The Children’s Day Camp was a huge success

The Children’s Day Camp was a huge success

The day was finally here, the day that many of the older children had been waiting for…. it was Camp Day. 

The day camp was held on the land adjacent to the village, on a plot of land owned by a teacher called Norma and her husband. They kindly took the children out for the day, to experience some fun activities in the jungle.

The children, aged between 8-12 years old all assembled outside the GSF office bright and early. After a brief talk from Norma about the rules – the do’s and the don’ts, they excitedly marched off to the camp. 

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The children were split up into four groups for the day; Yellow Team, Red Team, White Team and Blue Team. Then each group began their activities for the day. 

The first activity was, how to cook an egg in the jungle using the vegetation around you. They were shown how banana leaves can be used for this as they are big enough to hold an egg and will withstand the heat long enough to cook the egg but not burn the leaf too much.  

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The children all took turns in cooking their eggs and then eating them. What a great way to have breakfast!

The next activity was a bit trickier. The children had to put a barbecue stick through the egg, piercing the shell. There were a few mishaps but they finally cracked it… or not! (excuse the pun). They then held it over the fire until it was cooked. Delicious – one that we may have to try here next time the barbecue is lit! 

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Before lunch, the children had a team activity, putting together a puzzle in the fastest time. The pictures were of Greg so it didn’t take long too long to work out which way around it should be.  The children all adore him and proudly held their finished pictures up for a photo. 

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It was time for lunch, and whilst the fires were still hot, everyone was given hotdogs to grill. This was the first time many of the children had experienced anything like this and they were just loving it.  What I love is that every child was asked to bring their own lunch – just look at the pictures – not a fizzy drink or bag of crisps in site.  A much healthier packed lunch than many I have seen here!

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After lunch it was time for the Scavenger hunt – every team had to find the following items and whoever returned to base first with them all … won.

Items to find:

5 round stones, 2 earthworms, 1 feather, 3 spoons, 1 pair slippers, 1 hanky, 1 t-shirt, 1 headband, 1 backpack and 5 live ants.

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It didn’t take long for the Yellow Team to arrive back at base … the winners. Well done Yellows. 

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Next on the agenda was …. “Find your Footwear”.  What a great game – all the children were asked to take off their shoes and mix them up into one area. They then all took it in turns to find their own shoes – a lot of laughter as they grabbed each others shoes.

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Camp day was a hot day so what better excuse than to have a snack and a juice followed by….. the finale of the day – being soaked by ice cold water. The land that the camp is based has the main source of water on it, so what better way to cool down.  We have been told that before Norma and her husband owned the land, the site was sometimes used as a picnic area for locals. When the weather was hot, families came and spent the weekends here – camping and relaxing in this beautiful spot. 

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One thing is for sure, the children absolutely loved it.  Once they were cooled off and refreshed it was now time for the children to return back to the village. They were tired, but a very happy tired. 

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Thank you to Norma and her husband for allowing the children to spend the day with you, and treating them to such a wonderful experience.  heart

 

The GSF Village Sports Olympics has begun ….

The GSF Village Sports Olympics has begun ….

On Saturday 14th April, Barangay Captain Reynaldo Sanico officially opened the start of the GSF Village Sports Olympics.  We have 7 teams of Women’s Volleyball and 6 teams of Men’s Basketball who will all play against each other throughout the month.  And, for those that would rather not do a ball sport, there is also a Chess Tournament happening too!

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The ceremony began with a foot parade around the village with some of the children on the drums and others following behind in a dance display.  They marched up to the top of the village, around the boundary and back down to the social hall where the games were officially started by the Captain. 

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It was great to see all the different team colours and team names – Team Spikers in yellow, Team Fighters in blue, Hot Warriors in blue, Team Striker in red, (sounds serious!) Sky Lovers in green and Team Ball Baller’s in pink. 

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To keep the children entertained whilst the parents were getting ready to play, there was a logo and poster making competition.  There are some great designs to choose from – it is going to be hard to pick a winner!

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The chess tournament is underway ….

The Volleyball games have already begun with the women getting very competitive! And today, Monday, the men will begin the Basketball games. We can’t wait to hear the results of the games, as they happen during the week. 

