A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to All

It is Christmas season. 

Christmas Is Around the Corner

With shorter days, longer nights, and colder weather (if you happen to live in the northern hemisphere), nature seems calling us to return home, giving us an opportunity to reflect and nurture our inner self. Decorations can surely lift our mood. Decked halls are meant to bring out that holiday spirit especially during a winter solstice. A giant inflatable Santa Claus standing on one of the roofs near Georgetown University is certainly a welcoming sight to see in the morning from the Key Bridge. It is Christmas.

Oliver Wainwright was perhaps not trying to outdo Scrooge when he wrote "Santa's real workshop: the town in China that makes the world's Christmas decorations" in the Guardian about a year ago. Nonetheless, the article did raise some questions regarding how to decorate for Christmas.

Above copied from Oliver Wainwright's Guardian article

Since we are in a time conducive for reflection, we might as well think about Christmas decorations. 

The above was a post on this blog two years ago.

This year, Project Pearls in the Philippines shares a much more uplifting story about Christmas decorations. Below is an excerpt:

Project Pearls

Brain Booster

Nov. 18, 2017 | Saturday

Helping Land, Tondo, Manila

“The light in a Child’s eyes is all it takes to make Christmas a magical time of the year.”

Christmas is coming and can already be felt everywhere!

For Filipinos, Christmas is already starting by September and we can say that’s how joyful we are.

We already have our very own Christmas Tree at the courtyard but it is plain yet.

And for this day’s activity, our Pearls kids will create different colorful lanterns made of popsicle sticks, paper and yarns to give life to the tree.

Before we proceed with our Brain Booster activity, the kids had their breakfast first.

  

Thank you to all our volunteers who served the food and assisted the kids.

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Rise Above Foundation Cebu also has a message this season:

"Christmas is one of the most celebrated and long-awaited occasions among Filipino families. It is a time of celebration, gift-giving and for family members to come together over lots of food.
However, for a lot of poor Filipino families, this is but a faraway dream that eludes them every year. According to Social Weather Stations survey, an estimated 10 million Filipinos consider themselves as food poor.  This means that they don’t meet the monthly food budget threshold and are unable feed their families on a regular basis. A country stricken with high unemployment rates and increasing food prices, it’s no surprise that this is a sad reality for a lot of families.

Knowing this, we understand that during Christmas, many Filipino families struggle to bring together a simple meal to celebrate this joyous occasion."

To all who care about poor children especially during this time of the year, "A Happy Christmas and a Blessed New Year".