I spent the entire Saturday morning at the Marikina Sports Center.
It was the Gawad Kalinga Sagip Olympics, and I went there partly for work and partly to volunteer. It was my first time to see the inner part of Marikina, and I must say that I was wowed. We passed by the public market and it was really clean and well-organized. The streets appeared to be really clean as well. And then there's the sports center which looks like it was well-maintained.
When we got there, there were a lot of people doing their own Saturday morning workout. Some were running around the track oval. There were groups playing tennis. Two others group were having dance/aerobic classes. And then you have the usual boys playing basketball. It was hard not to get into the whole "fit and healthy" lifestyle.
Had I brought my running attire/shoes, I would have done some rounds before the day started. Haha!
Anyway, the event started around 9AM. Hundreds (maybe thousands) of kid from Gawad Kalinga villages all over Manila and from Cavite arrived at the stadium. They were a very nice sight to behold because each sector carried its own color.
Kids being kids, as soon as they saw how huge the area was, several of them began running around. I just stood on the sidelines and watched them enjoy their really big playground.
Among the athletic events for the day were swimming, badminton, track and field, basketball, soccer, volleyball, table tennis, and cheer dance. There were also some Pinoy games played, which the kids really enjoyed.
A bunch of employees volunteered as marshalls/referees in the different sports, and it was just really great seeing them spend their Saturday doing volunteer work.
I can't help but be reminded of my Pahinungod days. We didn't care if our weekends were spent in some rural barangay or a depressed area in the city, we were all so "high" from all the volunteer work - talking to the locals, helping out with the day's activities, doing something for others.
I kind of miss that. So it was really great to just be surrounded by people teeming with passion and compassion, even if it were just for a couple of hours. It's nice to be reminded, and it certainly helped bring back things into a particular perspective.
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