Letters from Port Moresby

"Santa Fredo" is back, giving away Christmas presents to Tembari kids.- Picture by PATISON KOPADA

'Santa Fredo' cheers Tembari kids

By ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ

AFTER chasing away those rain clouds that have been hanging over Port Moresby for almost every day, the sun stayed big on Saturday, giving us a great day during our modest Christmas hamper party for the 200 Tembari kids.

And I had a great time giving away to them Christmas hampers. I was back as "Santa Fredo".

The Tembari kids were a happy lot: each received four sets of Christmas presents.

Two gift pacts were distributed by the super-generous RH Hypermarket.

As my personal Christmas presents to them, I gave away two sets of bulky Christmas hampers.

All in all, there were 800 Christmas gift pacts received and these cheered the kids no end.

It was no surprise - each of the RH Hypermarket gift packs contained favourite snack foods.

Tembari children queuing for their Christmas presents. - Nationalpic by ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ.

My hampers contained a lot more - fresh orange and apples, kiddie books, toys, candies, snack foods, tinned fish, flavoured powder drinks and school items.

But the big story here was the invasion of about 20 RH Hypermarket staff, led by their boss-- executive director Nathan Ho -- the top man at the trading arm of RH (PNG) Group.

Coming in full force to the Tembari center, the RH Hypermarket army brought with them several boxes of Christmas presents, two sets of barbecue grills, lots of pork, lots of chicken wings, lots of sausages, of buns, 48 liters of ice cream, tons of bottled water and a crates of candies.

The Tembari kids could not just believe their eyes.

At the foot of the Christmas Tree were heaps and heaps of Christmas presents. Just like last Christmas.

I had promised them they will again get a lot this Christmas.

Just like last year, I played Santa Claus to them on Saturday.

During our hamper party last Christmas, the kids had called me "Santa Fredo". It was their cue that I should deliver again this Christmas.

Heaps of Christmas hampers. - Nationalpic by ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ

And I just did, thanks to my generous donors.

Because of them, I was able to produce 400 Christmas hampers which I raised from my supporters: RH Hypermarket, RD Tuna, SVS supermarket, Pacific Industries, Buk bilong Pikinini, Homeguard Construction, Paradise Consultants, Your Express Service (YES) Ltd, and from expatriate-friends led by couples Celia and Caezar Nunez, Abet and Corina Barles and Claire and Cesar Tungol, and TJ and Gina Khoo; Rosa Yip; and the troika of Tony Valdez, Lourdes and Jocelyn - all of HiTRON.

Well, they were the same groups who supported my Christmas hamper party last year.

In a brief remark, Ho told his staff and the audience that RH Hypermart had made Tembari children its beneficiary under the company's RH Cares Programme 2011 with the motto "Save the Children".

In fact, he brought a nice banner proudly announcing that our kids were this year's beneficiaries under such a programme.

"We would like to see the Tembari children become good citizens and good leaders of this country in the future," Ho said.

Speaking of the many Christmas presents they brought with them, he said it was their way of cheering up the Tembari children during the holiday season.

That's why the Tembari kids had been inspired to put up two sing-sing groups to entertain our special guests.

And of course, the RH Hypermart group came not unprepared.

While half of the staff manned the barbecue grill, the other half had engaged the children in parlor games like sack race, hula-hoop, volleyball and ball race.

Watching the kids, I was pretty sure they were having great fun.

And not to be left out, our 10 volunteer mothers also got their hampers from me.

Theirs were a bit special - each contained "meri blouses" - something I knew they would really appreciate more than the foodstuff that came with their hampers.

With this, I am proud to report to my donors about a great day at Tembari on Saturday, Dec 17.

You guys made our day. You made Christmas for the Tembari kids.

There are no other words to describe your kind generosity.

And for this, I owe you big.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL.

APH posing with his hampers.