Kinder Garden Harvest

Volunteers from Starbucks Philippines and MFI Foundation joined the Mano Amiga Kindergarten class in harvesting the first fruits, vegetables rather, of the Mano Amiga Vegetable Garden. Starbucks CSR head Zarah Perez shares some excerpts from her journal entry on what happened during the activity:

District Manager Jovie Bonifacio and her magic wand gets us started with introductions. Our friend here wants to be 'matalino' when she grows up.

I meet Mark and I tell him that one of my best-est of friends is named Mark too. This young Mark aspires to be the school principal someday.

In the other classroom, MFI Foundation's Rita is with the Mano Amiga moms carrying on about taking care of their other child - the Mano Amiga kinder gardens. Thanks to MFI for teaching us how to nurture veggie friends along with their worms and insects.

Time to harvest those veggies!

Helping that little herb breathe by taking those nasty weeds out.

Mano Amiga's Lynn and Jam both proud and happy with their achievement.

All of us working intently on our stations.

Break Time! Red velvet cupcakes; available only for our special Mano Amiga kids.

It seemed to be over too soon. Thanks to my colleagues at Starbucks in the Asia Pacific and Seattle offices for letting us grow; vegetables, friendships and more of ourselves.

Mano Amiga Academy's New Library!

We need volunteer storytellers to come and read to our kids! :)
If you're interested, please contact:
Mina Herrera at minaherrera275@yahoo.com

FIRST EVER DANCE-A-THON PUTS 9 KIDS THROUGH SCHOOL

MAY 23, 2009- You’ve heard of telethons and marathon fundraising events, but have you ever heard of a dance-a-thon?

Mano Amiga Academy, a school in FTI, Taguig that provides international quality education to underprivileged children, recently hosted the first ever Mano Amiga Dance-a-thon which raised funds for 9 full scholarships for School year 2009-2010.

Held at Il Ponticello, Makati, 12 teams totaling to 60 participants volunteered to dance for 5 hours straight and raised money for Mano Amiga Academy by getting their friends, family, and co-workers to pledge a certain amount for their participation in the dance-a-thon.

Over 250 people attended the event to pledge for the dance-a-thon participants. Known dance groups like Company of Ateneo Dancers (CADS), Funky Roots and The Philippine All-Stars performed for free all throughout the night to motivate the teams to keep on dancing.
Participants were each given a “Dance-a-thon survival kit” which contained a can of Nescafe Ice Coffee, a bottle of Tropicana Twister, a bag of Tostillas, doughnuts from Krispy Kreme, and other goodies to help them last through the night. Gift bags from Glitterati, Maybelline, Mizuno and Havaianas were raffled off every hour, keeping the crowd pumped up.

The winning team, which was composed of Isabel Saldana, Regina Vivencio del Rosario, Patrick Santos, Cristina Yambao and Paola Cortez, raised P13,000 for the Mano Amiga Scholarship fund from the pledges they got. They won an overnight stay at Microtel Boracay, gift certificates from Sangria Boracay and The Spa, and Vegan cupcakes from Kitchen Revolution.

Saldana, a regular volunteer at Mano Amiga Academy’s outreach activities said that she joined the Dance-a-thon because she has seen firsthand how the school has improved the lives of the children it caters to. “I really believe that the project’s focus on providing quality education and development services can help transform the poor communities in the Philippines.”
“Winning all these awards was a nice bonus though,” Saldana adds with a smile.

The idea for the Mano Amiga Dance-a-thon was born when a group of regular Mano Amiga volunteers had lunch to come up with new ideas to help generate awareness and raise funds for the school.

“There were more traditional fundraising event ideas that we initially considered,” Mano Amiga volunteer and Dance-a-thon organizing committee member Army Padilla said. “In the end, we decided to have a Dance-a-thon because we wanted something fun and creative that would also create a lasting impression.”

“We were intimidated at first by the idea of having to dance for 5 or 6 hours straight but we were having so much fun, we completely forgot about it after a while,” 2nd place winner Patricia Ocampo shared. Her team raised P12,300 for the scholarship fund.

It costs P23,600 a year or about P65 a day to send one child to Mano Amiga Academy for one whole year. The Dance-a-thon raised enough money for 9 full-year scholarships. Aside from local pledges, the organization also received donations from the participants’ friends and relatives residing in the U.S. who pledged small amounts ranging from $10-$50.

“We are overwhelmed by the success of the event, most especially by the support we had received from the Mano Amiga partners and volunteers.” Mano Amiga Academy Institutional Development Manager Lynn Pinugu said. “Their constant support and enthusiasm truly inspire us to carry out our mission of improving lives and transforming communities.“

Mano Amiga Dance-a-thon was sponsored by Il Ponticello, Globe Telecoms, Microtel Hotels and Resorts, Asya Boracay, The Spa, Neutrogena, Tropicana Twister, Nescafe, Maybelline, Enervon-C, Kitchen Revolution, Mizuno, Glitterati, Tostillas, Havaianas, and Sangria Boracay. With special thanks to Solar Sports- Dance-a-thon’s official media partner.

