Bright Lights: Emphasizing Hope

     When darkness seizes the day, fear arises. It was during this moment when we feel that our fear has finally won the fight. We find ourselves feeling the pain, the struggle, the defeat, and failure. It is like there’s no way out! Darkness is engulfing us to the extent that we will never face a bright future ahead of us.

     When light emerges, hope comes in. A single light that appears in the midst of overwhelming darkness gives us the feeling that hope is still there. We need not give up because the fight isn’t over yet. We still have a good future waiting to be unveiled. It’s not yet time to give up. No, we should never give up!

     A single light makes a big difference. A light can signify hope and potential upbringing for humanity. This is what we should always think of every time darkness arises. We may always face darkness during our way home, but we will definitely find a single light that will shed our way when everything seems to be vague.

     It was last April 14 and 15, 2012 when U! HappyEvents’ “Bright Lights” took place. The event was made as a product of a partnership between U! Happy Events and Liter of Light, which is a project of My Shelter Foundation. Bright Lights is the first ever sunset to night event of U! Happy Events and the concept of this event is to provide light to 100 kids of Brgy. Batis, San Juan City, Philippines.

     Day 1 was the main event of Bright Lights. It was solely dedicated to 100 kids of Brgy. Batis. The whole event was focused more on the interaction between volunteers and kids. The program includes fun and games, magic shows, intermission number, and the presentation of lights. Games were supervised by U! Happy Events Core Team; dance number performed by kids of Brgy. Batis; magic show made by "Salamangkero" Ron Mariano; Poi workshop and LED Poi exhibition courtesy of Planet Zips Poi Philippines; Laser magic by JB Dela Cruz; and the main event, the flying of Chinese lanterns with notes  of prayer and hope (made by volunteers and kids) attached to it. Day 1 showed the significance of how lights can bring magic, inspiration, and hope to each one of us every time darkness comes in.

     Day 2 was all about witnessing how the solar bottle bulb, which we sponsored as a result of the funds we got from Day 1, can make a difference in a beneficiary's home. The project showed us how remarkable an idea is after a junk has been upcycled. Upcycle is the term they prefer to use rather than the word “recycle” because according to them, they are transforming an item into something more useful by providing it with a totally different use. The project did bring light to houses and it will definitely lower their monthly electric consumption. And because of this, the beneficiary's money spent for excessive electric consumption will be used for other monthly priorities like education and food.

     The entire two-day event was delivered successfully and it gave us (core team, volunteers, and beneficiaries) another set of realizations. Day 1 gave us the realization of producing and providing hope to everyone. Hope starts with a single person having the desire to light a candle; sharing it to the other person in need; raising it up and letting it soar high up to the sky so that everyone may see its brilliance. When hope/light shines through, everyone will be mesmerized and be inspired. Day 2 gave us the realization that our mind can think in a whole new level if we really wanted to make use of it as a tool in solving social issues even with such limited resources. We always have the power to produce greatness and we have the capability of making other people feel great by simply extending our hearts to them. 

     We can make a difference to everyone starting from producing hope down to extending help in order to produce the change that we really want to experience. After all, change can only happen if we start believing and start acting on it. No need to be scared now. Hope is just around the corner no matter how dark the world may be. Hope lives in you... in me... and in each one of us! 


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Photos courtesy of Emjay Mirasol Photography and Ate Malou Gailan
Also present during the event was our partner, Funlipix