Christmas is Christmas is said to be the season of giving and sharing. And indeed the student leaders of Rotaract CIT University Chapter and IE Council showed that no matter how small you have, you can still share it to those who are in need.

Last December 20, Rotaract Club of Metro Cebu- CIT University Chapter carried out its annual ?PAROL (Purpose Achieved thru Recycle-Oriented Lanterns) of Hope? Event which is on its third year now. IE Council?s Project NOWTBUKS is fortunate enough to be one of the partners for this event. We visited the Ati Community in Naga which is more than an hour drive from the city.

The event started with a prayer then followed by giving of instructions to the volunteers and the participants. The group was divided into two, one for the Christmas Card-making facilitated by the Project NOWTBUKS Volunteers, spearheaded by and some Singaporean Rotaract NUS Volunteers, the other half was for the Caroling Session facilitated by the Rotaract Club of Metro Cebu- CIT University Chapter with some of the NUS Rotaractors.

I was assigned to facilitate the card-making session. The kids were grouped into two and each group was given one recycled blank card which they will be designing. Given that the kids were still kindergarten students, teaching them to write and giving them simple instructions was already a challenge. But the thanks to Project NOWTBUKS volunteers and Singaporean NUS Rotaractors who were very patient teachers, the creativity of the kids was exposed. They were able to design the cards beautifully and still express the genuine gratitude to the generous people who supported the project. Those kids were so talented and full of artistry.

The other half of the team was assigned to caroling-session. It was great to see a bunch of people especially some foreigner who enthusiastically sang and danced in every house they visited. They sang confidently as if they were having the best voices in town. I hope no one got disturbed.  But what made it special is to witness the sweetest smiles and joyful eyes from the people in every household. For them, it meant so much to be caroled by the people whom they haven't met. The act of giving the bundles of joy and the lantern of hope were just secondary, the primary purpose of it is to encourage our dearest fellowmen that Christmas is about being thankful for all the blessings we receive, and that Christmas brings new hope for the new year. It was just so great to hear words of thankfulness from the pure hearts of the people.

Then some demo on proper hygiene were made to teach kids how to wash hands and brush their teeth properly.

A special buffet for lunch was also served for the kids and so all had refueled themselves for the games. Games were played with the Singaporean Volunteers. It was so adorable to see big people and small people played together. After the game, every kid received a pack of school supplies and candies. The event ended with a wonderful photo-taking capturing all the smiles of the volunteers and the Ati Tribe community.

 to be the season of giving and sharing. And indeed the student leaders of Rotaract CIT University Chapter and IE Council showed that no matter how small you have, you can still share it to those who are in need.

Last December 20, Rotaract Club of Metro Cebu- CIT University Chapter carried out its annual ?PAROL (Purpose Achieved thru Recycle-Oriented Lanterns) of Hope? Event which is on its third year now. IE Council?s Project NOWTBUKS is fortunate enough to be one of the partners for this event. We visited the Ati Community in Naga which is more than an hour drive from the city.

The event started with a prayer then followed by giving of instructions to the volunteers and the participants. The group was divided into two, one for the Christmas Card-making facilitated by the Project NOWTBUKS Volunteers, spearheaded by and some Singaporean Rotaract NUS Volunteers, the other half was for the Caroling Session facilitated by the Rotaract Club of Metro Cebu- CIT University Chapter with some of the NUS Rotaractors.

I was assigned to facilitate the card-making session. The kids were grouped into two and each group was given one recycled blank card which they will be designing. Given that the kids were still kindergarten students, teaching them to write and giving them simple instructions was already a challenge. But the thanks to Project NOWTBUKS volunteers and Singaporean NUS Rotaractors who were very patient teachers, the creativity of the kids was exposed. They were able to design the cards beautifully and still express the genuine gratitude to the generous people who supported the project. Those kids were so talented and full of artistry.

The other half of the team was assigned to caroling-session. It was great to see a bunch of people especially some foreigner who enthusiastically sang and danced in every house they visited. They sang confidently as if they were having the best voices in town. I hope no one got disturbed.  But what made it special is to witness the sweetest smiles and joyful eyes from the people in every household. For them, it meant so much to be caroled by the people whom they haven't met. The act of giving the bundles of joy and the lantern of hope were just secondary, the primary purpose of it is to encourage our dearest fellowmen that Christmas is about being thankful for all the blessings we receive, and that Christmas brings new hope for the new year. It was just so great to hear words of thankfulness from the pure hearts of the people.

Then some demo on proper hygiene were made to teach kids how to wash hands and brush their teeth properly.

A special buffet for lunch was also served for the kids and so all had refueled themselves for the games. Games were played with the Singaporean Volunteers. It was so adorable to see big people and small people played together. After the game, every kid received a pack of school supplies and candies. The event ended with a wonderful photo-taking capturing all the smiles of the volunteers and the Ati Tribe community.