1st HAPI Homeschoolers’ Talent Fair 2011

Jay came home rather late the day before. It was the last day of VBC and he was one of the people in charge of the activities, it being a Kids Ministry event. I opened up the package and saw that the frames he bought to hold Pablo’s oil pastel works were broken.

It was 8:30pm. Shopwise closes at 11pm and we weren’t even sure if they have the kind of frames that we needed. Nevertheless, we donned the kids up and headed out to take our chances.

We got back home before midnight, put the kids to bed, cleaned up the mess that the kids left…and prepare the food for next day’s lunch. Budget is tight, packed lunch was a necessity.

I slept for an hour, then, I roused everyone at 5am. We needed to leave before 6am to avoid street cops — car trouble. The plan was to pass through the C-5 route, leave the car at Victory Fort, then take the cab from there; 3 kids, a stroller, the framed artworks, packed lunch and all. It was too risky to bring the car to Ortigas. The challenge here was also to assist Jay in keeping awake. Summer is one of the seasons he’s busiest at work and hardly has the time to sleep.

This is just HAPI’s first talent fair and many participants only registered a day or two away from day of the event. The organizers are all volunteers who also have their own lives and priorities to take care of. And HAPI is fairly new and would need some time to build up on sponsorship. Besides, I doubt that the fees that they charged even covered the costs of the event. I can almost be certain some people may have shelled out personal money to make the event possible. Now, that, I appreciate.

And I appreciate Ms.Irma Chua who organized the event. We almost didn’t get to participate because we couldn’t catch the bank to deposit our payment but she made ways for us. During the event, she was so busy that she couldn’t even make it to the program when she was acknowledged. Along with the other volunteers assisting her, she did her best to be on top of things.

And there are other things, too, that I liked.

I liked that almost every kid that Pablo approached, whatever age they were, were kind & friendly to him. He remembers two names: Lee & Noelle. Those are also the only names that I remember, too, hahahaha!

And then, there are the projects on exhibit. The fair was brimming with extraordinary talent! I especially took note of the science exhibits. One girl exhibited some plants from her garden. She started out with lettuce and eventually graduated to other plants such as tomatoes and watermelons. Lettuce is what inspires me to do gardening with Pablo. I’m not sure why. In my head, it seems attractive to have rows and rows of lettuces in the backyard. And it seems fun to do with my kids. I just hope that when we finally get to do it, no snake would show up in our garden!

There are others, too, that I thought were impressive, but I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. I posted on my FACEBOOK account which is open for everyone to view.

ENRICHMENT: Meeting other home schoolers all around Metro Manila; Introduction to other possibilities in homeschooling activities and exposure to different types and levels of creativity.