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……..

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

 

Search for “Super Nanay 2018” in the GSF Village.

Search for “Super Nanay 2018” in the GSF Village.

By DR June Sanico 31 Replies 19 Mar 2018

In Celebration of Women’s Month, the competition is on, for the GSF Village “Super Nanay (Super Mum) 2018”, with the final being held on March 26th in the GSF Village Social Hall. We have 11 beautiful “Super Nanay contestants” who will showcase their wit and talents to an invited panel of judges.. 

For this part of the competition we would like your vote on which photo you like the most. Please put your vote in the comment box on Facebook stating which Block No picture you like. The voting will added up and sent to the judges before the final on the 26th March. Thank you.

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March is Fire Prevention Month in the Philippines.

March is Fire Prevention Month in the Philippines.

On the 1st March sirens can be heard all over the Philippine streets – it is the start of Fire Prevention Month.  The summer months are hot and dry and March is recorded as having high fire recordings, so the Bureau Of Fire Municipality make it an advocacy that all schools, universities, public and private offices, and communities such as the Greg Secker Foundation Village are made aware of not only how to prevent a fire but what to do in one.

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We were lucky to be joined by the Bureau of Fire of Municipality of Lemery again. Last December they visited the village and held some lectures in fire safety and tips. Now the beneficiaries are in their homes there are more fire hazards such as electricity for them to learn about, and how they can help one another should a fire break out in their house or indeed their neighbours house. 

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The beneficiaries split into groups and practiced different drills. How to quickly and efficiently get water to the fire – the good old fashioned “bucket brigade” system, passing a bucket of water down the line to the fire. 

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In the lecture the fire department suggested that every household has a member who would be part of the fire fighting team, to have someone in charge of contacting the fire department during a fire, to have security in charge of clearing the road for when the fire truck arrives and a rescue team. 

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All of these lessons in health and safety are very important now that they are living together in such a close community.  They have to know how to help not only themselves but also their neighbour.  

 

 

Friday night Zumba Classes

Friday night Zumba Classes

Friday night Zumba classes have started in the village, to not only encourage everyone to get fit, but a fun way to bring the community together.

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Any signs of stress from the week were quickly released as the families all danced to the music. One of our mothers said, “It’s was fast, upbeat and contagious –  and you can’t help but keep on moving!” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Mothers enjoy time team building.

The Mothers enjoy time team building.

It is coming up to two months since the beneficiaries moved into their new homes in the GSF Village.  The mothers in the village have spent some ‘fun’ time getting to know each other to build up camaraderie.  

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Some team work was involved for this game, “Building a structure out of straws”. The competitive streak certainly came out of a few of them and many had not played like this since they were children themselves. A lot of laughter could be heard around the village! 

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So many of these ladies lived very solitary lives when their husbands went off to work and they stayed behind in their previous homes looking after the children. It’s so lovely to see the mothers here now, making friends and living in this fantastic community – all together. 

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“MOVIE NIGHT” in the GSF Village.

“MOVIE NIGHT” in the GSF Village.

Our lovely families have built up such a wonderful community spirit living in the village. They have all come together to watch movies under the stars! 

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On Wednesday night the children, mothers and fathers sat and watched, “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” on the big screen, that DR set up for them outside the GSF office. 

They were all so excited that the GSF team have decided to hold Movie Night every Wednesday.  The families do not have TV’s so it is heart-warming to hear the children giggling, the parents laughing and everyone so happy.

 

The Greg Secker Foundation Homeowners Association visit Barangay Hall, Capiniahnan.

The Greg Secker Foundation Homeowners Association visit Barangay Hall, Capiniahnan.

 

We have 36 officers from the Greg Secker Foundation Homeowners Association, who were voted in by the beneficiaries of the village. This association will oversee various aspects of the village, and day to day life. 

Last week, the officers visited the Barangay Hall to be recognised as official residents of Barangay, Capiniahnan. During the visit, the officers introduced themselves and talked about their future plans in the village.  The GSF Association is made up of a President, a Vice President, a Treasurer, and an Auditor. Then there are the committee members who will oversee the maintenance of the houses, events held in the village, law and order, health (one of our officers/beneficiaries works as a Barangay Health worker – so naturally they are the main contact!) and each block of houses will have a block leader who will daily check the roads, canals and all surrounding areas for any problems. 

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Dorotia Toga is responsible for peace and order. 

The government official confirmed that all programmes and services will be available to our beneficiaries which will build networking for our families. 

This is fantastic for our families, helping them build up relationships in the surrounding areas which will in turn open the door for further work opportunities. 

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Mr Reyanaldo Sanico, the Barangay Captain and Mr Roberto Nonato Jr, the President of GSF Homeowners Association. 

 

 

 

“Registration Certificate and Licence to Operate”

“Registration Certificate and Licence to Operate”

We are delighted to announce that we are now licensed with the Department of Social Welfare and Development to operate as a community based Social Service provider.

With this License we can work with our beneficiaries legally and are recognised by the Department. This license is vital for us to lobby social cases with the Department and other Government Agencies and means we are officially part of the legal working Non Government Organizations of Region 6 in the Philippines.

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Alya, Ms Glo Templanza (Licensing Division Officer) and DR. 

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