Honolulu Filipino summer for kids goes into 10th year

WAIPAHU, Hawaii — The Filipino Community Center here is seeking participants, volunteers and donors for “kaBATAan: Filipino for Kids Summer Program,” a short summer “fun program with a twist of Philippine culture.”

Now on its 10^th year, Filipino for Kids is an annual summer community-based program designed to provide elementary school-age children (5 to 12 years old) of ALL ethnic backgrounds an opportunity to learn about the rich Philippine culture and history.

The program includes language and culture components and interactive activities such as games, dances and songs and a summer reading program.

For the last nine years, about 25-35 children participate and about 15-20 youth community volunteers assist in this summer program.

This summer 2015, the Filipino for Kids program will be held for five sessions on three weekends: Saturdays, June 20 & 27, & Sundays, June 21 & 28 with the last day on Saturday, July 4^th at the Filipino Community Center in Waipahu.

Enrollment is limited to the first 30 registrants between the ages of 5-12 years old. Volunteers need to be at least 13 years old. Deadline for registration is June 15, 2015. Donations are also accepted for the program.

In previous summer programs, students learned Tinikling, the Philippines’ most popular folk dance; Escrima, Philippine martial arts; Cariñosa, the Philippine national dance; Sipa, formerly known as the Philippine national sport; Alibata or Baybayin, the Philippine ancient script; and Philippine national hero Jose Rizal.

Students also enjoyed other activities including making their own halo-halo, folding/coloring jeepney, making a science activity with Mayon Volcano, doing the malong dance from southern Philippines and learning about festivals.

Conceptualized through a mini-diversity grant from the UH SEED office in 2005, this program has now become an annual summer collaborative project of the Filipino Community Center, University of the Philippines Alumni Association-Hawaii Chapter, UH Filipino and Philippine Literature program, UH Katipunan Club, Alumni and Friends and community organizations and volunteers.

Registration is $50 per student for all five sessions (with an additional $10 for a program T-shirt). Participants who will complete all sessions will receive a Certificate of Participation. For more info, visit https://www.facebook.com/fil4kidshi or https://filipinoforkids.blogspot.com/, [email protected] or call 808-203774.

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