It’s Tuesday, Jan. 2nd. Today we will be visiting ANCOP head quarters.
As always we start our day in prayerWe board our “tour bus”Michael has a personal hairstylistTito leads us in prayer before we start our ANCOP orientationWe give thanks for the opportunity to serve those less fortunateTita Vida gives us an official welcome to the ANCOP head officePresident of ANCOP speaks to student leaders about Canada’s participation in ANCOPJulie, John and Jermin share why they’ve decided to sponsor a child at the St. Martin de Porres orphangeTita Ethel explains ANCOP’s various initiatives and projects in the PhilippinesHere’s some of the information that was presented to us. Canada actually has more child sponsors then any other country.Now we receive our swag bags/ build kits!Marc thanks everyone at ANCOP offices for helping plan our trip#TeamPH2K14And now we eat. Yum!Thank you to the ladies from AVANAI for our delicious lunch they prepared for us. Sooo good!We thank them by giving a traditional Filipino gesture called “mano”
Now we are off to 3 different ANCOP communities. Up first will be the community where last year’s leaders did their build – AKC.
We get a warm welcome from all the kids at AKC.Michael meets many familiar faces along the way. This is Joel, Mike’s basketball rival!Look at those smiles! This is Jet.As we walk to the community, we keep hearing the kids say, “Hi Kuya Mike.”Michael’s lucky to be able to visit previous year’s sites and reconnect with old friends
When we come into the village, all the kids want to play some games. They are all Stella Ella Ola experts already!We gather in groups with the kids to play some gamesWe play a game of “Huckle Buckle” with the kids in the village. “Forehead to forehead.”Student leaders race kids back and forth on their backs – first line to finish winsTime to play some basketball. Team Canada vs Team Philippines. Game 1: Canada wins due to leading scorer Geerthan!Time for tip-off! Who will win game 2? Philippines wins!The boys repping Team Canada!Putting on some brave faces before they face Team PhilippinesTeam Philippines ready for a good game of basketball (defending champions)Let’s go!After a long fought close battle. Team Philippines prevails. Losing team buys soda. We’ll be back next year.Time for gifts! Who’s more excited Melissa or the kids?Look at that little cutie!Time for some gift giving!The kids in the village give us an incredible performance. Look at those moves.We “Shake It Off” for the village community! This time we need to split up into two groups because of the tight space.Leah, Marc, Dana and Adrian perform “Just The Way You Are” for the communityThe kids showing off some gifts they receivedSmile! 🙂Wacky!Loads of smiles and photos before we leave the village!The kids wave goodbye to us outside our bus. We’re feeling the love!We don’t want to leave! Lots of tears were shed.The kids even ran after our bus to say good-bye! (Even more tears were shed).We made it to our SECOND village – ANCOP Camia CommunityThe kids in the village greet us with high-fivesWhat a nice welcome!Like everywhere we go, we always start with a prayer of gratitude.The kids in the CAMIA community prepared a cultural performance for us!One of ANCOP’s scholar’s delivers a speech about her appreciation for her education. Something we are learning more and more to value.We all introduce ourselves; our names, ages, and where our parents are from.We get the kids to come perform Shake It Off with us! So fun!We take a tour around the village. We’re getting more and more excited to start our own build. The Camia community was fully completed as of 2011.Adrian’s really popular around the villages. Guapo!We are welcomed into homes in the villages with open arms. They’re all incredibly friendly. This lady runs a salon in her house.Our favourite part of the day is getting to play with the kids in the community.Sad we have to leave so soon, but we’re heading for the next village.The community waves us goodbye while we load the bus. Bye!We finally make it to our third village of the day. This is where we will be having dinner.Thank you for the welcome!We’re always greeted with smiles and high-fives!We say grace together before we enjoy dinner.Look at all that food. Yummmm. We are well fed everywhere we go.We love getting to watch people perform.For the first time, we’re being taught how to danceNow we get to teach them some of our moves as we “Shake it off”Everywhere we go, we always take time for some pictures!Mitch thanks the community for their wonderful performance and great food. We felt so welcomed!We close with a blessing.
