16th Big Day - Another Successful Gift-Giving

We, 15 adults and 4 kids, left Davao City downtown area to Brgy Panalum at 6:30 a.m. We were thrilled to see our community partner and share some blessings we received from different sponsors. Many of the volunteers were first-timers, which made the trip more exciting.

We arrived at the area at around 9:00 a.m. After the courtesy call with the barangay captain, we climbed the small hill to the community. The kids and their parents were already ready to meet us.

Since we wanted to allot more time for the haircutting session, we decided to have a straightforward gift-giving. We introduced ourselves to the children and then our volunteer kids - Nicole, Jedric, Chikai and Gerard - sang a Christmas song for them. We then distributed the following school supplies - writing materials, paper, crayon, eraser, sharpener and sticker.

We prepared 169 kits, but not all kids were able to join the activity because they live kilometers away from the community. We left the extra kits to Kuya Lando, one of our contact persons in the area. 

After the school supplies distribution, we told the kids that 6 people from our team will give them free haircuts. We went to a shady and open area for the operation gupit. We thought of bringing hairdressers this year because we figured out getting a haircut may be a luxury instead of a hygienic necessity for them. 

While waiting for their turn, some kids watch videos on Sarah's laptop. The volunteers did different things - a few assisted the hairdressers, a few played with the kids and the rest interviewed the local residents about their source of water. The residents have to walk far to fetch water and we wanted to know if there's any way we can help them. (Once we have all the accurate information, we will finalize the video and share it with you.)

Banana surfers!

A video posted by @dagways on Dec 12, 2014 at 5:10am PST

We left the area at around 1:00 p.m and arrived in the downtown area before 4:00 p.m. 

* * * 

We would like to thank everyone for your wholehearted support to our succesful outreach. Special shoutout to the following: 

• Integreon KPO firm, Davao Arts and Ate Nancy for the school supplies
• Jen and Miss KNT for the financial assistance
• Liyah for packing the goods with us, Miss KNT for the packing venue
• Ley, Shugar and Sara's father for the transportation
• Miss Ano and Ate Fortunata for the breakfast and lunch of the volunteers
• Volunteers: Sarah, Sharone, Jezyrel, Celine, Dan, Kikit, Mabelle, Lorna, Ate Mayette, Ate Grace, Awing, Bo, Jun, Kuya Sergio, Kuya Driver, Nicole, Jedric, Gerard and Chikai

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Operation Gupit on December 13 2013

Pens of Hope in Davao will be going back to Brgy Panalum, Paquibato District on December 13. Last year we conducted an art workshop, but this time we are bringing a couple of hairdressers to give free haircuts for the kids.

We will be bringing gifts from Davao Arts, Integreon KPO firm and other kind souls. Please come back for updates of our event this coming weekend.