Feel free to contact us at 882-5019 or at lpinugu@altius.org.

6 more days til M.A.D

Help us send more students to Mano Amiga Academy!
Join the Mano Amiga Dance-a-thon happening this Saturday (May 23) at Il Ponticello, Valero
Step 1: Form a team
Step 2: Get pledges
Step 3: Try to dance for 6 hours straight ( at least one member of the team has to be in the dance floor for the 6-hour event. a good strategy is the key! :))

The team that raises the most pledges will win:
Free Overnight stay at Microtel Boracay, P5000 GCs from The Spa, and GCs from Sangria, Boracay!

And oh, please come up with a unique name for your team because on the night itself, you can also ask the crowd to pledge for you!

yay so excited!

For more info: please get in touch with Christine Violago at 09064200553

Let's Go MAD 2009!!!

To learn more about our event, its mechanics and how to pledge, just click on the images below! :)

Not your ordinary Saturday

Every other Saturday, Everest Academy Nurse Irene Frayco takes on a different role. She exchanges her white cap for a creative hat, and teaches the Mano Amiga Academy students fun art activities.

“I’ve always loved kids. But the main reason why I’ve been volunteering regularly for Mano Amiga is because I am inspired by the students’ eagerness to learn,” Irene shared.

Irene is one of the volunteers who visit Mano Amiga Academy two Saturdays a month to participate in the Student Enrichment Program which consists of activities that combine values formation, language, and arts.

Volunteers from different age groups lead the students in singing, storytelling, sports, and arts and crafts.

“The aim of the enrichment activities is to reinforce and complement the lessons that the students are learning during the week,” Institutional Development Manager Lynn Pinugu said. “We hope the Saturday sessions would help develop our students’ talents, social skills, and self-esteem.”

Held simultaneously with enrichment activities, is the Values Formation program for the siblings of Mano Amiga students as well as older kids from the nearby community.

According to School Prinicipal Ramon Austria, the idea for the program was born when older kids would gather outside the school, hoping they could participate in the activities for the Mano Amiga students.

“They were very enthusiastic about learning and we wanted to nourish that interest,” Ramon said. “Since we can’t accommodate them in Mano Amiga, we decided that concentrating on character formation would be a good way for us to help them.”

Values Formation programs attract 70-80 regular attendees. The kids are divided into groups of five-eight, with the Mano Amiga volunteers serving as their big brother or sister for the day.

“The most fulfilling part about volunteering is seeing how much the kids have improved in just a few months,” Irene said with a smile. “We really have big hopes for these children.”

Interested in being a volunteer? Please feel free to join us every other Saturday at Mano Amiga Academy, a school that provides high quality education to children coming from low-income families.

For more information about Mano Amiga Academy, please contact Lynn Pinugu at 882-5019 or at lpinugu@altius.org

Kickin it with Futbol Funatics

Last March 14, Mano Amiga Academy students were able to play football for the very first time, thanks to the Football Day camp sponsored by Futbol Funatics.

Co-founder and Head Coach Candice Grey organized the outreach activity after she met the Mano Amiga Academy students during her visit to the school last December, “We wanted to introduce football to them and to give them a chance to experience a fun activity that would provide them with physical and mental benefits.”

Candice, with two other coaches, taught the students the basics of the sport, some drills, and led them in a football game

“It was a day of recreation and healthy competition for our students,” Mano Amiga Development Manager Lynn Pinugu said. “It was heartwarming to see our students having fun and trying out something new, an activity that they wouldn’t normally have access to because of their socio-economic situation.”

Mano Amiga Academy is Everest Academy’s sister school that provides high quality education to children coming from low-income families. If you would like have more information about the school, please contact Lynn Pinugu at 882-5019 or at lpinugu@altius.org.

Futbol Funatics offers classes at Everest Academy on Mondays from 2:30-3:30pm. For more information, please visit: http://futbolfunatics.com/

Trip to Fun Ranch with Living Dreams

Calendar of Activties: August 2008

AUGUST 23:
THANK YOU MASS FOR VOLUNTEERS
Everest Academy, 4:00 pm
*snacks and an optional Mano Amiga site visit will follow after

AUGUST 30:
PAINTING DAY
Mano Amiga, 2:00pm
*please bring 70 pesos to cover the painting cost

SEPTEMBER 6:
PAINTING DAY
Mano Amiga, 2:00pm
*please bring 70 pesos to cover the painting cost

Off to a good start

After a year of waiting, the first Mano Amiga Academy in the Philippines will now officially start this September 2008 in Taguig City. Mayor Freddie Tinga and his wife, Kaye, graciously lent us a temporary building while we're raising funds for the construction of the campus. For the first three years, we'll be using a steel frame building built by Habitat for Humanity in the Rotaryville Family Townhomes (located in FTI). In preparation for the school opening, Mano Amiga volunteers recently painted the classrooms and helped transform the building's bare walls into the perfect learning environment. :)