What an amazing day. We really got to see how much impact ANCOP has in underprivileged areas in the Philippines.
The tour is over and we are excited to start building tomorrow.
Thanks for following our travels. Please write a comment below and let us know your thoughts.
Thank you change-makers!!!! What a wonderful way to help others over your holidays! Thanks for a little glimpse into your works of charity and kindness!
We were definitely on a tour! 3 performances in one day! This could be a career choice, just visiting children and playing with them all day, i’d be satisfied with that. Seeing the children in the villages smile and just being happy is honestly the best. It makes me feel special how children actually take time and rehearse a dance for us too and they’re amazing at it. I appreciate them and they appreciate us, it’s all love in the end. This day was so muchh fun and the food was great too! …the mangoes were my faves, got the sweetest ones every time
I never thought I would like dancing so much… I loved going around to each village performing the Shake it Off dance. It was a great way to connect with the kids. In return they always had a dance prepared for us, it was amazing to watch such young kids perform so perfectly to some very long dance numbers. I don’t know if I could ever perform like that in front of strangers at such a young age. They definitely knew how to grab the attention of their audience all while having a blast. They were all very quick and eager learners when we would teach them our dance.
Today was so jam packed 3 villages in one day! I always wish we could have more time in all of our villages, but I am so grateful even for the little time we have with all of the amazing people. I love getting to see all of the performances they are amazing! It was nice to be taught a new dance today it was so much fun trying to follow along with the girls who were teaching us.
Three villages. One day. A whole lot of games and dancing. The one thing that touched me about today was the sense of community amongst the kids and the families in these villages. For example, you don’t see neighbourhoods in Canada gather around to play games and sports. Nor do you see the children of the street come together to rehearse and practice a dance routine to perform. Something hit me there about the sense of community, because their neighbours are like their extended family, which would be really amazing to have. And I think in some way, helping construct homes for people, also helps give them the opportunity to find love and happiness through their ‘extended family’.
I dont remember much about the morning of this day because i was very sick, but once i had some medication i tried to put my all into playing and talking with the kids at the next community. AKC was where i made the most relationships. So many people were asking to take pictures with me and i made a lot of friends that i have been talking to over Facebook. I immediately felt welcomed and included. Everyone was so nice to me!
This was truly a busy day, with three villages to visit one after the other. But wherever we go, the people in each community make us feel incredibly welcome and complete strangers who we just met make us feel as if we’ve known them forever! One thing that I really enjoyed in one community was the delicious food they prepared. It was a Filipino dish called “Turon” and it was the best I’ve ever had, I think I had about 5 (sorry to anyone who didn’t get to have one😁). Watching children put up dance performances for us to see is amazing because it shows how they put their all into everything and how enthusiastic they are.
AKC was one of the harder places to leave for me. Even though we didn’t spend much time I was able to bond with a few children and having to leave them so quickly was a little upsetting. Seeing them run after the bus and wave goodbye was hard because we knew we probably wouldn’t see them again. The children’s hearts are so infinite! I’m glad we were able to stop by.
In the first village we went to there were SO MANY kids! Before I even got settled I started A GIGANTIC ROCK PAPER SCISSORS BATTLE with a little more than a dozen kids. The funniest part?! It was ALL OF THEM against ME haha. They would scream “AHHHH” when the majority of them lost or “OOOOOH” when they beat me!
Then I saw Melissa start a Stella Ella Olla game and that’s what we played too. I had so much fun with them.
Then in the next village, I taught a kid named Bob to play rock paper scissors. And Dyan dared me to take my uke out and sing. So I did for a group of kids. Then I looked up and saw that everyone from our group was GONE. So I ran to find them. They were just around the corner. 🙂
In every community we visited, we were always welcomed so warmly. I miss the community feeling of the Philippines while I’m here in Canada. The kids are beautiful inside and out. At AKC, even though I didn’t know the children, they performed so well for us and I loved, loved, loved playing with them. This was the first time I played basketball with them, but they are great at it! It was an honour to be defeated. At Camia when the ANCOP scholar spoke to us, I was amazed how well she spoke to us. I feel blessed to be apart of such a wonderful organization. Also, when I saw the women from AVANAI come with the lunch they prepared for us, I was so happy to see them! This day overall was one of my favourites.
