My Basadours’ story started in 2012. I got a call from Cebu City Public Library chief librarian Rosario Chua inviting me to be part of a group.
I met Maam Ruth in 2008 when I interviewed her for a story in Cebu Daily News. This was during the time when there was a plan to shutdown the public library.
It wasn’t clear yet what the group will be. I had a good feeling about the scheduled meeting so I said “yes”.
The group found a name in “Basadours”, a portmanteau of the words basa (to read) and ambassadors (emissary, representative). Simply put, we are ambassadors of reading. The goal was to serve as volunteer storytellers, to be the bearers of good stories and sharer of good values to children especially those who do not have the luxury to listen to a story or those who have not, or have very little, experience in being read to.
The group was officially launched on February 25, 2012, on the 26th anniversary of the EDSA revolution.
My professional and personal lives unfolded in the Basadours.
Within that year I met and married Jeff Ruffolo, my husband of almost five years. He, who graduated with a degree in Journalism, he who loves to read books, he who writes and speaks for a living.
We got pregnant with twins — Nicholas Louis and Antoinette Elena — and it was a big celebration for the Basadours. (Incidentally, the Basadours has two active members in Cindie and Candie, who are also… twins!) I continued to host sessions and workshops while my belly grew to the size of a hot air balloon. I clearly remember the pictorials we had inside the library with my monster belly. Photos were taken by our topnotch photographers: Doreen Sy, Inday Charmie Quiapo and Em Gamboa.
I lost and gained weight while serving communities with the Basadours.
But I never lost passion in the advocacy of spreading love of reading through storytelling.
I got pregnant again in 2014 and then, gave birth to Jeffrey Peter Junior on September 2015 in the USA.
In between moving countries — Philippines, China, USA and back to the Philippines — I felt lost.
I’ve always known that I was born a gypsy, a nomad with no permanent address but I also felt that I needed a constant.
My family and my love for writing were my constants.
I knew they were.
In the course of living my nomadic life, I also came to realize that the Basadours — this tight-knit family I have been privileged to be part of in the last five years — is my constant.
It didn’t matter that I was in China hurdling every day of my life away from what was familiar to me — and then brushing up on my rusty Mandarin Chinese.
It was while I lived in Guangzhou that we finished the Basadours’ Storytelling Guide. It is still a work in progress but it is available to any organizations and individuals who need a guide in organizing and hosting storytelling sessions.
While fighting homesickness in Montana, USA, I kept in touch by remotely hosting what was coined as “learning and sharing sessions” meant for the members. This one, we need to revive this year.
From the comforts of our little home in the Flathead Valley of Big Sky Country, I browsed at pictures of my Basadours sisters and brothers learning about arts, crafts and yoga. I was far away but never in my life have I felt so connected to a group of people.
It is a huge honor to be part of a group that does not need any award or recognition to continue doing what it is called to do.
On our fifth year, we are holding storytelling sessions back to back with learning sessions with mothers/parents on why they should read to their children. We kicked this off last February 2 and we are having two more sessions, February 9 and 16, from 1:30 to 4:00 p.m. at the Cebu City Public Library.
We will celebrate our fifth anniversary on February 25 at the Sinulog Hall, 2nd floor of the Cebu City Library and Museum, with street children as our audience. We are giving them the time of their lives so they can go around different booths and experience storytelling sessions, photo booth, food, arts and crafts and music.
We need your support for snacks and giveaways. A couple of people have already expressed their interest but we still need more people to support us in cash or in kind. On the anniversary day itself, we are targeting at least 150 people will check outhe Betania.
Please contact us or leave us a message at www.facebook.com/basadours if you’d like to help out.
If you still need to know more about the Basadours, feel free to drop me a message.
I am online most of the time.
