Every year, we get to mark our birthdays with celebrations and showers of presents, greetings, well-wishes, and congratulatory messages for being blessed with another year of life. While that is always very special, Kapuso star Bianca Umali opted to do something unique and meaningful for her birthday this year by paying it forward through World Vision Philippines where she has been a celebrity ambassador for over seven years.
An early birthday celebration
Bianca recently enjoyed a heartfelt celebration with the World Vision kids and youth from Molinete, Laurel, Batangas. There, she enjoyed fresh okra and bananas that she personally picked from the farm, shared meals with the nanays of the community, and tried local delicacies such as Talinum Leaves Salad and Tilapia Ice Cream. She concluded the day with a fun and interactive story-telling session and acting workshop with the kids.
But the celebration was far from over as her World Vision family sneaked in a surprise birthday cake for her and a happy birthday song from the kids.
With this experience, Bianca confessed, “Getting to spend time with them makes me happy. Wala akong nararamdamang pagod kahit pa napaka-init, kahit pa nasaan, kahit pa gaano kalayo, it doesn’t matter because my only goal is for them to know me and for me to know their stories.”
She also shared, “Hindi po ito ang unang beses na ako po ay nakaexperience na magtanim sa isang community. But this community is different because of what they’ve built here. They own it! And that is such a big factor for me. Nakakagana lalo kasi nakikita ko na masaya sila. They’re self-sufficient, and personally yung independence na ganun is very close to my heart because I am also such an independent person.”
Bianca’s unwavering commitment to the causes of World Vision did not go unnoticed as World Vision PH’s Interim National Director Jun Godornes expressed his gratitude to the actress: “Nakita namin kung paano siya lumago, paano siya naging powerful voice para sa mga kabataan. We’re so proud of her and we’re so happy to have her as our ambassador.”
Striving for being ENOUGH
While she has partaken in various World Vision campaigns including community visits to Marawi and Cebu, and participation in the Taal Volcano eruption relief operation, she continues to use her voice for children and women empowerment until they have enough to thrive in this world.
This time, her visit to the Molinete community helps address pressing issues of world hunger, malnutrition and food security. This puts the spotlight on World Vision’s ENOUGH Campaign, which aims to help rehabilitate at least 7,700 undernourished children with access to life-saving nutrition and provide more than 919,700 individuals with access to clean drinking water by 2026.
Currently, malnutrition is a prevalent issue in the Philippines, especially among children and adolescents aged 0-59 month-old. This poses a risk on their physical health and development as well as their cognitive ability.
The ENOUGH Campaign strives to enlighten everyone that every child in the world, no matter where they live or the crises they face, deserve to have the nourishing food they need in order to thrive and for families to be more resilient.
The absolute ate
As she turns another year older, she couldn’t be more thankful for her beautiful journey with World Vision PH: “The reason why I am such a proud ambassador of World Vision ay dahil binigyan nila ako ng pagkakataon not just to be an ate to my little cousins at home, they also gave me an opportunity to become an ate to as many children that I can be an ate to. And that just makes me so happy.”
Join Bianca Umali in ending child hunger now by donating in the ENOUGH Campaign. Simply visit https://www.worldvision.org.ph/enough/.
For more updates, visit the World Vision website at https://www.worldvision.org.ph and follow World Vision Philippines’ official social media pages: @worldvisionph on Facebook and Twitter, and @worldvisionphl on Instagram.
