The Things We Love, by the Baguio Girls LitClub

It was certainly a stress reliever for the Girls Club over at Save Our School Children Foundation, Inc. (SOSCFI) in Baguio City. The majority of the girls were already preparing for their final exams the following week, so they were thankful to have a chance to take a breather from their studies in school! After taking a brief hiatus from the Girls Club due to conflicts with their school schedules, the Girls Club took off and there was lots of catching up to do, which of course, included a lot of laughing!

For this session, we talked about Esteem, and the things that we love. Something that was interesting was that we noticed we loved many of the same things! Some of the girls wrote poems and narratives, while others drew pictures to describe the things they love.

What do the girls in the Baguio City Girls Club love? Here were some of their responses:

Singing and painting
Dancing
Playing guitar and singing
Pleasing God
Technology – using the computer to write articles and stories
My family and their loving care
Bonding with friends

The Girls Club also got a chance to separate into two groups and start writing their Music Poems to share with one another and of course, with the other Girls Clubs around the globe.

After looking at the other entries on the Girls Club blog, we were all inspired to continue and see other connections that we have with other girls around the world! Until next time, Mabuhay!

*This entry was submitted by Crystal, our Girls LitClub Facilitator in Baguio, Philippines. Thank you Crystal!

Compassion Speaks from the Girls Club in Baguio City, Philippines

On Saturday, May 28^th, the Girls Club in Baguio City gathered to discuss the value of compassion and its significance in our lives, in our families, and within our greater communities here in the Philippines. It had been a while since we last gathered because it is summer vacation for the teens, so it was a great time to catch up with one another! School begins on June 6^th for many of the girls, and they all shared their excitement for their new classes and new experiences to come!

We began our day by brainstorming on the idea of compassion and some of the words that came to mind were: caring, love to others, concern, understanding other people, and HELPING others (since that is the action!)

Afterwards, we looked through pictures from a BBC website, which pertained to children’s rights.

 This was very helpful because we got to discuss issues that may not necessarily affect the Philippines, but are more prevalent in other areas around the world. Reading through the captions underneath the photos together, we were able to discuss compassion in further detail.  The slideshow of pictures can be found here.

From there, we came up with a list of other social problems that we wanted to appease, after witnessing many of the issues in our own local communities which included child abuse, child labor, illiteracy, poverty, access to basic needs like food, money, and shelter, and environmental responsibility.

When asked the question, “If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?” Here are some of the responses:

§       An end to corruption

§       Education for all

§       Peace on earth all over

§       No vices: cigarettes, liquor, drugs

§       Love for God

§       A clean environment

We ended our time together by reading through some of the entries on the Girls

Club blog and recognizing the scope of the Girls Clubs all over the world! So exciting!

The girls especially enjoyed the pictures of the Girls Club from P.S. 179, where the girls wrote Valentine Day cards to the Girls Clubs around the world. We may just have to respond!

Baguio City Girls Club Celebrate Belonging and Sisterhood

The past couple of meetings for the Girls Club here in Baguio City, Philippines have helped to foster the sisterhood that is celebrated every week here among the high school girls. After reading the poem, Identity Crisis by fellow Filipino, Jake Erkens, the girls created their Identity Web by way of using markers. Before they knew it, the large posterboard was covered with intersecting lines! After everyone had completed drawing their lines, we took a few moments of silence just to reflect on what was created. Looking at the similarities and also the differences that were shared in this group of girls, they mentioned how it brought them together, especially as their school year slowly comes to a close.

After reading the poem, Belonging by Tracy Owens, each of the girls shared the different clubs and extra-curricular activities that they are involved in, outside of school. From the poem, the girls highlighted the line, “Belonging brings laughter through the difficulties,” as laughter was discovered as their common trait! Drawing their heart maps, many of them highlighted Church and Girls Club as places where they have developed meaningful relationships. It was an exciting past two sessions of Girls Club!

- From facilitator Crystal Catalan

Baguio City's First Girls Club Meeting

Reported by Crystal Catalan, Girls Club Facilitator in Baguio City, Philippines:

“Magandang hapon sa lahat!(Good afternoon everyone!)” And so officially began the Girls Club in Baguio City, Philippines. On Saturday, March 12^th, we were able to officially launch the Girls Club, with the high school girls who are members of the NGO, Save Our School Children Foundation, Inc. At our first meeting, we had 15 excited and enthusiastic girls! Beginning our day with our energetic “Hello” song, the girls were able to learn each others’ names, think of creative adjectives, and help each other out with fun gestures! 

After introducing ourselves to each other, we read the poem, “All We Want Is Peace (Please)” by Gordon David and processed the meaning of peace in our lives.  We brainstormed ways that we could bring peace to those around us, in our homes, at our school, when spending time with our friends, and when in the presence of people who we have difficulties with. We ended this time by agreeing to bring examples of ways we were peacemakers this week, to our next meeting.

We had a great time exploring and understanding the 7 Strengths, as well as defining what the 7 Strengths meant to each one of us. After a thorough discussion, the girls started making their collages and included the Strength that they wanted to especially focus on during our Girls Club sessions:

Girls Club in Baguio City had a great time and is looking forward to communicating with other Girls Clubs around the world! Salamat po! (Thank you!)