Youth Friendship Day

Today, we celebrated Friendship Day in our youth club after we came back from our IMPACTS project in the morning. The entire event was organized and run by our youth committee from our Youth Alive project. The youths from the different English classes prepared different food, including causa rellena (a dish of mashed potato with chicken fillings), goreng pisang (this is not a Peruvian dish) and wonton dumplings prepared in a fusion style. In the first picture, we have Kyara, who is from the Basic 1 class, preparing the causa rellena dish, helped by two young girls, Zoraya and Guadalupe, who come to our Kids Club on Saturdays. The two young girls like our house and their friends in the Kids Club very much, because they actually take a bus by themselves all the way to our house every Saturday, and one of them is not even 10 years old yet! They are quite attached to us as well, and one of them, Zoraya, unexpectedly came up to me today and asked me: "Where is the tall and big guy? Do you know him?" I was a little confused for a moment, until she brought me to a poster that we hung on our wall, and she pointed her finger at the unmistakable picture of Julian!

The second picture shows members of the youth committee setting up the tents and tables in the garden, where the event was going to be held. The third picture shows Carolina, Gabriela and Delia taking turns at the goreng pisang. The last picture shows the various groups seated at their tables, where a few light-hearted games were played together. There was a also a short time of sharing from our friend Joan from Singapore on how to choose your friends wisely, and a time of gift exchange. Interestingly, the gift that my "secret pal" gave to me was the only gift that was a food item - I guess it is the least guarded secret in the world that I have an extremely soft and tender spot for good food. Everywhere I go, people are telling me to watch my tummy, and to resist eating too much of the yummy, yummy food!

We had three new visitors for the event, and all of them had nice words to say about the community that we have. One common comment was: "You guys are a really fun and warm bunch to hang around with!" A mother who was here with her daughter also stood up and shared a few heartwarming words rather spontaneously. Here is what she said: "I have been a psychologist for 26 years, and I have counselled all kinds of drug addicts and serious crime offenders. I have discovered that one of the most effective ways to fight crime in our society is to ensure that our youths belong to a community that has healthy values. I can see that your community is very friendly and has good healthy values. I am very glad that I can send my daughter to join this community, and form good healthy friendships with all of you."