I must say, my summer has been productive. Gawad Kalinga kept my head off the what could-be's. Last Friday, we spent all day at GK Missionville to decorate the kids area for movie viewing. Kara, Arkay and I panicked over the thought of decorating. We had no experience whatsoever; save for a few decorating sessions back in HS when we all but gave a hand PASTING AND CUTTING papers. But concept? Nah. Never been a part of it. Dahl came to the rescue! We're saaaaaaaved! We tried to copy a picture of what Arkay's classmate did for school. We sort of had it, in a way.
lesson learned: a DOUBLE-SIDED TAPE can't handle everything.
Always, always, always have a back-up plan. Be ready when things start faliing down
On the day itself, we were pretty psyched preparing things. Kara's mom, Tita Miriam, was very helpful and supportive. She's a cardiologist and extremely busy. If I wasn't as distracted as I was when she helped pinned stuff and drive back and forth to their home to get a few things, I could cry. We badly needed an extra hand. ALL WENT WELL. We did a pretty swell job in getting the room look cheerful for the kids' storytelling and film showing.
the opening ceremony. GK chapter flags and representatives
I thought we were just in it for the movie. Not until kids started coming in troops. Parents dropped them off our area leaving the two of us to deal with the noise, the mischief, the shouting, the fighting, the fidgeting ---it was CHAOS. I NEVER THOUGHT WE WERE GOING TO BABYSIT 30plus plus plus raucous kids in one hell of an oven we call THE MOVIE ROOM. I DID NOT SIGN UP FOR THIS. They were unbelievably difficult to handle. THEY JUST DON'T LISTEN. I could not lose it coz well, I can see my best friend Kara was about to. We cannot both lose it.
By lunch, we were both famished. Glad Megamind was worth an hour and thirty minutes only. After that, I was never more happy to leave the room and eat lunch at 1pm. Our work was done, well we thought so not until someone told us to assist for the storytelling. I guess I were babysitting hours aren't done yet.
I have respect for that woman there. Forgot her name. Hey don't judge, some people are bad at remembering names but good at remembering faces. So anyway, it was amazing how she got everyone's attention and settled them all down. We barely been able to. But it was already beyond her to hold them down at the sight of goodies. I swear I felt like getting mobbed. It got out of hand. A sea of hands pushed us to the front while trying to grab the goodies on my hand. Kara was trying to teach them a valuable lesson, to queue for your turn. But alas, it was futile. I ended up throwing the candies away lest they'll crush us against the wall. Those kids were a handful. They don't listen. Perhaps, the next thing we GK volunteers should focus on is to teach this kids how to behave like decent individuals. A man and woman of good breeding is invaluable; the way they behave and carry themselves will reflect on them.
we thankfully had a time to breathe
Kara and I. After we both had freshened up.
This was taken before the storytelling for the kids.
All in all, volunteering was a good experience. I will definitely volunteer for more GK events. One thing's for sure though, I won't be part of a committee that has got anything to do with children. I still have to work on my patience and the tricks to deal with them more efficiently.
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