By NIMROD NL QUIÑONES
Unless you are using another calendar, tomorrow will be the 1st of December and in the past years, starting late November there were already Christmas parties and the mood was already very festive.
While people still troop to the malls for the sales and there are Christmas decors, many Filipinos this continue to think of our countrymen in the areas badly affected by super typhoon Yolanda and the 7.2-magnitude earthquake.
Many have opted for simpler Christmas celebrations in their workplace and some have even decided to forego of their party and instead donate the money intended for such to the victims of the calamities.
At Alta Vista Golf and Country Club, the employees decided to donate the funds for their Christmas party to the people of the town of Medellin.
Part of it went to the purchase of food items and another part was used to buy galvanized iron sheets, which would help the folk of the northern Cebu town rebuild their homes.
Our caddies and umbrella girls at Alta Vista also decided to forego of their party and they are using the money to help feed the evacuees, who are now housed at the gym of Barangay Guadalupe in Cebu City.
Some of the caddies I talked to said that they are thankful, which is the reason why they are sharing to the typhoon victims. One even said that she is thankful that they are the ones giving and not the ones asking for help.
There will still be a simple celebration for our employees at Alta Vista, but less the usual fanfare that comes with the parties in the past years.
Yes, we feel guilty eating all the good food while hundreds and thousands of our brothers and sisters are having such a hard time getting by.
While we complain of the inadequacies and ineptness of our leaders, the corruption plaguing both government and private sector, and the lack of discipline of many Filipinos, our actions to help those in need have once again proven that there is a lot of hope for our country.
A group that I am working with at the University of the Philippines Cebu is proof of the fact that there are many Filipinos from the younger generation, who are not just thinking of our countrymen, but are doing something about it.
The effort, which has been aptly named 1UP is moving forward after the relief efforts and now thinking of helping the survivors rebuild their dreams that were blown away by the strong winds of the super typhoon.
***
Next to being a sportswriter, my second most favorite job is teaching. Yes, I spent 12 years teaching newswriting, news editing, and several other journalism and communications subjects at St. Theresa’s College and the University of the Visayas. Before that I also taught judo at UP Cebu, but I don’t count that as part of my classroom teaching experience hehehe…
It seems already so long ago when I was a teacher, but seeing many of my former students now doing very well as media practitioners and in other fields of endeavor make me feel happy and fulfilled.
While I may not anymore be teaching in a formal set up, I still help others from time to time brush up their skills in journalism. Readers of www.fullpointcebu.com, who aspire to learn sportswriting, are also most welcome to contact me so I can help you out.
I started as a student of journalism myself learning the basics from my high school teacher Prof. Fe N. Reyes at UP Cebu and later honing my skills under the watchful eyes of Atty. Pachico Seares when I was in college in the same school.
I further learned the ropes under the tutelage of my sports editor, the late Glenn Basubas until I took over in 1993. I still read up to keep breast since learning is a continuing process and I am not even halfway through what I should know to be good in the trade.
Many of my former colleagues have gone up to become sports editors of the local newspapers and I am very happy to see them become such. They are very talented writers.
Those who wish to learn a thing or two are welcome to email [email protected]. I don’t charge anything for helping out as it is my way of giving back to sportwriting, a profession that has made my life into what it is today.
I am looking forward to hear from you soon and also learning while teaching.
***
MILESTONES: Happy birthday greetings to my Tao brother Andrew (English form of Andres) Cañete, Audie Marte of the PSC, my former student and kumare Hayley Kwan-Faustino, my goddaughter Kim Aliño, fellow La Sallian Jojo Nazareno, former neighbor in Toledo City Ruth Johns. And my grade school classmate Vicente Chiong, Jr.
More power to all of you!
