With over 650 kids from 35 SPED (Special Education) Centers/Schools, the entire LaSallian community participated in the mini-Olympics, For The Kids.
For the Kids or FTK in short, is an annual event hosted by COSCA (Center for Social Action and Concern) in my University. A student volunteers to take care of a child for one whole day, being their “ate” (Filipino for big sister) or “kuya” (Filipino for big brother). Each volunteer gets to choose which type of child they prefer to be with. Children with special conditions such as ADHD, Autism, Hearing Impairment, Visually Impairment, Mental Retardation, Cerebral Palsy and Down’s Syndrome.
One thing I noticed: being an Engineering undergraduate = cut off from civilization. It’s my last year of college and that’s the time I started joining different University activities such as this. Last December, I convinced some of my friends to join FTK with me. I wanted a Deaf kid, a girl in particular, because it was a bonus to learn a bit of sign language. The coordinators warned us about kids with ADHD since they tend to be extremely hyper, running around everywhere. Not my thing. So I signed up with a deaf girl named: Judy Ann. Yes, as in “Judy Ann Santos” (A popular Filipino actress). I easily remembered her name in that case.
Not really “kids” but young ladies: Judy Ann de la Cruz (left) and Rose Ann Serrano (right) both are hearing impaired.
They both look so normal, they get flustered over guys. They like chinky-eyed men and don’t hesitate getting my attention and repeatedly asking about them. It was definitely a challenge for me and my friend, Lav, who is the big sis of Rose Ann, because they really couldn’t speak at all and relied on sign language. Worse comes to worse the girls write what they have to say.
Communication is not a barrier at all.
We were assigned to 3 games: Standing Long Jump, 75m race and Basketball Shootout. They were tall and up against children so they had no problem bagging the top ranks.
Two playful Hearing Impaired boys jumping and fooling around
JUMP!
RUN!
I did learn from them, basic sign language such as yes, no, a joke, beautiful, just a moment and candy! Definitely a rewarding experience, having to express your thoughts via pen and paper. The whole time I felt I was mute, I kind of forgot that other people could hear me.