I’ve missed the warmth of a good, Filipino welcome! This was clearly felt every single time we meet a new community. I really thought about how simple happiness can be. I’d be so contented and satisfied with doing this everyday. Building new friendships, connections, and bonds with these communities are so fulfilling. It makes me really step back from the world I’ve been living in the past few years and really realize that there is more to life than our routined lives. There are new places to go to, new people to meet, countless lives to be touched, and kindred souls that will touch my very own too. So sad we could not stay longer. This day made me promise that I am coming back to see how they are. We are so lucky to be welcomed and humbled by these loving communities. 🙂
Such a great day! I only wish that we could’ve spent more time in each of the villages we visited that day 😦 AKC was definitely one of my favourite villages because everyone was so friendly! I made friends with so many of the children there! So many of them wanted to take pictures with us and we’re asking for our facebooks. Even now, I still talk to some of them 🙂 I got really close to these two girls, Ronelyn and Nicole, who were literally at my hip the entire time. Ronelyn even brought me to her house to meet her family! I truly wish we had more time to bond with them and hopefully get the chance to see them again 😦 seeing the pictures of us getting on the bus and remembering them all run after it when we left still breaks my heart </3
Visiting all the village was nice. We played game with the kids as usual, but this time we also played basketball and my team was me, Dyan, Axile and Juilian, we won, which was really fun. When we were giving out the children there gifts, one kid in my group took spam, instead of an actual toy, which shock me, if we were to do the same here in Canada I’m pretty sure no kid will ever take the spam. This really touched me because it shows the difference between 3rd and 1st world countries and the need.
Today was a really long day as we had to go to 3 communities. I couldn’t wait to play ball but was so hot, unfortunately we lost but it was still really fun. Sports makes you have a greater bond with people so after playing it was nice to talk to everyone on the Philippines team. We killed are dancing in all the communities, the food was really good everywhere we went too. every performance we did only got better and better the more we did it. we gave %100 into everything we did.
We went to the ANCOP head quarters, and got our gift bags with our two t-shirts and towels and gloves. We were given a wonderful greeting by Tita Vida.We also went to AKC and played so many games with the kids which was so much fun. They showed us some dances and then we did our dance for and with them. Then the guys played their annual basket ball game with the kids and lost as usual. But it was so much fun because I personally got to just sit with some of the kids and talk to them about what they like to do and really go to see how they view things with such a positive attitude which really opened my eyes and heart. We also went to a village where there was more dancing and some really lovely kids who were again so wonderful to talk to and we ate another wonderful mean and then had to say good bye. Easily the hardest part of every day, because the kids chased the bus waving and laughing and yelling “love you” making Jermin cry once again. 😥
I was SO EXCITED when we got our building shirts, and name tag! I couldn’t wait to start helping and building! It was also great learning more about ANCOP and the development of this charity and their vison and purpose! Also, we were super busy that day! We pulled through going to three different villages! && we still managed to be super enthusiastic with all the children, and perform Shake It Off flawlessly haha!
At AKC I met the most beautiful girl in the world. Her name is Kitay and shes a deaf mute. I loved spending the whole day with her and meeting her family afterwards. She is so kind and amazing. I couldn’t stop crying when we had to leave.
As you can see special emails like this are kept for an extra long time!
Peace, Joy and Hope,
Steve De Quintal
Teacher, St. Mary’s CSS, 66 Dufferin Park Ave. Toronto, Ontario M6H-1J6. 416-393-5528 ext. 84293
“that they may have life and have it the full.”
“Being considerate of others will take your children further in life than any college degree.” – Marian Wright Edelman
***You can always email but a call or a visit will get a quicker response***
________________________________
Thank you change-makers!!!! What a wonderful way to help others over your holidays! Thanks for a little glimpse into your works of charity and kindness!
Sooner than later you will be here with us Ingrid!
