Outreach

          Last august 14, 2013, sophomore section f of de la salle santiago zobel had their outreach at Gawad Kalinga. Upon arrival we were escorted to the place and immediately saw all the friendly faces, greeted everywhere with a smile.

          When we are at the Gawad Kalinga, we were busy the whole day, and there were alot of things to do that kept us occupied. First off, every pair of two was assigned a family, each of which had to take care of. We got to know the families, what they do, took care of their children (if they had any) prepared food for them, and got to listen and share our experiences with them. Around noon time, everyone gathered together in the center of the barangay, and played around with all the kids, and with each other. Afterwards, we were assigned different tasks to do, like build houses, take care of the babies, and play games with everyone in the village.

          All in all It was a good, fun, and tiring experience for everyone in the class and the village, and im sure everyone enjoyed everything that happened and occured on that day and the duration of the outreach.

written by Ram Trinidad
photo courtesy of Majah Resuello

Arms

The girl heard gun shots everywhere, the sound of a bomb exploding to her left, and people crying to her right. They marched into her house, wearing green and black outfits with paint on their faces. They grabbed her parents and forced them to go outside. She cried and tried to pull them back, but she was too weak. Maybe she didn't know, or maybe she didn't care; right now, she was entering a war zone. She walked through the streets in search of her parents, several soldiers trying to protect her from harm. Many of them died in the process, but she didn't notice. She found her parents beside the leader of the enemy. They were dead in a second. She screamed.

She ran to them, crying, and asked the leader, "Can I have them back?"

He answered, "No."

She said, "Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

Instead of replying he pulled out his gun.

"I think you need a hug," said the girl. "Stop being mean. Please..."

He pulled the trigger, and she was gone as well.

"You have them back now," he whispered quietly.

He shot himself and the war ended.

written by Danie Evan

12 Noon Glances

12 in the afternoon, that is when I see her. Everyday, the Angelus would come on at this time. Students will open both doors of the classroom to let the prayer in. I was one of those who would stand by the door. But one day, it was different. The prayer still started at 12, all doors were opened and students held it in place. In between the domino of doors, she was there. And she looked so bright and perfect. For the 4 minutes the Angelus was on, the sound of the prayer got fainter and fainter as I was looking at her deeper and deeper. What stopped my trance was a tap on my shoulder, "Dude, it's over. Come in." I snapped out of it and glanced at her for the last time. She was about to close the door until she looked at me and

slightly

smiled. My eyes widened and I couldn't believe it. I checked the classroom beside mine to check if she smiled at someone else, she didn't, it was for me, or maybe I was imagining it. I looked back to see if she was still there, but she was already inside her small world. And that was my cue to go back inside and

slightly 

smile goofily at myself. 

written by Therese Padilla