Experiencing Dolphins

WE ARE so blessed here in the Philippines with the richness of our islands.  Most of us have probably never even seen all there is to see in our own country.  I know I have a long way to go and many trips to make before I can really say I have been around.

So recently, I went down south with my family to go dolphin watching near the Manjuyod Sand Bar in Bais Bay, Negros Oriental.  We took a 3-hour road trip from Bacolod City to Campuyo Beach, Bais City where we took the boat. 

Gabe and Ella ready for some dolphin action

We were advised to leave early so that we could catch the dolphins, so we got ready and we were on the boat before 8am.  It was the perfect day to be at sea as the water was very calm, looking almost like glass, and the clouds were covering the sun most of the time.

The boat ride was about 30 minutes from Campuyo Beach to the place where the dolphins were.  We stopped in the middle of the sea, waiting for the dolphins to show up.  My children and their cousins were standing in front of the boat, anxious to see the dolphins.

Gabe, Ella and their cousins anxiously waiting for the dolphins to come out

We had a few sightings in the distance here and there, but none that were exciting enough to be captured by our cameras.  My nephew Anton even said, “Is that all the dolphin watching there is?”  They were quite disappointed at first because this was the sole purpose of our trip.

A pod of dolphins showed up in the distance

After some time, we were brought to other areas where the dolphins swam closer to our boat.  It was such a treat for all of us, especially the children.  They swam playfully in front and beside our boat.  They came in groups of five to fifteen.  A couple of them even jumped and spun around as if putting on a show!

One of the very few shots that I captured of dolphins up close

Dolphins were swimming close to our boat

We witnessed a spinner dolphin putting on a show

It’s not a wonder why these marine mammals are well loved because their intelligence and playfulness are very endearing especially in close encounters like these.  It is definitely worth the trip and a great experience.  It makes one feel very thankful for nature and God’s beautiful creatures. But in as much as we appreciate them, we must remember that we also have the responsibility to protect them.

So whether it’s dolphin watching, whale watching or just swimming in fine sunny beaches, no doubt our country has so much to showcase. There’s still a lot out there to experience and discover. Let’s continue to explore because it definitely is more fun in the Philippines!

The kids taking a cool dip in the Manjuyod Sand Bar after dolphin watching 

(Published for Breathing Gratitude, Sun Star Lifestyle Section on May 29, 2014)

Gymnastics in Bacolod

“I WILL take a cab if I have to” said my 8 year old daughter when she was told that the car could not take her to gymnastics class that day.  It was only her second session and already she was so into it that she didn’t want to miss anything!  I was impressed and was very happy that she has found something she is passionate about.

Coach Jenny helping Ella stretch

For as long as I can remember, nobody offered gymnastics classes in Bacolod.  Not until recently when a young couple, Benjamin and Abigaile Capay decided to open a school. 

Interestingly, Benjamin’s interest in gymnastics was sparked only very recently in 2010 when he and his wife joined Capoeira with Professor Sapo of Escola Brasiliera de Capoeira.  In 2011, he decided to pursue his interest in gymnastics and trained at the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines and Club Gymnastica in Pasig every time he had an opportunity to go to Manila. 

Brianna learning skills on the high bar with Coach Benj

Abigaile, on the other hand had a little training in gymnastics back when she was a cheerdancer for the DLSU Pep Squad in 2002-2005.   Their shared passion for the sport and Abigaile’s love for working with children seemed to be the perfect ingredients for their planned venture. 

Coach Abi with her students on the mat

With the help of Benj’s coach, Jolly Pelino, JumpStreet Gymnastics was established in November 2013, with the vision of giving Bacolodnons a good opportunity to be exposed to the sport.

Class stretching exercises

Since the students are mostly children, the coaches try to look for ways to make training challenging yet fun and enjoyable.  The school believes that gymnastics does not only develop the body but it also instills determination and perseverance.  The students are constantly reminded not to be discouraged if they fall down and to stand up stronger, not only in training but also in life’s challenges.

The school is particular about the safety of their students and they are advised to practice their stunts in the gym with the guidance of their coaches.  I myself have to remind my daughter this because she would do cartwheels and hand stands all the time at home or anywhere we go where there’s sufficient space.

The sport actually teaches the children a lot of things.  Physically they develop in strength, flexibility, endurance and balance.  Socially, the children learn to listen, follow directions, take turns and be respectful towards each other.  Emotionally, they are able to learn trust, discipline, determination, courage and self-confidence.  These are beautiful character traits, which many sports are also able to help develop in children.

Benjamin and Abigaile recommend starting them young at around 3-5 years old but they believe that older children who are more focused and dedicated in training have just as much chance in competitions.

Their goal for JumpStart is to produce high quality athletes who will represent our city or province in national events and even in international platforms.

To culminate their summer program, they will be holding a Friendship Meet on June 2, 2014, Monday at 4pm at the Activity Center of the District Ayala North Point.  My daughter is so excited to perform her piece and to showcase what she has learned this summer.  This event is open to the public.

I am so thankful that Bacolod is truly progressing in culture and sports and that now we have all these classes available for our children to choose from.  I am even more thankful that my daughter has found a sport that she loves!