A great day! We are looking forward to seeing the pictures of the group at work and to learn what they are doing.
Cant wait to see the build guys
Looks awesome! Hope u guys had fun, and great that the tcdsb supported such a great cause
We were definitely on a tour! 3 performances in one day! This could be a career choice, just visiting children and playing with them all day, i’d be satisfied with that. Seeing the children in the villages smile and just being happy is honestly the best. It makes me feel special how children actually take time and rehearse a dance for us too and they’re amazing at it. I appreciate them and they appreciate us, it’s all love in the end. This day was so muchh fun and the food was great too! …the mangoes were my faves, got the sweetest ones every time
I never thought I would like dancing so much… I loved going around to each village performing the Shake it Off dance. It was a great way to connect with the kids. In return they always had a dance prepared for us, it was amazing to watch such young kids perform so perfectly to some very long dance numbers. I don’t know if I could ever perform like that in front of strangers at such a young age. They definitely knew how to grab the attention of their audience all while having a blast. They were all very quick and eager learners when we would teach them our dance.
Today was so jam packed 3 villages in one day! I always wish we could have more time in all of our villages, but I am so grateful even for the little time we have with all of the amazing people. I love getting to see all of the performances they are amazing! It was nice to be taught a new dance today it was so much fun trying to follow along with the girls who were teaching us.
Three villages. One day. A whole lot of games and dancing. The one thing that touched me about today was the sense of community amongst the kids and the families in these villages. For example, you don’t see neighbourhoods in Canada gather around to play games and sports. Nor do you see the children of the street come together to rehearse and practice a dance routine to perform. Something hit me there about the sense of community, because their neighbours are like their extended family, which would be really amazing to have. And I think in some way, helping construct homes for people, also helps give them the opportunity to find love and happiness through their ‘extended family’.
Sounds like it was a fantastic trip!! The little kids are adorable 🙂 maybe next year I’ll go, it seems like it was a life changing experience!!
Wow! Looks like an amazing trip that impacted the lives of so many! Wish I could have gone and participated in this amazing experience! 🙂
I dont remember much about the morning of this day because i was very sick, but once i had some medication i tried to put my all into playing and talking with the kids at the next community. AKC was where i made the most relationships. So many people were asking to take pictures with me and i made a lot of friends that i have been talking to over Facebook. I immediately felt welcomed and included. Everyone was so nice to me!
This was truly a busy day, with three villages to visit one after the other. But wherever we go, the people in each community make us feel incredibly welcome and complete strangers who we just met make us feel as if we’ve known them forever! One thing that I really enjoyed in one community was the delicious food they prepared. It was a Filipino dish called “Turon” and it was the best I’ve ever had, I think I had about 5 (sorry to anyone who didn’t get to have one😁). Watching children put up dance performances for us to see is amazing because it shows how they put their all into everything and how enthusiastic they are.
AKC was one of the harder places to leave for me. Even though we didn’t spend much time I was able to bond with a few children and having to leave them so quickly was a little upsetting. Seeing them run after the bus and wave goodbye was hard because we knew we probably wouldn’t see them again. The children’s hearts are so infinite! I’m glad we were able to stop by.
Where do I even start?!
In the first village we went to there were SO MANY kids! Before I even got settled I started A GIGANTIC ROCK PAPER SCISSORS BATTLE with a little more than a dozen kids. The funniest part?! It was ALL OF THEM against ME haha. They would scream “AHHHH” when the majority of them lost or “OOOOOH” when they beat me!
Then I saw Melissa start a Stella Ella Olla game and that’s what we played too. I had so much fun with them.
Then in the next village, I taught a kid named Bob to play rock paper scissors. And Dyan dared me to take my uke out and sing. So I did for a group of kids. Then I looked up and saw that everyone from our group was GONE. So I ran to find them. They were just around the corner. 🙂
Today felt like so much fun.
