a small stage, an open front yard, a mini garden, and 2 other cottages. It was facing a spacious and relaxing mountain view. On one side was a small river that can't be seen but its presence was made clear because of the rushing water you can hear. We then moved into the center classroom where we prepared for our short Christmas party.

The kids were so eager that they happily helped us out with the preparations like removing the plastic and price tag from the water bottles, arranging the boots, and raincoats on the floor, and adding stickers on the bottles. It was so heartwarming to see them involved and extend their hands although they were the beneficiaries.

When we finished with the preparations, we rounded up the students who were present (about half of the expected number we were expecting) for the photo ops. We then moved on with distributing the goods to each kid with the help of the teachers. Each student was given a handy bag, a water bottle, a pair of rain boots, a raincoat, and some goodies. @ybanezkim26 was immersed in the whole process and enjoyed supervising the distribution. @queenielee and the rest of the gang took charge of the distribution of goodies while I volunteered for the documentation of this event.

We are grateful for the teachers who also took care of cooking for us, the drivers, and the children as we held a few games for the students while waiting. There were shouts for joy, especially from the boys who won the spiderman or batman toy. Ughhhhh. My heart melted as I didn't expect them to be so happy with that. If only we knew, we could have brought many more toys. Perhaps next time. We realized that having toys was not common for them let alone having a single penny when they go to school daily.

The children also presented us with their dance numbers which were adorable and fun to watch. After each group finished their presentation, @ybanezkim26 gave the dancers rewards which the teacher took care of distributing later on. @ybanezkim26 also handed Hive shirts and tokens to the three teachers who took the time to welcome and help us with our outreach program. We ended our mini-Christmas party with a simple lunch with the rest of the teachers, drivers, and students.

From the time we reached the school to the time we finished our lunch, it probably took 2 hours. A relatively short time but full of fun and meaningful moments with the kids and teachers. As for me, it was a great way to start my year 2023 after spending my previous months mostly in isolation at my home. I took many learnings during that day and one important thing I was reminded of was to be humble in life and give back as I was blessed to have a quality education and better living conditions back when I was a child.

Anyways, I am ending this blog with a grateful heart to all of you who supported and donated Hive to @ybanezkim26's initiative. You can also watch the video here. We are excited about the other charity events or outreach programs we planned on doing this year.