Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Priceless Christmas for Us

Christmas is supposed to be a time for merrymaking but for us it meant a time of reaching out, of extending helping hands and helping others see that beyond the clouds, the sun is still shining.  

My husband and I were tasked to assist in the activity spearheaded by the Local Government Unit of Gensan for the benefit of the dependents of missing fishermen due to Typhoon Pablo on December 23, 2012 at the GSC Sports Complex.

I was with the team who assisted little children of those missing fishermen find a little joy in spite of what's happening around them.  There were storytelling, playing games, and giving of gifts for the kids. Added bonus to the activity was the presence of mascots Jollibee and Hetty that really brought excitement to our young spectators' eyes.
The innocence of these children is simply enviable.  They still managed to give all of us a smile and were very willing  to seize the moment.  Their fathers are all missing for almost a month now and yet their families together with government agencies and NGOs are still not giving up in the search and rescue operation.

I was happy and sad at the same time doing the job of making these children see that there is still a glimmer of hope. Deep inside I know that survivors at this point in time is already nil.  I am just praying for God's mercy for the children and their families.  
We made the kids so happy that day . . . I just hope that in our own little way we still can in the days to come.

A day after, the whole family had our gift-giving for the wards of Maria Goretti's Home for Girls.  My girls were more than happy to share our blessings with the girls under the care of the Passionist Sisters.

 Many thanks to our friends and Olaer Development Corporation for helping us with the goodies we gave to Maria Gorettti's girls.
 What we've done may be temporary in nature but we hope it  made a difference in the lives of many.

Merry christmas, everyone!


Tuesday, December 25, 2012

A Biko With a Story

The cooking mom got the time to prepare something special for our noche buena. Prepared a good amount of food to feast on but I've got a piece I considered extraordinary - the biko (glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk and sugar).  What makes it so special?

Well, basically it's a simple delicacy but it was embedded with so much love and passion from the mountains of Capas, Tarlac to our kitchen here in General Santos City.

The Aeta foster family of my daughter  during their immersion program in the mountains of Tarlac gave her a  bagful of mountain violet sticky rice as token. These good Aetas were the former settlers around Mt. Pinatubo who resettled in Tarlac to find a living. Aside from the sticky rice, they also gave my daughter sinfully delicious newly harvested brown rice.  It was so generous of them.
the so unselfish, so generous foster family of my daughter
 (Nanay Melinda, Tatay Gaspar and their kids with my daughter and other ADMU students)

Rafee handcarried the gifts all the way from Manila to Gensan.  I was almost in tears when I heard  her story of where these products came from. I wanted very much to say THANK YOU to her foster family and let them know how I appreciated their gesture but it's impossible to get through them.

So on christmas eve, I cooked the very precious gifts from our Aeta friends and shared these with people dear to us whom we requested to say a little prayer for this family who epitomizes the true spirit of christmas - to give and share without expecting anything in return!

To you, my dear friends from the mountains of Tarlac, our paths may not cross very soon but you will always be included in our prayers for God to keep you safe and healthy always!

Thank you for reminding us the true essence of Christmas!

The Mom Blogger is Back

I used to be active in the blogosphere but went in hiatus due to overwhelming responsibilities needing my full attention.  Because of my l...