Ella on her first day of gymnastics training

JumpStreet is located at Arrows Badminton Court, 13^th Street, Bacolod City.  You may also inquire at 0925-8704026/0917-3005173.

(Published on Breathing Gratitude, Sun Star Lifestyle Section, May 22, 2014)

How do you teach Compassion?

AS A mother, I am conscious about providing the right guidance for my children, especially in their character formation, which, for me, is the most important.  This is one area where I am superfluous in my teaching, but hopefully not to the point of nagging.

I constantly harp on them loving each other. I tell them that my greatest joy is to see them taking care of each other. I'm sure every parent could relate with how wonderful it feels to see their children loving, enjoying and taking care of each other. It's like I can die right there and go straight to heaven!Another character trait that I hope for them to develop is compassion.  This will hopefully make them socially responsible individuals.

But how does one teach compassion?

I feel that this has to be taught and modeled intentionally as opportunities won't come up much unless we plan them.

So in my many attempts to do this, I have exposed my children to various gift-giving activities, toy drives, and visits to the orphanage. I’ve spent a birthday at an orphanage where we shared food and toys with the children.  They were also with me when my cousin Linzi Co and I organized Play Relief in Cadiz City after Yolanda struck the Visayas.

Last week, I found another opportunity when I learned that I could arrange a meeting with Janelle, our Tapulanga Foundation scholar.  She has been my scholar for two years and is an incoming Grade 2 student at St. Francis of Assisi School in Silay City.  (For only P1,250 monthly, you can already sponsor a child’s education!  If you are interested, please visit http://www.tapulanga.org)

So I briefed my children about the purpose of the meeting.  It was to give Janelle a message of love and hope as she hopefully experiences God’s love through us.  My secondary purpose, which I kept to myself, was to give my children an opportunity to experience and practice compassion. 

As we were making plans, one of my children was nonchalant about the whole thing.  So much for teaching compassion, I thought.  But then I quickly realized that showing compassion is something that I need to genuinely model.  Children pick up on the authenticity of our intentions.  Unless they see that our actions are done because we personally believe in it, they won’t embrace it.  Teaching character traits like compassion cannot be forced on anybody. 

So I decided to respect my children’s comfortable level of participation in the endeavor.  

They first played in a kids’ activity center and although they weren’t highly interactive with Janelle, they at least checked on whether she and her friend were enjoying themselves. 

 At the restaurant, my children asked if we could order ice-cream for them and when it was time to choose books to buy, they helped them find books that were appropriate for their age.

  Even though I don’t know exactly what the effects are of these experiences on them, I have faith that someday, somehow these seeds would grow and bloom.  As parents we just need to keep on giving them opportunities to learn and grow in Godly character. 

When asked after the meeting about how they felt about it, Gabe said “I feel like a blessing.”  It was a positive experience for them, one that made them feel grateful for their own blessings and the capacity to share what they had with others.

I’m not sure if these are signs of developing compassion.  All I know is that it was a great experience for us and hopefully for Janelle and her friend, too. 

I was grateful for what had happened and I reminded myself that developing character traits doesn’t happen overnight. It is a long, beautiful collection of experiences that hopefully I can continue to purposefully design for them while they are young.

I finally realize that as I try to help them grow in character, I too must continue to grow in character, in order for my teaching to be authentic and thus, most effective.

The Gift of Life

Last Sunday was a day of celebration for me.  It was the baptism of Zanjo Lacson-Balatayo, son of my good friends Leo and Sarina Balatayo.  At six months old, we welcomed him into the Catholic Faith together with his family, relatives and close friends.  The baptism was held at the Sta. Clara Chapel after the 10:00am mass and reception followed at Bascon Café.

Zanjo with Daddy Leo and Mommy Sarina

That day, we also celebrated the 8th birthday of my nephew Anton Lopez, son of my eldest sister, Margot and her husband, Marc Lopez.  Being the youngest member of our family, Anton’s joyful and helpful nature has been such a blessing to us. 

My family at the 8th birthday celebration of Anton

These celebrations have reminded me to be grateful for the gift of life.  Many times, we take it for granted but really, I think the miracle of childbirth and children is one of God’s greatest gifts to us. 

This brings me back to the memory of my own childbirth and early parenting years. I admit that it was the most challenging yet it was also the most fulfilling years of my life.  The joy and meaning of life multiplies in leaps and bounds when a child is borne into a family. 

My eldest child, Gabe was born prematurely at 7 and a half months.  At that time, I was working for Rustan Coffee Corporation in Manila, the company that owns and runs Starbucks Coffee in the Philippines.  I had planned to give birth in Bacolod to be in the comfort of family and friends but my very premature childbirth changed all the plans. 

Since he came too early, I was not ready with a caregiver and with all the things I needed for a newborn baby.  I had to learn to do so many new and intimidating things in such a short period of time.  Like how to handle a skinny, slippery  and fragile baby when bathing him.  And having to feed him via NGT (nasogastric tube) as he was too young to know how to feed from the bottle.  I remember the nurse telling me “you’ll know when the tube is not in the right place because he will turn blue.”  As a mom, you can just imagine the horror I felt at that statement. It was a terrifying experience, yet the love and joy I felt as a mother outweighed all the fear.

