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FPVI Fellows Act as Big Brother/Big Sister: Experiencing a Holloween Celebration for the First Time

In the Philippines, Halloween is not celebrated in the way it is in the West. Instead, Filipinos celebrate All Saints Day, also known as All Hallows' Day, or Hallowmas, in honor of all the saints from Christian history followed by another holiday called All Souls Day, a day of alms giving and prayers for the dead, giving the gift of time to their dear departed by spending the entire day in the cemetery, tending the graves and mortuary stones.

FPVI, in collaboration with Beengo Farm organized a version of a Halloween Party for a group of children in two of the town’s Barangays (villages) to give them a taste and experience of a Halloween celebration. The idea of holding the party was received with a lot of curiosity and, of course, excitement. The FPVI fellows played along as big brothers/big sisters to the kids in the community, each assigned to lead a group for the games and competitions. The children arrived in costumes, some with painted faces, many of them assisted by volunteers to make the occasion festive. 

The photos eloquently show the fun each one had at their first ever Halloween party. While the games and program numbers had particular winners, with corresponding prizes, everyone went home with a bag of goodies after the merienda cena as, in essence, they were all winners for having actively and enthusiastically participated in the activities.