Favorite Color: Green Name: Patricia A.

Dionisio Nickname: Pat Favorite quote/saying: A life spent making mistakes is not only more honourable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing. - George Bernard Shaw Most memorable/ favorite experience in CWTS: Mangrove planting Least favourite CWTS experience: the travel from Harrisson to Navotas and vise versa. Best/ greatest lesson/s learned from the CWTS experience: Never take anything for granted. Be happy and contented with what you already have for we are much more blessed if compared to those living in Chung Cang. Best representation of your CWTS experience: the long bamboo bridge. It represents my CWTS experience for it is long, it takes a lot of time to get to the end, it was so hot, and some of the weak parts of the bridge. But despite all these negativities, once you reach the very end of the bridge and arrive at your destination it would feel so good. Youd feel very proud of yourself.

I was very excited when I found out that almost all the meeting we have in CWTS would be in Navotas city because going being there is such a wonderful experience one can never buy. I was ecstatic when I found out that we were going to teach 3-4 year old kids because I am so fond of kids. However, what I did not know is that it would be very hard to teach those kids because not only are they restless, most of the time they just copy the ates and kuyas. It was such a heartbreak how some of the kids dont know how to count, because at their age a normal kid would be able to count to at least 10; it was sad, my eyes were opened to a new world I never knew existed. I actually planned something in my head so I can make John Rei listen to me. I thought that I need to be like an older sister to him, not as a teacher. I actually did a great job, if I say so myself; however, as I said before he just copies me, after a minute or so if I ask him again he would not know the answer, which is really saddening. The third Saturday was our committees specific doing; the clean-up and mangrove planting day. I was seriously excited that is why I chose to join the committee in the first place but I did not know what to expect. As we headed to the long and scary (for most of my classmates, but not for me) bridge, the sun was already at its peak and it was so hot. I and my partner were at the front of the line with Nanay Malou and Kuya Wilson. As we arrived at what I think was a sea shore, I was gobsmacked. I did not expect that the whole shore would be full of trash, specifically plastic, which takes years to decompose. It was such a weird experience, I never thought that I would actually encounter such a mess; and to think that a lot of the people live and work there. After our lunch, we then continued to the planting site. I and my partner were again at the front. As we reached the mud, I did not expect the mud to be that deep; basically our boots were useless, it would be eaten alive by the mud if it werent for kuya (super thank you kuya) putting all those bamboos in front of us to be used as steps. As we finally reached the site, they told us to just remove our boots. I wanted to plant that is why I decided to just remove my boots and go; but some of my blockmates didnt want to. Honestly, not all of us went into the mud and planted mangroves, it was sad to see the host families planting it for them; I dont know who those were, but I know that some did not plant anything. As we head back to the house, I was drained; I was so exhausted. But it is still is very fulfilling; it was my first time doing that which made me proud of myself for actually doing it and enjoying it except for the intense heat. As the tutorial day started all the kids were participating, John Rei was actually listening. We did the usual things; I actually taught John Rei to count from 1-5 only because he is already having a hard time remembering the numbers. Then I taught him letters A-J as well, it was hard teaching him how to write because he wouldnt move his hand unless I help him, by holding his hand and moving it to write a letter. After we had our lunch, I was thinking if the kids would still be lively because it was already siesta time; I actually thought correct. After an hour or so, we noticed that the kids were restless; they did not listen to us anymore. That is why in order to keep them awake, we just made paper airplanes with them, chatted and played. It was like I was a little kid again, it was such a heart warming experience. In the medical mission, our committee was assigned to do the weight and height test for 50 kids and 50 adults. Honestly, we werent very organized as we thought we were. There were people talking to us if they can have a stub, we didnt know what to answer. The final and last Saturday we had was the graduation of the kids. Each committee had their respective prizes for their kids. It was nice seeing

those kids happy and jolly because of all the toys they received. We just enjoyed and bonded with the kids for it will be the last time we would see them.