A Worthwhile Christmas Gift-Giving Activity with Robinsons Mall and NCIP

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Last December, our family, like everyone else, was also part of the whirlwind of Christmas parties left and right. But in the middle of it all, we got our daughter involved in a worthwhile sustainable activity–the Wish Upon A Star Gift Giving Activity at Robinsons Place Bacolod. This is in partnership with the Rotary Club of Bacolod.

Surprisingly for me, I never knew about this until last month, even though this is already their 16th year. One morning, as I waited for hubby near the entrance of the mall, I noticed their booth. A lady manning it engaged me in conversation and told me what it was all about. We decided to let Dindin join.

Dindin handing her gift a week before at the Wish Upon a Star booth at Robinsons Place Bacolod in preparation for the actual gift-giving activity.

The recipients were under the government initiative called the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP). According to their website, the NCIP “is the primary government agency that formulates and implements policies, plans and programs for the recognition, promotion and protection of the rights and well-being of IPs with due regard to their ancestral domains and lands, self-governance and empowerment, social justice and human rights, and cultural integrity.” There were several areas covered for this particular activity.

The mechanics entailed choosing a child in their list and providing the things that they asked for. You can choose as many kids as your recipients, but we chose only one child, a 5-year-old girl named Rona from Silay City, primarily because she is the same age as my eldest daughter and well, this is our first time and didn’t know what to expect.

Our chosen child Rona with her mother before the gift-giving program started. We met with them, had a little chat, knew how Rona was also a “bibo” child, and that she is in pre-school. 😀 Dindin gave her a small backpack, which was not included in the first batch of gifts she gave.

She gave us a list of the things that Rona wished for so that we can prepare them. We were given a deadline to turn over our gift. Although we submitted our gift for checking purposes before the due date, we asked that Dindin be allowed to be the one to hand her gift over to Rona on gift-giving day. And they were happy to oblige.

On gift-giving day, we were happy to see Rona with her mother. My only regret was that I became too busy and was not able to prepare a grocery pack for Rona’s mother.

Our daughter Dindin hands over her gift to Rona on stage.

I think Dindin is happier to be doing this. haha Giving does make you happy.

Dindin was very happy to take part in this and we would like to do this again. Hopefully, we can find Rona again for the next Christmas activity and maybe adopt another one for Shane. And this time, we hope to be more prepared as we already know what is going to happen.

Kindness is one legacy that we would like to impart to our children. That is one thing that could not be taken away from them and one that makes this world a better place. And we would like to start them young. And this activity is just one of the many things that we are doing in order to lead our children to become relevant members of our society. Eventually, we hope to take part in some programs of the NCIP in Silay City.

For more information about the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, please visit their website at http://www.ncip.gov.ph.