One afternoon of joy

Enough lessons about the Philippines for now! We're going back to my little corner of the world today. Many student organizations in the Ateneo de Manila University are involved with poor communities and public schools—as tutors and catechists, in building houses and repairing classrooms, or in entertaining and providing companionship to terminally ill children. Every year, our office organizes the Lights for Hope Christmas party for these poor children, many of whom would never experience an afternoon like it otherwise. They are fetched by buses and jeepneys from their schools or communities and brought to a large field in the Ateneo where they have games with prizes, have a heavy snack, enjoy the inflatable slides and go home with heavily-laden goody bags—toys, chips and candies, yes, but also more practical items like underwear, shampoo and toothpaste. In past years, the number of children have been in the 300–500 range. This year, there were one thousand! (Alright, about 980—I saw the unclaimed hotdog sandwiches.) This wouldn't have been possible without the generosity of so many people and the fantastic coordinating skills of Lara. Thank you, everyone! Next year, we hope to gather 1500 children.

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Some of the comments in my post yesterday has gotten me curious: How frequently does your country mint new coins and recall old ones?