“Saturday started off well, because we got to sleep in an extra half an hour. Unless you were Sol or Jack Weary, who went in early to help build the classroom (I don’t know how they had the energy). We had breakfast, put on loads of sunscreen, then headed for Masa (on a working boat this time). We got to the school at around 9:25 am, which was perfect, because we had to set up our equipment for the sports day! We were all in groups of two (I was with Bernie), and our job was to lead an activity for 20 minutes for a group of kids, and the kids would then move on to the next group. We taught them how to play four square and a few other ball games. I think there were seven groups. By the end we were all tired, sweaty and ready to go home.
Because it was a Saturday, there was no school, which meant no tutoring, so we all got to work on building the classroom. First thing to do was to shovel dirt and gravel into a bucket and carry it over to another area then dump it out, then do it all over again. I think Bernie enjoyed this more than anyone else. I soon switched to pouring cement, which was super fun, I did, however, get cement all over my clothes. It was worth it though. That boat ride home was the best boat ride we had gone on (for me, at least). At the start the boat was playing music, which no other boat had done (and bonus, it was Total Eclipse of the Heart), plus the boat was nice. When the boat hit the port, the music started again and Mr Allsop was busting out some moves on the ‘dance floor’. For dinner, the group decided to head on over to Christina’s, which was a fancy Italian restaurant. Then we went back to the vista and went to bed.“– Faith
“The Sports day is an annual event Swan host whilst on the Trip. The doors are open to any children not just from the Masa Ati school and it is always amazing to see the numbers of children you get, even on a Saturday! This time around 60 children were present, we gave them a warm welcome and then work them hard through a series of activities. These activities could be old favourites or ones new to them or even new to the Philippines. Our students had prepared a 20minute session which they delivered to each of the groups. These were planned back in Australia and the equipment was bought over with us. After the event we donated the sporting equipment to the school so they can continue to play the games they have enjoyed with us. This time we played; 4 square, soccer, spikeball, pickleball, cricket, AFL, basketball, bib chasey, ultimate frisbee and good clap-bad clap. Our students were amazing on an energy sapping hot and humid day, leading the activities for two and half hours. At the end, all the participants were given lunch and then the annual challenge basketball match occurred between the staff and students from the Masa Ati and the Swan team. This time it was played over two legs first to 30 and both teams won a game to tie the series 1-1, which is a very pleasing result for the Swan team not many of whom were basketball specialists and playing in humidity on a very different type of outdoor court.
Tomorrow I am looking forward to leading the students snorkeling in the coral reefs off the beach on Boracay. Some large bommies, corals and multitudes of fish await them, as well as some challenging seas if the winds pick up. Let’s hope its nice and calm so nobody has to find their sea legs.”