Over the weekend, we had volunteers arrive for a pre-event training and to help set up the venue. We had twelve Peace Corps volunteers come from various posts around the country and four Japanese volunteers from nearby municipalities. The staff from Special Olympics Philippines also came down to join. In addition, over thirty student volunteers from my college came to help! We had no shortage of volunteers, which was fantastic. During the training, we went over the basics of working with people with special needs, outlined the different sports in the event, and played team building games. After that, it was time to set up.
When Monday finally arrived, everyone was full of anticipation to get things started, especially my site mate Dorothy and I. We had been organizing this since February! It was surreal and so exciting for it to finally be happening. The event began with an opening ceremony with introductions, a prayer, the national anthem, and finally a parade of all nine teams around the soccer field.
Day one featured track events and Young Athletes (games for ages 5-8). Young Athletes was first and put everyone in a great mood.
The second event of the day was track:
So much fun, right? At the end of each event we had awarding ceremonies, and the kids would get so excited no matter what they had placed. Seeing the looks on the faces of the participants really put into perspective the kind of impact we were making.
Our community support was overwhelming! We had volunteers from Red Cross, Philippine National Police, CDRRMO (disaster relief office), caterers, Sorsogon State College, and a van providing free dental check-ups for participants.
I also had a group of personal friends come down from Manila, including my good friend Matt who I hadn't seen in almost three years! Here's a group pic of some our volunteers:
On day two we continued with badminton and soccer!
If it seems like I'm not writing so much on this post... its because I'm at a loss for words. The community/volunteer support for this event was out of this world. The participants had so much fun, and to watch them be cheered on by their parents and coaches was one of the best experiences of my two years here. The feeling of camaraderie among everyone during those two days was amazing; teachers, students, volunteers, participants. Everyone was having a blast. The PCVs in Sorsogon are so thankful for everyone that showed support in any way, including donations. This event made a huge impact and we couldn't have done it without you all. Big shout out to Christian, Darwin and Kaye from Special Olympics Philippines for being there, you guys are amazing. Special thanks to Japanese volunteer Yuri Hiramatsu for all of the wonderful pictures, you captured the event in such a great way!
One month left! Peace :)
