Truly, Prof.Henry Daut deserve a kiss. Not from me, for my lips are only for the ladies I love and if they happen to male, they are my bosom friends.
He truly does deserve it after successfully organizing the KISS lecture series in coordination with the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Sports Institute.
Frankly, I am amazed of his energy in organizing events like this. Sports events that are actually meaningful, memorable, lovely, sweet.
Prof.Daut is actually a colleague when the Sports for Peace Mindanao program was started by Dabawenyo and Philippine Sports Commission chairman William “Butch” Ramirez. The program was precisely designed to achieve the goal of having “a stable human resource development program and a strong advocacy programs to make sports a way of life and an intervention in conflict areas to promote peace.”
Yes, make sports a way of life. Start first in Mindanao and bring it to the rest of the country.
But you see, we have to face the realities of life. There are those who don’t love the children of Mindanao and would instead sow terror on them.
Despite this interruption to peace, Prof.Daut and his team have worked tirelessly to keep the sports for peace program going in Mindanao. He is just unstoppable.
So, after the series of sports lectures, Philippine Sports Commission chairman William “Butch” Ramirez announced that the government sports agency is helping fund the rehabilitation and installation of the track oval as part of the sports rehabilitation program in war-torn Marawi City.
The best part is that KISS or the Korea Institute of Sports Science donated $3,000 US for the football for peace and healing, a community service currently being done by members of the Mindanao State University’s CSPEAR led by Prof. Daut.
After the sports talks, Prof. Daut is back to organizing a football for peace and healing project at the MSU Sports Complex next month for Marawi boys and girls.
Now, he is calling for volunteers to join him in the activity designed to help kids recover from the trauma brought by war between the ISIS-backed Maute Group and government troops.
The war is not yet over but Prof.Daut could not just sit down and wait for the dust to settle down. He went to the evacuation centers, phoned sponsors and volunteers to hold activities for the children affected by the war. Even it is just for a day or two, these kids deserve fun under the sun. Take their minds away from the ugliness of war.
Let there be peace in Mindanao for our kids have the right to play, anytime and anywhere. Prof.Daut truly deserves a kiss from the children. From this corner, a flying kiss to you our friend Henry.
For those who can’t volunteer their services to the kids in Marawi, keep on praying for peace. We need it in these challenging times.