In every community we visited, we were always welcomed so warmly. I miss the community feeling of the Philippines while I’m here in Canada. The kids are beautiful inside and out. At AKC, even though I didn’t know the children, they performed so well for us and I loved, loved, loved playing with them. This was the first time I played basketball with them, but they are great at it! It was an honour to be defeated. At Camia when the ANCOP scholar spoke to us, I was amazed how well she spoke to us. I feel blessed to be apart of such a wonderful organization. Also, when I saw the women from AVANAI come with the lunch they prepared for us, I was so happy to see them! This day overall was one of my favourites.
I’ve missed the warmth of a good, Filipino welcome! This was clearly felt every single time we meet a new community. I really thought about how simple happiness can be. I’d be so contented and satisfied with doing this everyday. Building new friendships, connections, and bonds with these communities are so fulfilling. It makes me really step back from the world I’ve been living in the past few years and really realize that there is more to life than our routined lives. There are new places to go to, new people to meet, countless lives to be touched, and kindred souls that will touch my very own too. So sad we could not stay longer. This day made me promise that I am coming back to see how they are. We are so lucky to be welcomed and humbled by these loving communities. 🙂
Such a great day! I only wish that we could’ve spent more time in each of the villages we visited that day 😦 AKC was definitely one of my favourite villages because everyone was so friendly! I made friends with so many of the children there! So many of them wanted to take pictures with us and we’re asking for our facebooks. Even now, I still talk to some of them 🙂 I got really close to these two girls, Ronelyn and Nicole, who were literally at my hip the entire time. Ronelyn even brought me to her house to meet her family! I truly wish we had more time to bond with them and hopefully get the chance to see them again 😦 seeing the pictures of us getting on the bus and remembering them all run after it when we left still breaks my heart </3
Visiting all the village was nice. We played game with the kids as usual, but this time we also played basketball and my team was me, Dyan, Axile and Juilian, we won, which was really fun. When we were giving out the children there gifts, one kid in my group took spam, instead of an actual toy, which shock me, if we were to do the same here in Canada I’m pretty sure no kid will ever take the spam. This really touched me because it shows the difference between 3rd and 1st world countries and the need.
Today was a really long day as we had to go to 3 communities. I couldn’t wait to play ball but was so hot, unfortunately we lost but it was still really fun. Sports makes you have a greater bond with people so after playing it was nice to talk to everyone on the Philippines team. We killed are dancing in all the communities, the food was really good everywhere we went too. every performance we did only got better and better the more we did it. we gave %100 into everything we did.
We went to the ANCOP head quarters, and got our gift bags with our two t-shirts and towels and gloves. We were given a wonderful greeting by Tita Vida.We also went to AKC and played so many games with the kids which was so much fun. They showed us some dances and then we did our dance for and with them. Then the guys played their annual basket ball game with the kids and lost as usual. But it was so much fun because I personally got to just sit with some of the kids and talk to them about what they like to do and really go to see how they view things with such a positive attitude which really opened my eyes and heart. We also went to a village where there was more dancing and some really lovely kids who were again so wonderful to talk to and we ate another wonderful mean and then had to say good bye. Easily the hardest part of every day, because the kids chased the bus waving and laughing and yelling “love you” making Jermin cry once again. 😥
I was SO EXCITED when we got our building shirts, and name tag! I couldn’t wait to start helping and building! It was also great learning more about ANCOP and the development of this charity and their vison and purpose! Also, we were super busy that day! We pulled through going to three different villages! && we still managed to be super enthusiastic with all the children, and perform Shake It Off flawlessly haha!
At AKC I met the most beautiful girl in the world. Her name is Kitay and shes a deaf mute. I loved spending the whole day with her and meeting her family afterwards. She is so kind and amazing. I couldn’t stop crying when we had to leave.
As you can see special emails like this are kept for an extra long time!
Peace, Joy and Hope,
Steve De Quintal
Teacher, St. Mary’s CSS, 66 Dufferin Park Ave. Toronto, Ontario M6H-1J6. 416-393-5528 ext. 84293
“that they may have life and have it the full.”
“Being considerate of others will take your children further in life than any college degree.” – Marian Wright Edelman
***You can always email but a call or a visit will get a quicker response***
________________________________