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The GSF Olympics is another activity that will now be found in the annual calendar of events. The village is just thriving on the energy of the games and bringing everyone together developing their camaraderie in sports and leadership. 

Stay tuned to hear which teams end up in the big finals ……

 

Graduation time for three students …..

Graduation time for three students …..

Three of our GSF College students have now graduated and are ready to step into the next stage of their lives. We are extremely proud of them, as are their parents. Well done to you all – we look forward to hearing how you get on in your chosen career.

Jaimes Rexel R. Costoy, son of Mr and Mrs Lea Jaimes Costoy attended College in Iloilo City and has graduated in Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation. He hopes to work for a big shipping company.

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John Jenesis Lozare pictured here with his father, graduated in Bachelor of Science in Hotel Management at Northern Polytechnic State College in Lemery.  He would like to work in Hotels. 

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His mother pins an award to her son for “Player Of The Year” in softball and “Knight of Columbus Award” (religious award).

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And lastly, John Kenneth Valencia graduated with flying colours with Cum Laude (Distinction which is the third highest award in college) in Bachelor of Arts Major in Economics at Northern Polytechnic State College Estancia Campus.  Here he is pictured with his mother who is a local Barangay official and also works as a farmer. 

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Huge Congratulations from us all at GSF. heart

Capinahan Primary School Moving up Ceremony.

Capinahan Primary School Moving up Ceremony.

This month has been very special for all the children of the village. They have all been through their end of year awards at their schools. Many of the children have graduated from primary school to middle school and now it was the turn of the kinder children from Capinahan Primary School.

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Capinahan Primary School is very close to GSF. Last year Greg and the Foundation visited the school and pledged to help them rebuild their classrooms, playground and stage over the coming months.  With the stage and playground now complete, repair work will now start on the classrooms. 

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The awards were handed out to the children for lots of different reasons: Most helpful went to Jelica, Most Cooperative went to Jarel Jhon Roca whose mother was Super Nanay 2018, Honors of Grade 2 went to Yeshien, Happy Helper awards were given to Valerie Borres and Denzel Dave Pamplona, Busy Bee award was given to Lorin May Panaligan, The Eager Beaver and Determined Kids award went to Rico Aljed Vicente, Best Discipline to Robert Jongco Jr, and finally another Honors award goes to Alden.  

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Well done to all our GSF children. We are so proud of you.  heart

Saturday Class moves to a weekday …….

Saturday Class moves to a weekday …….

The children were up early when they heard that their Saturday classes were returning. Because of the school holidays, Central Philippine University have moved their lessons to the weekday.  Student teachers from the college make the journey every week from Iloilo to spend the day with the children and teach them a variety of subjects. 

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The children love their lessons where they get to learn Maths, English, Philippine History and Physical Education.  It’s fantastic that the children get this opportunity to learn in the holidays so when they go back to school in June they are up to speed.

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We love the t-shirt that one of the student teachers is wearing…..

WE GIVE YOU WINGS SO YOU CAN FLY

Thank you to CPU for helping our children achieve this. heart

Our GSF children graduate from elementary school.

Our GSF children graduate from elementary school.

Some of our GSF Children have now graduated from Jose Alminana Memorial Elementary School and will now attend Lemery National Junior High School.

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Their graduation day from Elementary to Junior High was held on 3 April with the students starting their new school in June when the school year starts. 

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It is not only a proud moment for the parents to see their children moving on to big school but a very special day for the children as they start the next chapter in their life. 

Our future leaders of GSF……..

Graduation Day for the GSF Children.

Graduation Day for the GSF Children.

Many of our GSF Children have now graduated from Jose Alminana Memorial Elementary School and will now attend Lemery National Junior High School.

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Their graduation day from Elementary to Junior High was held on 3 April with the students starting their new school in June when the school year starts. 

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It is not only a proud moment for the parents to see their children moving on to big school but a very special day for the children as they start the next chapter in their life. 

Our future leaders of GSF……..

 

 

The Children of the GSF Village receive their end of year school awards.

The Children of the GSF Village receive their end of year school awards.

On April 2, our Children of the village received their end of year awards from their school – Jose Alminana Memorial Elementary School. Many of our GSF village children attend this school in Lemery, which is about 15 minutes along the dirt road to the town. 

