"PISTANG BAYAN" @ CAMP JOURNEY 2010

I went back to camp journey on its 6th day to represent our company (Kitaro) for its sponsorship (the "kakanin" from the barrio fiesta). I was so amazed by the flow of donations and, indeed, our barrio fiesta was a real barrio fiesta!!!


Wow, you will really feel the fun of being in a fiesta! There were lots of games and there were some local folks cooking the "lechon" on one corner of the camp site and there are some people working on ice carving masterpieces and some cute and very artistic vegetable carvings on the other end. Truly, the Paetenians are talented and generous people!

Jollibee joined us in creating a more festive mood by performing a popular dance number which the kids loved so much.... alam n'yo na siguro ang title ng kanta.... "Nobody but you"... LOL. Anyway, no matter how redundant that song was all throughout the camp... it continuously make the ambiance livelier, not just for the special kids but for all the people there. They gave out lots of novelty items for the kids!

I enjoyed watching the kids and volunteers play local "fiesta games" like pabitin, palosebo, kainan ng pakwan, tug-o-war, the classic bunong braso, and many more.... it brought back several childhood memories... alam n'yo naman, I am a pure blooded "SYANO"! :)

After the tiring series of palaro, we feasted on the foods that was especially prepared for the occasion. We would like to thank the many people who generously donated our sumptuous feast! Maraming, maraming salamat po!

THE FIRST 4 DAYS OF CAMP JOURNEY 2010

I went to participate at Camp Journey 2010 and it was really exciting. When I arrived there, medyo nag-settledown pa lang mga volunteers and campers. Pagod sa byahe. The athmosphere was a bit quiet since konti pa lang ang tao. We were nervous na baka walang dumating na local campers.

Fortunately, there were local SPED teachers (M'Julia, M'Teng, M'Sharon, M'Mema, and M'Precy) who really worked hard to get the local campers. There were more than 40 local campers alone from the town of Paete, Laguna before sundown. Thank God that we have exceeded our target for local campers!


In our desire to serve more local special children, we continued to announce that we are still open in accepting campers, and up to this day, there are some parents who are still coming and entrusting their children to us.

The people of Paete were a bit puzzled on what is happening in our camp. They come to the site to observe and to see the value of the activity in their community. Later, they will come back and bring little things that they can share (money, food, time, talents, etc.). Lots of people are volunteering to help... from school kids to radio groups... and with all praises to the volunteers! Nakakataba ng puso kasi alam ko na they appreciate what we are doing.


Yesterday, we attended the Holy Mass at their historic church and people were so receptive. They went to the camp to share their home for that day to our campers and volunteers... but unfortunately, we can't accommodate them all.

That night, we requested that the "Birit Journey" activity (singing presentation by our campers) be held at their town plaza. Our local volunteers coordinated the request to the local authorities and... it happened! There were more than a thousand local viewers and several local talents who went out to share their time with the special children. It was really a moving experience! The people were cheering!

Today, Camp Journey 2010 is on its 5th day... and I am back in my office! I received a message from Ate Lala, the Camp Director, telling me that the reception is overflowing! "There was magic in the air" she told me. She might be right... but, for sure, it's more than magic... it's Love.... love and understanding... for the special children! People opened their hearts and understand the needs of the special children... and it's a moving energy that you can physically feel... and that feeling is God's voice saying "well done my child!"

We are all instrument of God's love. God is using all of us now! Let us all be the best instrument that we can be!

To all the volunteers of Club Journey and other organizations who are doing the same activities in different parts of the Philippines (Kamp Pagkakaisa, Gabayan, Pedia Camp, and others)... Congratulations for a JOB WELL DONE! And to all the people who helped and support us to make our summer camp for special children a reality, God bless us all!

CAMP JOURNEY 2010

Club Journey Volunteers Inc. is hosting its 6th Summer Camp for special children this coming April 8 - 17, 2010. This is called CAMP JOURNEY. The organization will bring to Paete, Laguna 200 special children and volunteers from all over Luzon to participate in the said activity.

Wow! 6th summer camp! I remember the time when we were still in the "planning stage" and everyone was so busy doing their own thing.... Di magkatugma-tugma ang mga schedules... But, here we are... on our 6th summer camp... and still counting!

We started in 2005 at Imus, Cavite. Then, we had 2006 at Lipa City. Our third camp was in Lucena City (2007) followed by Sta. Maria Bulacan in 2008, and Iba, Zambales in 2009. These camps were all unique and and has its peculiar stories to tell.

Each camp aims to provide a fun and educational venue for special children to do things that they don't commonly do at home or in their institutions. It also aims to educate the community on how to deal with the special children... that they, too, can be a productive member of the community.

We made it our policy that the bulk of our participants will come from the host town and/or province. We coordinate with the local DSWD and SPED schools to ensure that there will be enough locals that will benefit from this project.

In preparation for our camp, we are recruiting volunteers from different schools and organizations in Metro Manila. They will attend a special volunteer training course. We have also a shorter training program for the local volunteers. It's a 3 days training prior to the camp. All of these activities will prepare them for their upcoming responsibilities when they join the camp proper.


Our Salute to the Volunteers!!!

Our organization is nothing without the help of our volunteers!!! Ang bawat camp ay pagpupugay sa lahat ng volunteers ng Club Journey! As we count our years in helping and touching people, we have tons of volunteers to thank! Each of them are like "bricks on the road" that made our journey a lot easier!

Maraming Salamat sa inyong lahat at hanggang sa muli!



We want your help.

We encourage everyone to find time to help us pursue our objectives. We need you to make this possible. If you have some extras like cash, time, talents, foods, etc. to share to these children most especially this coming summer camp, please feel free to help.

Thank you very much and see you @ CAMP JOURNEY 2010!