Yesterday, their school year closed and they conducted their Moving Up (for Nursery and Kindergarten kids) and Graduation (for Preparatory to Grade 1 kids) ceremony. I (and I know my wife is also) was excited for that day. Being a parent, it’s a thrilling experience seeing your child go up the stage to bow to everyone for his success for the one year of hard work for him, for us and for the teachers also. We even invited my father (my son’s grandfather, obviously) to my son’s ceremony. He is the one who went up with my son for my son’s character awards.

My son wasn’t able to get any academic awards (he suffered furuncle – ‘pigsa’ on their last quarter of schooling and he wasn’t able to go to school for one week), but he got four character awards: Most Independent, Most Energetic, Most Helpful and Most Improved.

I am a proud father!

Here are the photos I was able to snap during the ceremony.

My Wife

It was really an amazing night. Even though we don’t have the privacy and “intimacy” that a classy restaurant or a private dinner will give us, it was fun and uplifting to share your love stories with other couple and learn from the “veterans”.

Best of all, my wife was really beautiful that night.

Beauty and the Handsome!

The Couples on the Dinner Fellowship

The Youth who organized the Dinner Fellowship

All I can say is THANK YOU.

JOSE CRUZ

and all the Dad out there!

God bless.

(The actual father’s day here in the Philippines is third Sunday of June, that would be June 20, 2010)

Preparations

We were planning for an activity for our Community Sunday School class (children that are not from the church) and we decided to have a program with games and food. We delegated the task to who shall do the program, games and all. Then the wife of our pastor who works in a children’s center in Manila came into contact with an organization that conducts activities for the children. They will take care of the gifts, food (popcorn and cotton candy), give aways (colors and coloring books), and the mascot. They were asked if they do go to churches and they said yes and we invited them to our church. That organization is the Chummy Chum Foundation Philippines.

Our initial target were just the attendees of the Community Sunday School class (around 60 children). However, we were informed that they usually handle 200 – 300 children in one event, so we opened the event to the whole Sunday School department and encouraged everyone to invite their friend to attend the activity.

So in short, we were saved from the trouble of preparing food, gifts etc, for the activity.

Chummy Chum

The Chummy Chum Foundation isn’t actually a Christian organization, but they have a very wonderful mission, to give joy, laughter and fun to unprivileged children in the country. They started their ministry on September 2007 and had been to many hospitals, children’s center, churches, orphanages and more, usually serving more than 200 children. They provide gifts, toys, and their trademark is the Gummy Cotton Candy Factory and Chummy Popcorn Maker. They also provide their center of attraction – Chummy Chum. For more info about their work and their organization, visit their website at http://chummychum.org. If you want to invite them, you can also sign up on their website.

They are mostly volunteers and their job is not easy so you really see that these people want to bring smile to these children’s faces.

The Big Event

The Chummy Mobile cam around 11:30 in the morning (our worship service isn’t finished yet) and the start of the program is 2pm (but we said to the children that it’ll start at 1pm). So they were able to rest in preparation for the program.

Children started coming in at 1pm. At first, we thought that we won’t reach the 200 children. But by 2pm, the church is already filled with children from all over the barangay. The program started with songs, games, and a special number. The Chummy Chum volunteers and our teachers really had a hard time ‘controlling’ the 200+ children inside the building. But despite of the heat and noise, everybody is having fun. The cotton candy maker and popcorn maker started running at 1pm and those will be given at the end of the program.

Everybody is curious what Chummy Chum look like and when the time came for him to show up, everybody was rushing to him, chanting “Chummy Chum, Chummy Chum” and wants to hold him. Chummy Chum danced for the children and had time for some picture taking before bidding farewell. If not for the intense heat that afternoon, probably he could stay longer (and we want him to stay longer but we also don’t want the person inside Chummy to suffer from heat stroke ).

After the event, we gave a certificate of appreciation to the Chummy Chum Foundation that was received by Ms. Rowena Bula, General Manager of Chummy Chum Foundation Philippines.

Popcorns, Cotton Candy, colors and coloring books were given to the children as they leave the place.

200+ children, 200+ smiles and laughter.

Soli Deo Gloria!

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After her death, we live with some of our relatives (that time my father is working in Saudi Arabia). They were are tita (aunts). They are the ones who actually lived with us (except for the last one where we moved to their house. They became our ‘second’ mothers. They did their best to fill the space between when we lost our mother till the day that we we can live on our own. What we are now is a combination of their trainings.

So this mother’s Day, I would like to send my utmost greetings to this special women in my life.

Tita RIza

Tita Leny

Tita Remy (we moved to their house)

Tita Betty (she’s my stepmom)

And of course, the most special woman in my life today, my loving wife, mother of my child, April Joy. I will always love you will all of my heart.

And to all the mothers out there. HAPPY MOTHER”S DAY!!!

God bless.

Turn off your lights for 60 minutes to promote the fight against global warming. March 28, 2009, 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm.

VOTE EARTH

YOUR LIGHT SWITCH IS YOUR VOTE

This year, Earth Hour has been transformed into the world’s first global election, between Earth and global warming.

For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote – Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming. WWF are urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes, which will be presented to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009.

This meeting will determine official government policies to take action against global warming, which will replace the Kyoto Protocol. It is the chance for the people of the world to make their voice heard.

Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008 the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness.

In 2009, Earth Hour is being taken to the next level, with the goal of 1 billion people switching off their lights as part of a global vote. Unlike any election in history, it is not about what country you’re from, but instead, what planet you’re from. VOTE EARTH is a global call to action for every individual, every business, and every community. A call to stand up and take control over the future of our planet. Over 74 countries and territories have pledged their support to VOTE EARTH during Earth Hour 2009, and this number is growing everyday.

We all have a vote, and every single vote counts. Together we can take control of the future of our planet, for future generations.

VOTE EARTH by simply switching off your lights for one hour, and join the world for Earth Hour.

Saturday, March 28, 8:30-9:30pm, Philippine Time (or whatever country you are)

Yeah, Joomla!, one of the world’s best Content Management System (CMS), will be conducting it’s first ever Joomla! Day Event in the Philippines.

Too bad I heard about the news late, and due to overwhelming response (I just realized that there are a “lot” of Joomla! users in the Philippines), the registration is already closed.

I hope there will be another event soon after this one. I really need to learn Joomla! cause I’m planning to use it for our church website (and some other projects)..

Cheers…