The proud parents attended with their children and watched as they went up to receive a variety of awards such as: Most Cheerful, Most Great Giver, Most Active, With Honours, Kindness Award, Journalist of the Year and Athlete of the year. 

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One special girl, Fatima, who as many of you know, didn’t attend school for many years due to her tumour. Here she is a couple of years into her education and receiving “Most Cheerful Award.”     

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Another special award was for Trixie, who received Journalist of the year award.

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It is so rewarding to see this generation of children doing well at school – with a secure home now back in the village, they can really concentrate on their education. 

 

Huge excitement as “Talipapa” opens up in the GSF Village.

Huge excitement as “Talipapa” opens up in the GSF Village.

The beneficiaries of the GSF village have opened up their own Talipapa, and the local community is buzzing with the news of this new market in the area.  

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“Frozen food stall”

News travels fast and already the local residents of Lemery are making regular trips to the village to buy products from the stalls – home grown vegetables, fresh fish and meat, frozen food, eggs, charcoal and fire wood for cooking.  

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“Fresh meat sold at the butcher”

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“Vegetables – grown by the beneficiaries”

There are also market stalls with clothing, accessories, cosmetics, a computer shop for printing and laminating services, a barber shop,  a mini eatery for Batchoy (a noodle soup made with pork offal, crushed pork cracklings, chicken stock, beef loin and round noodles), a coffee shop, and pork and chicken grills.

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“Handbags and other accessories”

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“The Barber shop”

The Talipapa is open daily from 6am – 8pm, and every day there are new faces from the Barangay Capinhan community turning up to buy the products that are used in every household. 

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“Refreshments”

In the Philippines, Talipapa’s are made of a light material such as bamboo, and can be found in every community along with, a Barangay Hall, a Primary school and a Health centre.

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“Cooking Pork and Chicken grills for customers visiting in the evening”

The Winner of the “GSF 2018 Super Nanay Competiton” is…..

The Winner of the “GSF 2018 Super Nanay Competiton” is…..

The first ever “Super Nanay Queen” of the GSF Village has been announced. After a month of planning and various competitions leading up to the big final day …. a WINNER was crowned:  

“Super Nanay Queen Annabelle Roca from Block 11.”  

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In second place (1st runner up) is, Norlyn Ojero from Block 7 and in third place (2nd runner up), Famela Dublin from Block 4. A huge congratulations to all the contestants!

The mothers were judged on different categories throughout the competition by our team of judges, Retchel Moore (a beauty queen and business woman), Aljie Candelario and Mary Joy Falcis-Taberna. 

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In each category, the Mothers had to showcase to the best of their ability, what they could do. They were judged on their talents, their sport, who the crowds thought most photogenic and in fact we ran this through Facebook and the response was incredible, they had to answer some questions from the judges, and then the finale was to design and wear a dress made from recyclable materials found in the village.

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The sporting category had mothers in all different outfits; softball, cowboy, firearms and basketball.

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The competition attracted visitors from all over Lemery who travelled to watch – the atmosphere was fantastic as all the mothers competed for the top spot! 

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Next up was the talent competition. In this category we had mothers making the crowd laugh in a comedy sketch, getting crowds up and dancing in a dance, singing and some powerful karate – breaking a breeze block in half!

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Whilst the mothers were back stage changing costumes, the crowd were were entertained by Trixie, who sang a song, and the children who did a great dance routine. It is great to see that there is so much talent coming through this village already.

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In the final category the mothers had to wear their creations on the stage. The dresses were fantastic, Block 9’s dress was made out of a sack, decorated with old cd’s and plastic bottle caps. There were table cloths and curtains all cleverly designed to look like ball gowns.  Block 11, our Super Nanay winner made her dress out of plastic bags and plastic cutlery. Just fantastic – who needs to spend a fortune and buy designer dresses when you have designs like these?!

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What a super day, well done to the GSF team in the village for all their hard work in organising such a wonderful event. This community is getting closer and closer every day. Everyone was involved in some way – helping to build the stage, helping with costumes, designs, sashes, the crown and lots more.

And finally, congratulations to all the beautiful Super Nanay Women of GSF Village who took part, you all looked fantastic and we are so proud of you. heart

 

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