Every first Saturday of the month, Project PEARLS hold their monthly feeding and brain booster program in Batia, Bulacan. This is the new home of the families from Ulingan who got relocated here.

Unlike in Ulingan where it is really unsafe because of the toxic fumes being emitted by the charcoal factory, Batia is clean and pollution free. That is why every time we attend Project PEARLS' activity in Bulacan, we bring our kids with us so they will be made aware too of our advocacy and they will learn the value of sharing and giving back as early as now.

Volunteer. Share. Advocate. Visit www.projectpearls.org now

My husband and I don't celebrate on Valentine's Day, malls are crowded, more than an hour waiting in good restaurants and I especially don't find it practical to spend few thousand pesos for a bouquet of flowers.

But spending Vday with our kids from Ulingan and the Canadian Navy is definitely something I can do every V-day. Hehe. One of my best and memorable Valentine's Day ever.

The crew of HMCS Regina has selected 50 of our scholars for a tour of the Canadian battleship where they showed the kids different parts of the ship, the helicopter, the different work that each of the crew do, demo on the different gear that they use like quick release pins, battle gear, weapons and more. They also treated the kids to a party at Museo Pambata, a healthy lunch, gifts, plus a lot of good memories.

Photo Credit: Sidney Snoeck

I really appreciate what the crew of HMCS Regina did for our kids and I am especially thankful, as they have shown our kids sincere and genuine love, which is just perfect for heart’s day.

Our kids have felt the deep love and concern that the Canadian navy have shown them, that it gave our kids new hope and inspiration.

To the people behind this outreach, Pierr, Chris, Jolene Padre and all the crew who joined, our heartfelt thanks for giving our kids this one of a kind experience. Ulingan will always welcome you back and we won't mind spending Valentine's Day like this every year.

This is the new project that our founder Melissa Villa, would like to start in Ulingan. Well it is just simple, as we will ask the kids to showcase their talent through a song number, dance number of whatever talent they want to show us. Then we will have weekly finals, monthly finals and even grand finals.

The aim of this project to encourage the kids to show off their talents, which will in turn boost their confidence.

In preparation, we may need to purchase a new karaoke player so we will have a good sound system that we can use at the day care center for this program.

Almost every Saturday we are in Ulingan and I see that these kids really have talent and I can’t wait to see all of them in their best performances.

It was a very busy weekend for us especially for hubby. He has been working overtime for more than a week now that he will arrive home late everyday. The latest was last Saturday when he arrived at 6 AM so he worked for almost 2 whole shifts.

He was supposed to go to Ulingan with me but I let him stay at home and he just drop me to Ulingan so he can sleep and rest.

In Ulingan, we have two celebrants who sponsored our feeding program. One was Evelyn who is one of the volunteers and the second one was couple Sarah and Noel who is celebrating their anniversary. They are the former teachers of our volunteer, Ben.

We had the usual feeding program and after filling the tummies of the kids, this is what we had for the Brain Booster:

They will wear these Halloween masks on our Halloween event next Saturday. I’m so excited for the kids.

I was feeling a little down last Friday, but this gave me an ultimate lift: 

I received an email from one of Project PEARLS’ Scholarship committee to give me an update about my scholar, Jenny Rose Caparida. I am glad that she attends school regularly as we believe that education is one way for them to escape poverty.

I regularly go to Ulingan every Saturday to volunteer but I rarely get a chance to see Jenny Rose there. Probably because there are a lot of kids at the Day Care during feeding program that it is difficult to spot her. Hopefully, I can visit her one day so I can talk to her mom and Jenny Rose.

My wish is that I will be able to support her schooling until she graduates from college. God willing…

Sponsor a child. Join our advocacy. Visit www.projectpearls.org

It was a fun Musical Saturday in Ulingan as we have been fortunate enough to be visited by the group Feed Hungry Minds (FHM) and some casts of the famous musical, Phantom of the Opera.

They had a mini concert as they sang for the kids and for the volunteers that we really had fun. But aside from the entertainment, they also brought 500 packs of rice meals for all the children in Ulingan. They also hand out hand towels that the kids can use.

Thanks again to FHM, for the cast of Phantom of the Opera and for Fionna who celebrated her birthday with our kids.

I have been going to Ulingan to volunteer in the Saturday feeding program of Project PEARLS since March and I feel really happy every time I influenced friends, relatives, and even strangers to join our advocacy.

My good friend Ate Annie has been seeing my posts of Ulingan in Facebook and she and her daughter Mimille, joined us one Saturday there. Upon seeing the plight of the kids, Mimille was heart broken. Majority of the kids in Ulingan are malnourished and have pulmonary diseases. Their houses stand on a dumpsite and they walk around bare footed. That is why the very next day, Mimille started a campaign / challenge to raise 700 rain boots for the kids and she created a Facebook page for it called “Botang Maliit Para kay Bulilit.”

With the help of her family and friends they were able to raise the 700 rain boots (and more) in a month and last September 29, I joined them as they had an art workshop, story telling, feeding and distribution of the first 200 rain boots to Project PEARLS scholars.

One of our regular volunteers who joined us kept on saying that the kids have never been this pampered as the food was really overflowing and they really enjoyed the different activities that Ate Annie and Mimille’s group prepared for them. It was nice to see the smiles on the kids’ faces.

Thank you again to Ate Annie, Mimille and the Guzman family and friends who made all of this possible.

The condition at Ulingan was the worse I have seen. There was flooding that the houses are soak in knee-deep flood or mud. We can’t visit the other houses to give out food, as we can’t reach them because the flood was too deep for us.

Instead of having the feeding program in the daycare center, it was held in the chapel outside Ulingan where there is bigger space, which is what we need, as there are around 100 volunteers who came that day. Marie Young was the birthday celebrant who sponsored the feeding and she brought lots of goods and food for the kids and the families in Ulingan.

It was one tiring but fulfilling day for us volunteers. Rain or shine, we will try to be there in Ulingan.

And as the rainy season are here again, please include the families in Ulingan in your prayers. Keep them safe from flood and typhoons.

This is me wearing my Project Pearls shirt for the very first time.

I got this shirt last month but we were absent for almost the whole month of July that it is only last Saturday that my husband and I were able to wear them. We were so excited, because we are proud Project PEARLS volunteers.

Last Saturday was a very hectic Saturday as we had a medical mission courtesy of the doctors and students of UST. I was initially in charge of crowd control then I helped also in the registration booth.

My friend from work also sponsored the feeding last Saturday for her birthday celebration. It was her first time to go to Ulingan and I am happy that she had a great time with the kids. She even joined the volunteers who went to the Ulingan factory to distribute food for the children working there. She promised that she will come back to Ulingan soon.

Tomorrow will be another busy day in Ulingan. One of the supporters of Project PEARLS will be celebrating her birthday with the kids also and they will be bringing spaghetti, ice cream and more.

I can’t wait for Saturday to come.