As Part of our subject we conduct activity is an outreach feeding activity for children.

Through this Activity

we the Student researchers are able to practice our formation of being men and women as well as
preparation of becoming a future teacher someday in our way to the realities we faced when we do
research. With the help of our subject professor Ms. Sody Cañete and with the coordination of our co-
classmates and with the permission of the people of kibangay we treated the students of Salsalan Hu
Katatau which means Pandayan ng Kaalam at Kibulanglang Kibangay Lantapan Bukidnon. I love children. That
is why I really enjoyed the half-day feeding program especially dedicated to the children of Kibulanglang,
Kibangay, Lantapan Bukidnon. I realized how an experience could be extraordinary by simply being with the
less fortunate and making them happy even for a while. I became inspired to persevere more in life so that I
can be a big help for the less fortunate. It was very fulfilling that in our own simple ways; we were able to
help and made the children feel that some people care for them through a feeding activity. Even though it
only lasted for a day, the laughter we shared would always remain in my heart. It was neither the food nor
the games we played that made the outreach memorable but the smiles in every child's face which made it
more valuable. Seeing those smiles made me realize that the activity was a success, worth-doing. The
outreach program made me realize that somehow in some simple ways, we could bring happiness to others.
We could make a meaningful Christmas by doing good deeds for other people. Being with the children was
such a great feeling for me especially when we made them laugh. I would cherish that moment as one of the
best Christmas I've ever had. Having the opportunity to interact with the less fortunate children gave me an
additional learning in life. I have learned through them that happiness and contentment are choices. We
have our freedom to choose, whether to be happy and be contented in life or not.
2. Thank you for nice experience and thank you for the people who gave us fresh vegetable and thank you
also for the owner of the house for their kindness. This is our pictureduring theactivity
Community engagement is a way of interacting with the community around oneself, being able to help others who are less unfortunate or underprivileged.
With doing community engagement, it is a very nice way of learning from other people, including how they live, how they interact, how they actually survive
knowing that they do not have all the needs for survival. Helping the community is a way of ensuring the community that they have something to live for and
as a person actually helping them to with what is needed for survival by showing love, care, donating or just helping wherever a person can towards
contribution to the community being healthy, happy and appreciative.
During my experience of community engagement, the group that I was in which included Milolo Keren Beya, Shalom Mverecha, Lesedi Nakedi, Busisiwe
Mabaso and Mpho Nkata, went to Emthonjeni Community Centre located in Zandspruit (Honeydew) to do eight hours of community service as the school
asked us to do, although we went the extra mile and instead did nine hours because we truly enjoyed ourselves. The place that we had chosen to go to is a
place full of young children, which are little children from the age of six years old up to high school students to the age of nineteen years old. This community
centre takes care of these children who come to this place on a weekly basis after school to be helped with their school work. There are teachers who help
the children with whatever the children struggle with and there are daily lessons to be taught to the children as if it is a real school. What I like about the
centre is that it helps the children keep out of the streets while their parents are off to work. The children stay there for approximately five hours or so being
educated, fed and they play and interact with the other children part of the community.
The Emthonjeni Community Centre is also a religious place. It teaches the children more about faith and the power of prayer. The teachers there make sure
they always end the day with a prayer asking for guidance and strength. This makes me so happy as I could see how it encourages the children to work hard,
follow their dreams with the amount of faith that they have in surviving. One of the teachers mentioned how he asked one child that is a grade nine student
what the child wants to be when they grow up and the child did not know. The teacher asked the child how he could not know and if he does not dream of
becoming anything. The child responded that he does not know because he does not know what the world has to offer him because he has always been in
one place and has never seen other parts of the world except for the community that he lives in. This story, therefore, inspired the teacher to get donations
and plan a trip for children to travel and to see what the world has to offer them and that one does not need to be stuck in one place forever. This story really
moved me emotionally on how small minded a person can be because of the environment that they are in.
 The first day of our community service which was on the 5th of September, Tuesday when I got there, the children were on lunch. So I waited and had grade
ones and two children that I worked with, who were quite difficult to work with as they were not very patient, but some were really determined to work and
to learn. I was educating the children on basic mathematics, obviously up to their standards. Thereafter they were drawing pictures, expressing their creative
sides. It was admirable seeing the young children drawing all kinds of pictures, being creative. It put a smile on face seeing how much they enjoy it and even
reminded me of my younger days of having no ‘real’ schoolwork to worry about but just being free and playing.
The second time going to Emthonjeni Community Centre was on Friday the 8th of September. This time around I dealt with children who are a bit older. I was
with grade six students doing some scout activities that required us to interact with the children by playing games with them. During the scout activities, the
children learned discipline and respect and developed skills of leadership and teamwork as well by putting the children in groups and letting them solve
problems on their own with critical thinking and working together. We had our own games that we made them play such as ‘broken telephone’ that was bit
messy as the messages never got to the end but were always broken. The children enhanced skills of listening clearly throughout this activity by having to
carry the message on exactly as it was mentioned by what they have heard. Afterwards, we had gone to the high school students to give them a talk about
how to survive through high school, the transition from high school to university. The teenage children were willing to listen and asked us questions on how
we are coping so far, how we are coping and asked us for advice. We were more than willing to advise them on our experiences and each of told them about
our own transitions as it differs from each person. We motivated them on working hard and that being determined will get them far in life and how time is
precious and how valuable time now that we are in university and the struggles that we go through. We also discouraged them on hanging out too much with
friends, alcohol, drugs, and sex.
In conclusion, the community service has truly been a wonderful experience being able to help wherever we could help. I enjoyed my experience throughout
and have learned a lot from the young children. I value what I have so much because there are children who do not even have half of the things that I have in
my life. I would like to go back and help some more, regardless of doing community work for school purposed but because it is really what I would like to do