There are plenty of mango trees in CCFT, but there is one just across the Children's Home, towering over the rest, thick with leaves - and in summer with fruit. After months of holding the monthly birthday party indoors, the party finally made its way outdoors under the clear blue afternoon sky, around this tree, what everyone in CCFT calls the Tree of Life.
CCFT Coron International School Principal, Mrs. Lilia Chavez, recalled that before the Children's Home had any children, the founder, Mr. William "Pete" Baldwin, III led the first employees of CCFT on a tour of the facility. Stopping before a proud, burly mango tree, he said, "This is the Tree of Life." And around this tree, the children gathered countless times - to play, to run around, to sing and dance, to hold parties, to escape from the heat of the day. It has become a symbol, according to Mrs. Chavez, of the love, compassion, and hope, a reflection of CCFT's mission of providing a happy, healthy environment for its children.
The past year, it was transformed into a gorgeous Christmas tree for the party, adorned with lanterns and vines of tiny Christmas lights, a successful fundraiser for the children. Each lantern represented a donation from various big-hearted families and individuals from Coron and from within CCFT.
The School hosted the party this year, and all the female teachers came out dolled up in red and wearing pigtails. This party, no one was excused from dancing. The Children's Home team had a grand dance showdown, followed by the Facility Department singing a solemn Christmas carol transforming into a combination of a Christmas nativity pageant and a Saturday Night Live skit. The teachers danced a lively "Ding, Dong, Ding" - with all the children jumping up to join in for the second chorus.
The game everybody will probably stick in everyone's memory would be the "Bring Me" - everything from a photo of the founder, William "Tatay Pete" Baldwin III, a Christmas ringtone, a Christmas ornament (which thankfully did not annihilate the tottering Christmas tree), a coin with a hole, and a kiss from the security guard down in Base 1.
And what would be a party without presents? Not just the birthday celebrants (pajamas and mugs of all colors and sizes abound), but the houseparents received gifts. To the delight of the Top Ten children, they were promised a night out in Coron town, to enjoy the sights and sounds of the festive booths, popcorn and ice cream and what every child thrills at: a late bedtime.
The party wasn't as grand as last year's, but the spirit of the Tree of Life filtered through the hearts of those who came to celebrate, like sunlight through its leaves. For this December, we had one whose birthday we celebrate among the rest of the birthdays, the One who died on a tree that we all may have Life.
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