Through the eyes of a child

Last week, I was asked by the RAFI Cultural Heritage Program to be one of the judges of the Photo Blogging Contest of the Gabii sa Kabilin held last May 31.  At first, I was very hazy about photo blogging but since the subject was very familiar, I readily accepted the request. When heritage is the subject, everyone thinks we see old things and old people but  photo blogging gave a new perspective.  Out of ten entries,  the one that really caught my attention was the one of a father who took his  4-year-old daughter, Baby Willow, on the tour.

It was very heartwarming to see a toddler visiting museums and other heritage sites. Her  body language projected every feeling she had in every place visited.  Now and then, we would see her tagging along with her father outside  ancestral houses or museums or riding on his shoulders at the opening ceremonies and holding the umbrella since there was a heavy downpour at the start.  Her eyes would get  bigger and rounder, full of wonder and surprise, at the sights and touch of angels holding the holy water.

With a small shoulder bag tucked around her shoulder, she walked  around the ancestral houses.  She was just as curious as the rest of the visitors in  all the antiques in its varying shapes and colors, but she was particularly mesmerized by the harps on the first and second floors of the Yap-Sandiego ancestral house. She couldn’t  help strumming the strings of an old harp and her parents let her.  They were relieved that it diverted her attention away from the fragile glassware nearby.  The vases and ceramics were really lovely but  it was the handsome statue of Archangel Michael that caught Willow’s eyes. She  kept pointing and  chanting “Angel! Angel!”  The presence of an angel statue is a special feature  in the eyes of a child, for whether in the museums or the Iglesia Filipina Independencia, Willow refused to budge from the side of the two angels watching over the church.

At the Mueso Sugbo, the atmosphere was very festive when they arrived.  The sound  of the drums, the music, and all the dancing got Willow and her parents engrossed in the event.  She was so fascinated by the colorful show that she ignored her parents who were calling her name repeatedly.  When it ended, she continued pointing at the  dancers and hounding her parents  to make them do the dance all over again.  She loved to amble whether in the gardens or the façade of the Muelle Osmeña. A happy Willow enjoyed hopping alongside the candles and stepping up the stairways of the Opon church. She felt at home posing with curious visitors almost everywhere.  Baby Willow’s father narrated that all throughout the night, she was more talkative than usual, chattering and pointing  with her eyes getting rounder and brighter.  And when they got home at about 2 a.m., she was still wide awake and went to bed an hour later.  Willow’s father says, “We were struck by the realization that indeed we  made the right decision.  This child is definitely coming with us again next year!”

Willlow’s father aptly puts it that “for novices like us, the Gabii sa Kabilin was really refreshing, a change from the usual bar-hopping activities that youngsters engage in, and even more festive.  Elders, teenagers and even toddlers (such as Willow) alike can really enjoy the sights and the learning experience of discovering the past, going back in time just like taking a ride on a time machine in the form of a bus or tartanilla.”

Imagine Baby Willow in  next year’s  Gabii sa Kabilin and the subsequent ones.  I hope her father documents all her visits in the coming years.  Until the time she can talk, we would have a very interesting documentation of heritage through the eyes of a child.  I congratulate the parents of Baby Willow for  bringing their toddler to the Gabii sa Kabilin.   For the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc., there is a suggestion to advertise more intensively the photo blogging contest to catch more interesting scenes of highly human interest.

* * *

Attention all members of Class 1963 of St. Catherine’s School, Carcar, Cebu:  The  solidarity dinner with our high school teachers and classmates will be on July 13  (Saturday) at Casino Español, Cervantes Room at 6:30 p.m.   Attire is smart casual.

The next day Sunday, July 14,  our class will join the general alumni home at St. Catherine’s Quadrangle.  Assembly is at 10 a.m. at the front gate of St. Theresa’s College in front of St. Patrick Square and Rosario Pension House.  Departure is at 10:30 a.m. Two  vans will  transport us to Carcar.  Lunch will be at Merlea A. Cabalquinto’s place. The homecoming will start with a Mass at 4 p.m.  Dinner and program will follow.  Our class presentation will be a song number. For the curiosity of everyone as to who are coming, well here they are:  Carmencita Abellana-Licen, Esperanza Abellana, Ma. Teresa Barcenilla-Abellana, Fe Caballes-Naquita, Merlea Alesna-Cabalquinto, Nicetas Carvajal-Huffmanm, Madrileña de la Cerna, Evangeline Diaz-Schwarztman, Emilia Estrada, Luz Gascon-Valdez, Araceli Lapuz-Quiros, Estrellita Noel-Escanan,  Anacorita Pilamin-Jopia, Annabelle Tan-Amor, Guerlita Varga-Duque, Thelma Villahermosa-Dalman, and one classmate who is attending but prefers to be a surprise.