December 8, 2012

• A Christmas party to an art exhibit

  Events

  Christmas with Angels

  

  Had a very busy yet very fulfilling day yesterday.

  

  Woke up at 4 am to prepare for The FREEMAN Foundation's Christmas with Angels project in Don Andres Soriano (Lutopan), Toledo City. That's like one to two hours by car from where I live.

  

  Since seven years ago, The FREEMAN, through The FREEMAN Foundation, would identify a certain community, or barangay as we call it, from where we would get the children who would then be the beneficiary of the project. The kids gets to enjoy a fun-filled day of games and great food. This year, we gave out school supplies, toys, and groceries for every family represented and the beneficiary was Brgy. Biga of Toledo City.

  Exactly a year ago, it was in Brgy. Biga where three very young kids were taken hostage by their uncle. One of those kids had to have an arm, from the shoulder down, amputated. Since that incident happened The FREEMAN have been helping the baby and it was for this reason that the community was chosen for this year's Christmas with Angels.

  

  We had a lot of fun, with all the games and everything. Well, except for the time when we distributed the groceries for each family and one mother angrily went to the front and harangued our doctor who happened to be the coordinator of the Foundation because she thought that some received more than her.

  Ungratefulness is really not a new thing with these charitable activities. I always see it during free medical and dental missions and other activities that I have joined, where the beneficiaries think that it is your responsibility to give them these goods and if they feel uncomfortable in the process, like if they had to go on queue, its your fault and complaints come like a deluge. I approached the lady and gave her a lecture on gratitude, and she responded by leaving the building, perhaps in shame or of anger.

  Well, you can't please everybody.

  Coal mining

  

  On our way home, we passed by a side road snack station and noticed people from the community, including small kids and women, carrying sacks and sacks of coal from an apparently illegal coal mine just near the road. 

  

  I don't blame these people. They get something like P75 (US$ 1.5) per shovel, and how many shovels would it take to fill a sack? Government should provide them with a sustainable source of income and these illegal activities would stop.

  A tribute to a great artist

  

  When we reached home after our almost all day activity, I went straight to the Art Center of a mall north of Cebu. There, several Cebuano artists have come together to help raise awareness about Manuel Rodriguez, Sr., a centenarian artist who is considered as the Philippine's father of printmaking.

  

  All of them are my favorites: Celso Pepito and wife Fe, Cesar Castillo, and Sonia Yrastorza, to name some. There's also Jesuit priest Fr. Jason Dy who's famous for his bottle installations, and one of Cebu's famous photographer, Joseph Ong.

  

  These artists were not really into print, but through the University of San Carlos and with artist/writer Radel Paredes as their mentor, the mentors became mentees. The works on exhibit was the product of this workshop, and as Celso said, it opened his door to a new medium that would further enhance his craft.

  

  The exhibit was opened by our very own Executive Lifestyle Editor and my mentor, Madam Marlinda Angbetic Tan, together with other beautiful art patrons of the Aboitiz and Osmena families.  

  More on this on my next post.

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