We've been engaged in community service and charity event for quite sometime. There are many first in this one though. This was the first time we are doing something like this with #SteemPH, this is the first time we are doing this with out my angel team, this is the first time we are getting our kids involved, and this is the first time that I attempted to promote Steemit in such event.
We left Malolos, Bulacan at 6:30 in the morning with hopes that traffic won't be as bad as a weekday to get to the venue (35 Kilometers away) on time. I drove, with the beautiful @dandalion in the passenger seat, Lucy and Sam (our daughters) in the back seat of our car. We called @flabbergast-art and said we are on our way. He and his friends, together with our #SteemPH family organized today's event. We got to the venue earlier with luck, unloaded the snacks we prepared, put up the posters and streamers, and even had a chance to look around the school before the start of the program.
Cecilio Apostol is one of several Public Special Education Elementary School in Caloocan City. In the morning, we were met by a representative from the National Council on Disability Affairs in Caloocan. The elderly gentleman himself is physically challenged. He thanked us for our efforts, and went on to his other agendas for the day. While we were engaged with the kids, they had a chance to do a parent-teacher conference, and election of new officers. We met him again later in the day for lunch.
Here are some photos around the school highlighting what they do for special children:
When we became convinced that they are energized enough, some even went hyper, @flabbergast-art started introducing the musical instruments he packed in a couple of six-day pack bags. Here is a video of @flabbergast-art introducing a Balinese gong called "gansa".
After introducing more than a dozen instruments, we let the kids jam using them. See that in the video below. This went on for about and a half with the volunteers roaming around the kids and helping them play the instruments.
We had the kids bring home the coloring books. We wanted to tap more into their creativity and let them draw freestyle. Before the art activity we had a brief orientation with the SPED teacher to learn quickly about interacting with the kids. As it turns out, it wasn't that difficult at all, and we all enjoyed our time. Some of the kids drawing were fabulous, given time and some guidance, they can turn into really good artists someday. Here are some photos while doing the activity and the kids' amazing work of art.
Everybody enjoyed the meal including the volunteers, teachers and parents. Thanks again to #SteemPH, there was more than enough for everybody
After lunch we had an opportunity to take some picture with the whole group.
We capped the day with saying thanks to all participants. I wasn't prepared to speak about Steemit, having only spent a little over two months in the platform. I remembered Terry's - @surpassinggoogle comment in one of my charity post though where he said "a better way to help is to bring them to Steemit". So I tried my hardest to present Steemit to the kid's parents. I think I can do better next time, but this will have to do for now. The parents listened intently, and even asked questions after I spoke. We also wrote the URL in pieces of paper for them. Next time, we'd come with flyers and might ask Terry's permission to use his card to make it more encouraging. Here is a video of me talking briefly about Steemit to this very specific audience. I think there are better ways to present it, and I promise to work on a better one next time.
Thank you for reading this post. We all really enjoyed the event, and that is reward in itself. Liquid SBDs that will be earned by this post will be used to fund an art and crafts livelihood program and Steemit promotion event in Cavite towards the end of October. This will still be in cooperation with @flabbergast-art and #SteemPH.
Regards,
