Fun Farm at Sta. Elena, Cabuyao

A few days ago, I went on a very spontaneous trip with some friends just an hour and a half out of Manila. We drove to Sta. Elena Country Golf & Country Club in Cabuyao, Laguna. 

The day before this, I was also at Laguna with my family, at our monthly get-away spot in Calamba. Here's a video of that fun rainy day:

As much as I love being outdoors and on adventures, I don't like surprises. I like being prepared...I always make sure to check the map, study the area, look at pictures of the place I'm heading to...but for this particular trip, I was absolutely clueless. I went over to a friend's house that morning to pick up another friend and head somewhere else, but when I got there, the host family invited both of us to join them. They told us we're going to a "farm"...but little did I know it was going to be a "fun farm!" yep, that's really the name of the place 

DIY: flower leis

How to make flower leis

1. Get different colors of crepe paper
When you guy them, they're usually folded like this. Run your scissors through both ends, cutting them into rectangles

2. Fold each strip like an accordion
Parallel folds that go in opposite directions one after the other; each fold the same size so you end up with a square. 

Inspired by inspiring each other

At our regional reflection meeting (for South Luzon) two weekends ago, we decided to have a gathering this weekend of potential animators in South NCR, Manila...as an effort to achieve the vision of the current five year plan. *too much Bahá'i lingo here...in simpler words, the purpose of the activity is to help make the world a better place :) 

It was the first time for some of the participants to meet each other...since we all come from different clusters within Metro Manila. Most of us have completed Ruhi Book 5, and some of us have had Junior Youth groups before...but none of us currently have a JY group...so the purpose of the gathering was to gather the potential animators, and study some material and make plans to start JY groups in our neighborhoods!

First on our agenda was to refresh our memories of Ruhi Book 5 (Releasing the powers of junior youths). First, we talked about who are Junior Youths. These are kids between the ages of 12 - 15...they're in between children and youths, so at this stage they're going through A LOT of changes (physically, mentally). They're very susceptible to peer pressure. They're also very curious and energetic...so we have the Junior Youth Empowerment Program to help them channel their energies and talents in a positive way. We read that animators are "mentors" of junior youths - so we should avoid being paternalistic, authoritative or self-righteous, and instead to form strong bonds of friendships with the junior youths and advise them in the most loving way possible. The Junior Youth program lasts 3 years - so an animator needs to be absolutely committed because she/he will grow with the JYs, so that at 15 year old the JYs themselves can become trained to become animators. 

Josef gave a really nice example; he said "we plant the seed in the minds of the Junior Youths, but we leave it to the Junior Youths to nurture that plant so it grows well." Of course we can guide them, and remind them to trim the weeds...we equip them to be able to nurture the plant...but the act of doing it lies in them. So we "enhance their spiritual and intellectual capacities..." to prepare them to become active agents of change in their societies. 

Graduation fever

I've been seeing a lot of graduation photos on my facebook wall these past two weeks; it's graduation time in many parts of the world! My students back when I was volunteer-teaching in India have been posting photos which make me feel extremely happy and proud - the junior youth animators graduated top in their classes, once again! It's so inspiring to see how they've been able to balance animating junior youth groups and keep up their grades at the same time (despite the crazy amount of pressure always put on them to focus on the sciences and maths). It just shows that students do NOT need to fragment their lives into study study and study. They can excel at their studies while simultaneously being actively involved in extra curricular activities. 

Seeing all these graduation photos has also made me reflect back on my life. It has been:

Eight years since I graduated from high school

Pace Setters' Academy, Nigeria

Celebrating the Earth: Part II

Link to Part I of celebrating the Earth - click here

We've all heard of World Environment Day, World Oceans Day, and International Forests Day. It's one thing to know; it's another thing to do. As students, we've gone on field trips to nature reserves; we’ve done marches and campaigns to raise awareness on certain environmental issues and we observe all international environment days through creative arts and crafts presentations. These are very commendable efforts, but how much environment-friendly activities are we doing in our daily lives, as adults? How much do we advocate on non-environmental days/events?

It's so easy for us to make presentations to school kids, but how about being a living example? I started making conscious effort to change my lifestyle only as recent as three years ago. Some new habits I formed:

• This year, I invested in a glass water container and a food container - even though it's heavier to carry around, but at least it saves me the hassle of checking every plastic container for a 'microwave safe' sign before heating up my food. 

•  I save every single empty tissue roll I consume (the brown part at the end). I've kept them for Junior Youth creative activities, and I've also created organizers on my table - for pens and wires... DIY is actually really fun

• I probably shouldn't be mentioning this here - but almost every time I have to give someone a birthday gift, instead of buying them something from a shop, I look through my belongings - I have a couple of things that are still new/unused...I find some colored paper at home and wrap it up. It's a lot better giving them to someone who I know can make better use of it, than just keeping them locked up until they have to be thrown out. 

• When I know the item I buy from a shop can fit into whatever bag I have on me, I refuse to accept it packed in a plastic bag; I just put it straight in my bag. 

These little new habits I've formed in the last few years made me feel confident enough to stand before some children and their parents just the other day (Monday - June 5) and talk about this poster I designed for World Environment Day. 

*fund fact: it took three of my colleagues to translate the words from English to Tagalog!