First Time to Tutor

The activity was a successful one as the main goal of it was to be able to teach something new to the children - which can help and improve their knowledge on different subjects. 

The children we taught had fun and were motivated to learn, as they were truly engaged in what was being discussed.  The facilitators made sure to oversee the activity and that all the children had their designated instructors (considering there was a restriction in the time allotted).

It was a memorable experience not only for the children but also for us instructors because it was our first time to tutor children and it took a lot of courage for us to step up and lead the discussion.

by Joshua Padron-Uy (volunteered January 20, 2018)

Valentine VolunTutor

Being a volunTutor was one of the things I looked forward to, and surprisingly, I did it on Valentine's Day which made me a "ValenTutor".  

I can say that, this was the most memorable Valentine's Day I have experienced, because I believe the sharing of knowledge is the sharing of love.  

My first experience at He Cares was beyond my expectations.  First, the other tutors were very friendly and approachable.  Second, the place was interactive, and lastly, of course, the tutoring experience was fulfilling. 

For the tutoring part, it wasn't hard at all.  Renz, the kid I tutored was smart.  He was open (which I liked), because it somehow helped me to know more about him, and because tutoring must start with getting comfortable with the tutor and the student. 

But with the whole experience, my favorite part was when I helped Renz finished his valentine's card.  He was going to give it to a longtime tutor at the foundation.   Looking forward to do this again. 


by Laila Burgos

Volunteering Motivated Me

Signing up to VolunTutor made me feel motivated, and not just in tutoring and children's education but also on other things.  In a weird way, it's the equivalent of watching a very inspiring movie but it's a lot more effective.  Most people have something that they wanted to do but somehow also have a lot of reason to procrastinate doing it.  I'm also the same.  I procrastinate a lot of my plans in life (e.g. projects, plans, journey, etc). 

Many motivational speakers or life advisers would say to just start it.  It makes sense since the hardest part of doing something is starting it.  I'm grateful that I decided to start this VolunTutor activity since I was personally able test that advice.  It made me realize that once you take the step to start, the next steps suddenly becomes clear in your mind, as I've been wanting to teach kids for a long time now. 

Once I started your Voluntutor, even on my first try, I already gathered some insights about teaching, and I wouldn't get that if I stayed in my comfort zone and keep telling myself to start teaching kids only when I know more about it.  (Aren't most people like that?  You'll hear things like "l'll do this/that when bla bla bla", but isn't it, on most occasions, the best time to do something is now).  So, since I started, I usually, whether intentional or not, gather new insights about teaching and use that to refine my skill, for next time.  Isn't that what I wanted in the first place, but I was too scared to try because of the feeling that I'm not good enough.  Of course, I wouldn't be good. Being good comes from trying.

I also wanted to mention the huge surge of fulfillment afterward, in which I can only explain as "You exerted an effort, then your brain rewards you".  We experience that phenomenon every single day from scrolling on social media to taking a big business venture, but the difference is that, activities that requires little effort, gives little fulfilment as well (i.e. You take one second of scroll on Social Media, then you'll get a rewarding feeling lasting for a second as well). I digress but I just wanted to say that the fulfilment that you get from this kind of activity is a lot more different than most rewarding feelings that we get in our day to day life.  In my earlier example about low effort activity, there is a 1-to-1 ratio of effort and reward, but in this case, whenever I partake on VolunTutor, I always gain a feeling of fulfillment, the reward, that lasts for more times longer than the effort I exerted.  In short, based on my last few experiences,  I took 2 hours of my week partaking in Voluntutor and I felt rewarded for a whole week.   (Note: Just a little info, sorry to burst this overly positive essay, that feeling of fulfilment and motivation suddenly turns into dread and anxiousness in the morning of the day I have to do VolunTutor.  My mind wouldn't stop thinking "Should I go?",  "Are there even people in there right now?", "I could be doing other things right now", and it wouldn't stop until I'm literally at your gate, but once I sit to tutor, all is well again HA -- an endless cycle). 

I think it's worth it. For something more concrete reason for doing it, I'm delighted that I have something to do that I wouldn't normally do in my daily life, especially as I have the type of busy lifestyle that most people have nowadays.

Chrismarie Velasco

A Work of Heart

Inviting you to spend some time with the He Cares kids! Sharing is caring! You don't have to be a teacher! We teach grades 1 to 7 and the children need a lot of practice speaking in English and basic Math. Sign up today!