Thoughts Away From The Game: My First SOP

People often think that charity work or outreach programs are done only by people who either do it to reduce their taxes to pay to the government and older people who want to give back to the community as part of community service. We teenagers aged between 14-16 can make a difference to less fortunate people through the Saturday Outreach Program, more commonly known as SOP. 

After 2 consecutive absences due to basketball games, today I finally had my chance to interact with the victims of human trafficking from the Visayan Forum. Today, we didn't go to their Antipolo safehouse but rather we went to a subdivision beside it, Beverly Hills if I'm not mistaken (by the way, our Coach and one of our assistant coaches live there) and treated them to a day filled with sports. Our day started with some teambuilding games courtesy of Mr. Aragon. These games tried to strengthen the bond between the Xavier students and the girls from the Visayan Forum. These games needed communication from both sides for it to be successful. 

I noticed that the girls were more open and active. Based from what I have heard from the previous SOPs, they were very shy and were very hard to persuade to join the different activities but through sports, it bridged the cap between both sides. You could see the joy and excitement in the eyes and the way these girls reacted. Its good to be able to give them joy and happiness as they have been through a lot. It is good to know that we can and we were used as instruments by God to show his love and reach out to these victims. 

The second part of our SOP was a Sports Clinic. There were 4 different sports that the girls could choose from namely basketball, volleyball, badminton, and frisbee. I was assigned to handle the basketball clinic. I just showed them some of the basic fundamentals such as passing, dribbling, and shooting. To me, I didn't accomplish a lot since we only had one rubber basketball plus the net on the ring was very small thus I had to keep jumping to get the ball. 

Through this exercise, I could see how sports, namely basketball, bridges the gap between people who don't even know each other. Very similar to the Basketball Without Borders Asia program I joined in Singapore last year, it showed me that basketball is a universal sport enjoyed by many. Different genders, ages, backgrounds enjoy shooting the ball in the hoop, hearing the bounce of the ball, and the swish of the net. 

I find importance, personal satisfaction, and joy with this program. As my CLE teacher Mr. Chris King De la Cruz would say, "tungkulin ko maging makipag-kapwa tao." God has blessed me with a loving family, an opportunity to study in a good school, the company of good friends, my talents, and countless blessings. Giving up 3 hours of my Saturday for Him since as the Bible says, whatever you do unto others, you do unto me, is just peanuts to what he does for us. He is there 24/7 guiding us and returning the favor is no biggie. I hope I have the opportunity to be able to have more activities such as these and to hopefully attain the nirvana state of goodness.

A Man on a Mission, trying to help the community.

Other notes:

 Please eat before you go to your SOP. You don't want to barf on the way back. LOL.