Went to Gawad Kalinga with Patty and Issa to distribute the left-over toys from our tiangge. It was such a great experience. I never thought that those toys could really brighten up the faces of the kids.
Before distributing the toys though, there was an activity wherein the kids had to make Valentine cards for the people they love. The activity, however shallow it may be, brought tears to my eyes because as I read the cards, I felt the love and the sincerity in them. I saw how much effort they put into forming the hearts on the paper, cutting them out, sticking them on another paper, making the front colorful and then writing each letter of the message they wanted to put. No offense to Hallmark, but I'd definitely choose those cards over any machine-made card.
After distributing the toys and the food, it was time to go home. So everyone formed a circle, held hands and prayed. A little boy was asked to lead the prayer. I thought it would just be one of those memorized prayers but it was nothing like that. His prayer went, "Panginoon, salamat po sa mga bumisita samin ngayon na nagbigay ng mga laruan at pagkain. Salamat po sa mga nagtuturo samin linggo-linggo. Salamat po sa mga nagbigay samin ng mga bahay. Salamat po sa mga taong tumutulong samin na magbagong-buhay." After the prayer, Patty and I were in tears.
Those kids are deprived of so many things in life. They don't have enough clothes to keep them warm. They barely eat three times a day. Most of them don't even get to go to school... And in their prayer, all they had to tell God was thanks, while we, the more fortunate ones, have nothing to say to God but ask Him for things that we don't really need.
Sad.
Cherry on my Ice cream at 8:19:00 PM.
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