Orphanage christmas Party

On behalf of the "friends of Mindanao" group we decided to give some poor orphanage children a Christmas party at Meregrande which is a splendid beach resort place. the date was set for yesterday 18th of December and the party went fantastically well, everyone had a great time, the children had fun and the adults too.

For me the party started with Paul coming round at 7am, and Paul and I drove in separate vehicles to help fetch the children. We drove to the orphanage at Calinan, about 25km away and met James and Lisa. There was also a Jeepney hired which took the majority of the children, i took some 3 poor infirm children and their carers and we set off back for mergrande arriving about 8:30am. We unpacked, got the kids settled and i bolted back home to pick up my familly and the Bunda familly who also were attending.

I left all the food being prepared by Karen and Lizelle and came back to an organised house, drinks and plenty of food, and presents, loads of presents.

The party was for the 15 kids normally resident at the orphanage but James had recently collected 3 infirm children from the mountainous area and those kids too were able to attend. Unfortunately the three kids were not physically able to join in with the games but they enjoyed the change of scene and being with the other children of course.

The "friends of Mindanao" group had supplied the presents and the funding for the party, but i had also been contacted via this blog by Maricon Bajo who wished to attend the party but who could not because hapilly for Maricon she was pregnant and the doctor had ordered rest. Maricon very kindly donated lots of presents for the day, Dolls for the girls, lots of presents for the boys and also "prize" presents to be given on the day itself, the kids loved Maricons toys, thank you so much for this kind act.

We loaded the car (no idea how we all fitted) and arrived back in mergrande about 10am, none of the kids were swimming, what was wrong? Lisa explained they wanted to do a show for us, they had been rehearsing, they had donned costumes and make up and were ready to perform. Good timing because Reg, Ian and John turned up for the show. Chris and his wife also came a little later. Lisa had put so much work into the show beacuse it was great, singing and dancing and solo's as well, wow those kids are sweet, there were more than a few tears in the eye moments.

Lunch was called for and spahetti, meatballs and rice, what a feast, drinks were served for the kids and then it was time for the adults food as well, which was delicious. 2 other Directors of the orphanage turned up, Dr Robillio and his wife and so we were able to meet them and share some time with the children.

What after that, well of course swimming, James led the way with the kids and i couldn't resist joining in with Arnel and super keish as well, it was great fun. Another emotional moment was when the 3 infirm children were carried into the ocean to experience swimming for the very first time.

After that...party games, prizes, presents, more food kindly donated by Chris Kaluna and his wife
and of course sweets and well, that was about it, time to head of home.

Thanks for Paul for supervision and transport, another big thanks for Maricon, for Chris and familly for their food and Lisa and James.

It was a great day out.