Mommy Manila

June signals the end of summer and the start of the school year in the Philippines. It’s also the month when we celebrate our independence from colonial rule. It is the halfway point to a year that was hopefully good and is just about to get better. So how to cope with this high-stress period of mid-year, when everything – from school starting to mid-year office reviews to higher-volume traffic turns your comfortable home ground into a battleground?

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF’s) Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) program advocates learning through play in education centers throughout the Philippines for children aged 3 to 5.   The World Health Organization recommends that children between the ages 5 and 17 should have at least 60 minutes of physical play daily for proper physical and mental development.   Operating on the research-supported idea that play, particularly physical play, promotes not only good health but also boosts a child’s mental development.  The Department of Education, Play Pilipinas and Johnson and Johnson (Philippines) , Inc. have come together to advocate the role of play in child development through a campaign called “ Di Lang Laro ang Laro ”.

Bianca and Eukie I still remember when I used to teach my younger sister how to bath her first born and what to do every time she got sick. No, I'm not a mom but I guess I'm one to the babies and children I took care when I used to work in the hospital as a pediatric nurse. The same love and care I gave to my patients and children in our family. 

When I started blogging, one of my favorite topic is about advocacy, corporate social response. Perhaps, knowing that someone is willing to help gives us hope .  The recent blog post I shared in one of my website is about " Girl Talk,Your Voice Your Move " , a campaign from Modess Philippines wherein young girls had the opportunity to speak out for the recent May election. Modess Philippines compiled these shout outs  and put it into a special edition publication called Girl Talk then sent it to our senators. I hope our senators got their copy of this book.  Not so long, I met some of our public officials, including some of our senators. Certainly, a short interview would not be enough to get to know them but it also leave us an impression of what kind of person they are - are they accommodating, sincere and do they speak well.  Mrs. Hanepbuhay ,  Senator Cynthia Villa r,  is one of the senators I met few years before the election through the Villar Foundation .