One for Children | Joyce Pring gets emotional after students' surprise

World Vision Ambassador Joyce Pring shed tears after elementary students in a rural village in Batangas gave her thank you cards and sang her a song of gratitude during a gift giving activity.

The children further showed their gratitude by serenading Joyce with Yeng Constantino’s “Salamat.” “Ang awiting ito’y para sa iyo. At kung maubos ang tinig, di magsisi. Dahil iyong narinig mula sa labi ko…salamat…salamat,” they wholeheartedly sang.

Touched by the message of the song and the children’s action, Joyce started to cry. She waved at her blogger friends who were taking videos and photos of her. “Stop it! Stop it! Uy, ano ba…” she pleaded sheepishly to them to no avail. Her friends even teased her more.

“Thank you, guys!” Joyce repeatedly told the students afterwards.

Joyce has been doing outreach programs with children since 2012. In her blog, she admitted that doing outreach activities is getting “…more difficult every year” and began to ask herself whether she was doing it for others or for herself.

“…if I’m being completely honest, it gets more difficult every year to focus on the people who need our help and the humility to serve, rather than the satisfaction we get afterwards. I think that’s always the tricky part when it comes to these things – how do you know if you’re doing it for them or for yourself?”

But Joyce instantly realized that by giving to others, she is also giving something back to herself as well. She wrote, “But one thing I’ve realised throughout the years is that it’s always a little bit of both. To find our joy we serve others, and in serving others, we become vessels of hope and joy.”

As her way of thanking the students, parents, teachers and barangay officials, Joyce gave them school supplies and food from Jollibee, Dewberry cookies, Seattle’s Best Coffee, GIBI, Havaianas, Quaker Oats, The Maverick, and San Mig Food Ave.

She also joined and cheered with the children in their group games and dance. At one point, the students asked her to sing for them, a request she enthusiastically granted.

Joyce ended her day showing her deepest gratitude to the Lord for His blessings. She beautifully wrote, “I want to dedicate today to our Lord, Jesus Christ, for being our ultimate provider. I’ve gone through so many difficult stages in my life and I feel like instead of being hardened and calloused, He has designed me to become even more giving and loving, because of it.” World Vision/March 15, 2018

World Vision is a global Christian relief, development and advocacy organisation dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice. World Vision serves all people, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or gender.