Simply Belle

The Catanduanes Net Association’s secretary is leaving today for Catanduanes to distribute the allowances of 26 elementary scholars, 4 high school scholars, and 5 college scholars. She plans to travel to every municipality not just to hand out the allowances but also to meet the scholars and their families in person. She is utilizing her annual leave of 10 days to accomplish all these–all for free. Now, how is that for dedication! Thanks Rus!

This quarter, the Association is launching for the second time its “Feeding and Nutrition Program” whose focus is to give nourishment to selected kids in the province by allotting some money per kid for the whole duration of the Program, which would cover the menu of either lugaw and boiled egg or spaghetti and macaroni. So far, the Association has selected a barangay in Viga, Catanduanes to administer 30 children whose weight is considered to fall under the malnourished group. The age group of these kids ranges from 6 months to 7 years old.

To get favorable and positive results, I am strongly hoping that we can find donors for vitamins so we can fortify our feeding for these malnourished children. Anyone who can donate, please contact me @liwayway07@yahoo.com.

Lastly, thought I would share these letters from our college scholars. Thanks to our dear sponsors for making it all possible for these children.

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We had a great time last night. Everyone had his/her fill. I took care of the meat, hot dogs, potato salad, dips, and fruits and my friends brought sinigang na bangus, pansit, bratwursts, steaks, and leche plan. My husband filled up the cooler with all kinds of soda and beer. Since I am not a soda or beer person, I cracked open three baby coconuts and poured the juice in the pitcher. I then shredded the meat and mixed it in with the juice. I was going to add some condensed milk for richer flavor but my husband totally opposed the idea. Nevertheless, it was a refreshing treat for the hottest day of the year, so far…104 degress F!

My daughter invited some of her friends, too, so I threw some hot dogs in the grill and I also made the Mexican Dip Ole, which was layers of refried bean, sour cream, avocado, olives, chopped tomatoes, green onions, and shredded cheese. It was the favorite dish among the kids and even finished it off in no time.

An hour later, we all gathered in the front porch to witness the fireworks. My husband positioned the tripod ready. I was so excited at taking photos when, suddenly, I noticed that my camera was completely out of battery. Darn it! I was so busy cleaning and fixing food earlier in the day that I forgot to check my camera. Oh well! I guess I will have to catch it next year.

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Green Valley Park Sunset

Tomorrow we celebrate Independence Day from Great Britain. It is a federal holiday so I get to have a day off. Hurray! We will have a barbeque party with few of my friends and watch the fireworks in Green Valley Park from our front porch (if and only if the wind stays calm.)

Happy Fourth of July for those living in the US!

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Thirteen students and the music instructor from the P School Modern Choir were invited to perform “Schubert”s Mass in G Major” in Carnegie Hall last June 11, 2007. At first, I was against letting Lexie go because of financial constraints. She had graduated last May and the trip would not be until June, so it made more sense to focus on her college education. At least, that’s how I saw it. Imagine– each student had to come up with $2,000, and not only that, they also had to raise money for the 7 chaperones.

But Lexi was so adamant about going to Carnegie Hall even with my objection. She said that she would work hard to raise the money. In between choir classes, the students organized fundraising projects now and then. Lexie did all kinds of stuff, ranging from baking, selling, and singing, to earn a few bucks here and there. To make a long story short, she raised about $800; unfortunately, this was still not enough to cover all of the expenses. That meant, we parents had to pay the difference. Good thing we have a program called “Credit for Kids” at school where we can donate a maximum of $400 for a year and use that as a tax write off. The money went specifically to her trip to New York. We donated late last year and early this year, which amounted to $800.

She was getting close to hitting her goal, but was still a little shy. For some reason, with sheer determination and hard work, she and the other students pulled through.

Finally, they were granted the opportunity to sing at Carnegie Hall. They fulfilled their lifelong dream to sing on a stage that many musicians spend a lifetime trying to reach. Just walking on the stage for the dress rehearsals was overwhelming. Imagine, they got to sing where great musicians have performed. Pretty lucky bunch of kids, huh?

Dr. Thye, the condutor, taught them a lot. The singers were told to open their mouths more when they sang and to sing to the heart of every pitch. “There is no room for arrogance in excellence, and why would you ever want to sing any less than professionally?” Dr. Thye said.

The choir, along with singers from other schools that were invited, received a standing ovation during its 20-minute performance. The conductor brought the best out of each one of them, and they became better singers. For them, it was a performance of a lifetime.

Too bad, cameras were not allowed at Carnegie Hall to document the event. The photos above were the ones she took with her friends while checking out a bit of the city.

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