SpinifexIT Philippines: Giving the Gift of Love at Christmas
As the weekend was fast approaching, deadlines were getting closer, too. It’s a busy time for us. Our minds were already in vacation mode and our eyes were going out of their sockets because of exhaustion, but our mission comes first. We have one last goal before this year ends – to make at least one child in Tipas Elementary School happy.
And so we begin our mission. While everyone was busy doing Christmas shopping, we were also busy looking for gifts. It wasn’t for our loved ones or friends, though, but for the children we haven’t met. The next day we had to wake up before 5 am and considering the fact that it was a crazy week already, it was overkill for us. And yet, no one can stop a highly motivated team from completing its mission.
We arrived at 7 am and the school was pretty busy. It was their Christmas party. We were assigned to organize the gift giving to one pre-school class. According to their teacher, that class was the most problematic one. At the start of the school year, there were more than 20 students in that class. However, as the year comes to a close, the number of students decreases to roughly more than 10. The teacher said that some children could not come back because their parents can no longer afford to send them to school. These are 4- 7 year-old kids (some even younger), so you can only imagine how sad we were hearing that some of these kids are no longer in school. The teacher said the parents did not agree to organize a Christmas party for that class because they can’t afford to pay for it. They were very happy to learn that we had chosen their class as the beneficiary for the gift giving.
There is nothing more inspiring and powerful than the smile you see on the face of a child you have just helped.We set out breakfast for them and some games, too. While everyone was eating, we noticed one child not touching his breakfast. We asked what was wrong and also asked if he did not like the food. He said he wasn’t eating because he was saving it for his younger sibling. The boy was only 5 or 6 years old. He was supposed to play, learn and have fun, not worry about putting food on their table. We told him he can eat it and we will give him one breakfast meal for his sibling.
As the activities continued, the room lit up with laughter and fun. We even saw that some of the shy kids worked up their confidence and joined our games. It was amazing to see how this simple activity could brighten up an entire class. At the end of our activity, we gave out school supplies for the kids.
We didn’t have huge budget for this event. It was, in fact, a last minute initiative and we just worked with what we had. However, the impact it had on the kids was priceless. People said that giving is one of the best investments you can make towards achieving genuine happiness. Indeed, we did achieve genuine happiness that day – the pure joy of giving.
We also felt a bit sad because we wished we could have done more for them. The help we gave them is not even close to what they really need. And we know that we can’t change the state that they are in. We can only hope to inspire them. Likewise, this event has inspired us to do more for others. Moving forward, we’re committed to organizing more activities like this. At SpinifexIT, we believe that we have social responsibility to attend to. And, even in small scales, we will continue to uphold this endeavor.
There is nothing more inspiring and powerful than the smile you see on the face of a child you have just helped. That is the best reward we can ever achieve.
One can only be happy if one gives happiness. One will find love if one gives love. No matter what the challenges and circumstances your life is facing right now, you will always have the opportunity to give and help others. And we encourage you to do so. Perhaps, that is what life is all about. We must dedicate our lives to giving joy.
Project Gift Giving: Mission Accomplished.
