0133B: An Afternoon With Children

So we just got back from the Bright Lights! event at Barangay Batis in San Juan. It was an interesting little outreach event as organized by U! Happy Events in partnership with the Litter of Light - the group that installs solar light bottles in depressed communities.

Last minute work obligations and things of that nature almost prevented us from going, but one thing led to another and we all still ended up at the event. While Tobie and I were unable to officially register as official volunteers, at least Prince did - which made sense since he was actually in a position to teach the kids poi. Thus my main contribution was just trying to document the event in photos and videos, which I promise to post in time.

The event consisted of teaching everyone how the solar light bottles work a few games here and there and then a poi workshop with the help of Planet Zips. It was pretty fun seeing all the kids try to get into poi. I dare say a few of them certainly have the knack for it and were already handling the sock poi a lot better than I do in my random moments of giving things a whirl. And beyond the fun and events, it was nice to meet more of Prince's friends and colleagues at PlanetZips, a few of whom were pretty appreciative of my continued efforts to take photos and videos at their events.

On a side note, I keep wondering if I should try to formally learn poi some time. It's a fascinating art form to be certain, but at times I can't help but feel I'm better off as a spectator rather than the one performing. Contact juggling is another performance piece that sort of fascinates me, but again I fear my relative challenges when it comes to hand-eye coordination.

After a quirky magic show (and I sort of miss performing a little magic here and there now that I think about it), we all headed out to launch some paper lanterns with the prayers and wishes of the children who were the focus of the event. By this time Tobie had become as much as a "kuya" as Prince had been as an official volunteer and I tried to help out as well. The lantern launch wasn't without its challenges given the strong winds in the area and the fact that there were a number of trees that managed to snag a few of the lanterns on their way up (including ours), but on the whole it was pretty lovely.

Now we're just back at the Sietch trying to rest a bit before another O Bar Ortigas night. Here's to hoping tonight will be fun given how stressful this work week has been!