In Psalm 127:3 it says, “Children are a blessing and a gift from the Lord.”  Truly they are and I have received and fully enjoyed these gifts as I received my own two children and in the countless children that the Lord sends me in the classroom.

These little ones are my role models as I humbly learn the values that I believe we all must aspire for.  Openness to learning, curiosity and wonder towards the beauty of life, honesty in freely expressing emotions, humility in accepting fault and gratitude for life’s simple joys. 

Sadly, as we grow up and experience pain, we tend to put on masks to try to protect ourselves from more pain but in the process, we lose these precious character traits.  

I believe that the way to experience fullness of life and true happiness is when we can go back to these childlike qualities.  This is why I experience great joy and blessing when I surround myself with these little ones.  Little do they know that in reality, they are my teachers and "Teacher Gretchen" is joyfully their eager student.

Zanjo and I at his baptism.  He is God's miracle.

In Search for Ella's "One Book"

The search for Ella's "one book" has become a family concern.  Even the Lolas check on whether we have finally found it.  They are in on it because they have been the ones who patiently read books with Ella in order for her to earn her 1-hour gadget time privilege.  But the one who is most concerned is Manong Gabe.  I'm 'kilig' (thrilled) every time I see them having genuine concern for each other.  I think that tops my "things that make me happy" list.

So they went to the bookstore without me.  I was happily surprised when I found out that they found the book "Frozen" for Ella.  I was even happier when I found out that Gabe was the one who searched and found it for her.  How sweet is that?  And how much sweeter would it be if this were to be Ella's "one book"?  The one that Manong Gabe found for her.  Sigh!

We're on day 3 and well, I think there's a big chance that this is the one!  At first, I had to stay with her as she read.  I knew she was interested because she didn't ask me to have a turn in reading a page aloud.  Normally we take turns.  After 2 pages, I asked her to try to read quietly (in her mind).  She protested as she probably felt like I was abandoning her but I explained that it would make it less tiring for her not having to read aloud.  Before I knew it she was on Chapter 4!

The next day, I found her on the throne reading the book!  Yesterday she told me that she was on Chapter 7! 

So, finally, hopefully, I think we've found it!  Thank you God! 

Inculcating Love for Reading

“NO! I don’t want to read!” declared my then 9-year-old son, Gabe, three summers ago when I asked him to start reading chapter books. 

I was very frustrated with his response because I am a strong believer in the importance of inculcating love for reading among children. When they were babies and toddlers, I made it a part of my children’s bedtime routine to read them stories. So I thought it would come naturally for them to love books, but I was wrong.

I had researched and even asked friends about how to get kids to start—and eventually love—reading. One logical advice was to find books on his interests. During that time, my son was interested in airplanes so I bought him all sorts of books on that topic—but nothing worked. 

So during that particular summer break, I patiently combed through aisles of bookstores with him, hoping to find that one book that would develop his love for reading. 

It was a process of trial and error and we had bought quite a lot of chapter books that we thought were the ones to interest him. Sadly, they all ended up on our shelves, unread.

That didn’t stop me from persisting though. 

One day, we came across “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” by Roald Dahl.  He picked it up and looked at the front and back covers. 

The one book that unlocked Gabe's love for reading!

It was an interesting story for him as he had watched the two movie versions of this story. He then decided that this was the one. And I was like, finally, this is the book that would open the gates to the wonderful world of reading for him! And thankfully it was!

That summer, he read Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator” (which is a sequel to “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”), “James and the Giant Peach,” “The Magic Finger,” and “Fantastic Mr. Fox.” 

After these books came the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series of books by Jeff Kinney, “Bone” series by Jeff Smith, “Max Flash” series by Jonny Zucker, “Seven Wonders” series by Peter Lerangis, “Manga Bible” series, among many others.

This series is a great way for kids to learn more about the stories in the Bible.

Another series of books that Gabe loved and collected.

It gives me great joy seeing him enjoying reading, and reaping the rewards that come with it. He has also been very expressive about how grateful he is for the gift of books.

Gabe devouring his LEGO book.

Like Gabe, I look forward to unlocking this precious love for reading among the students in our school. This summer, Lamblight Catholic School teachers were fortunate to have attended training on the Workshop Approach, which produces authentic readers and writers. 

The training was conducted by the team of Keys School Manila, headed by its school directress, Didi Manahan. The rest of the team included teacher Joe Sibayan, curriculum developer and academic coordinators Stephanie Barredo and Patch Feliciano. Keys School Manila is one of the most successful progressive schools in the country. 

My son’s favorite quote is by Mark Twain, “The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.” I am happy that he has turned into a reading advocate!

We are both challenged to entice his little sister to learn to love reading.  And like the case of Gabe, I know that it only takes one book to unlock the doors for her. Until we find that one book, we will patiently be searching, respecting that just like her brother, it will come at the perfect time.*

(Published for Sun Star Bacolod, Lifestyle Section on May 1, 2014)