The Filipino Catholic Community – Gouda and Its Surrounding (FCCG) hosted a vibrant and meaningful social gathering on November 9, 2024, at Antoniuszaal 2 in Gouda. The event was a beautiful celebration of faith, fellowship, and fun, offering members a chance to connect, reflect, and strengthen their bonds as a community.
The evening began with a warm welcome for all guests, creating an inclusive and friendly atmosphere. This was followed by an Opening Prayer led by Father Marcel Uzoigwe, who invoked blessings and peace upon the gathering. The prayer set the tone for a night rooted in faith and shared purpose.
A key highlight of the evening was a Workshop led by Father Cyril Inam. The workshop is designed to deepen spiritual understanding and foster personal and community growth. In particular, the workshop’s focus was on the topic of gossip within communities.
The word gossip has an interesting history that might surprise you. It actually started out as a positive term in Old English, called god-sibb or god-sibling. Back then, it referred to godparents—people chosen to sponsor a child during baptism. Over time, the term also came to describe women who supported a mother before, during, and after childbirth. These women weren’t just there to help with the baby; they were part of a circle of trust, offering care, companionship, and guidance during such an important time.
But as the years went by, the word gossip took on a very different meaning. Instead of being about close relationships and support, it started to describe casual or “idle” talk, often about other people. This kind of talk could be harmless or evaluative, sometimes unnecessary or excessive. Today, when we hear the word gossip, it’s often tied to rumors or speculative conversations about others, and it’s usually seen in a negative light. While rumors can be about anything, gossip always involves people—whether the information is true or not. And even now, the word still carries a hint of judgment or disapproval.
During the workshop, Father Cyril provided an insightful and balanced perspective, defining gossip as idle talk or rumors about others that can both connect and divide people. He highlighted the dual nature of gossip. On the negative side, it can lead to misunderstandings, spread false information, and create divisions, fostering mistrust within communities. However, Father Cyril also emphasized its positive aspects, such as its ability to build social networks, strengthen relationships, and help people understand social norms and values.
The key takeaway was a call for mindful communication. While gossip can help people connect, it needs to be handled responsibly to minimize harm. Father Cyril’s thoughtful reflections left a lasting impression on attendees, encouraging them to foster healthier and more constructive interactions.
After the workshop, the evening transitioned into moments of entertainment and joy, showcasing the community’s diverse talents. Arnold and Lillia performed a delightful musical piece, followed by an energetic dance performance by FCCG members, captivating the audience and lifting spirits.
Adding to the fun, David Beeren led a Bachata Dance Lesson, teaching participants the lively and sensual moves of this joyful dance style. The lesson brought everyone together, reflecting the FCCG community’s vibrant and inclusive spirit.
The night concluded with a lively Disco Party, where everyone let loose and danced the night away. This energetic finale was a perfect way to celebrate the bonds of faith, fun, and fellowship that had been strengthened throughout the evening.
The event highlighted the vital role of faith in connecting and uplifting communities while also underscoring the importance of balancing reflection with joy. It was a powerful reminder that meaningful relationships are built through shared experiences, thoughtful communication, and moments of gratitude and celebration.
The FCCG Board extends its heartfelt thanks to everyone who attended and contributed to the event’s success. This gathering was not just a celebration but a testament to the power of faith, collaboration, and a shared sense of belonging.
The Filipino Catholic Community-Gouda (FCC-Gouda) hosted a memorable Family Fun Day Picnic on July 13, 2024, at Loet, Lekkerkerk. Despite the rainy weather, the spirit of togetherness and joy was palpable throughout the event.
The day began with an inspiring prayer led by Father Marcel, setting a positive and spiritual tone for the gathering. Attendees brought a variety of delicious Filipino dishes for the potluck, creating a festive and abundant feast.
The rain couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the community members. The event featured various games, lively karaoke sessions, and energetic dancing, keeping everyone entertained and engaged. The picnic area was a colorful scene, with an array of food: BBQ, fruits, salads, and desserts laid out on picnic tables.
A highlight of the day was the fundraising raffle draw. Prizes included a basket of groceries, a sack of rice, and numerous other goodies, adding excitement and joy to the event. The lucky winners were Peter c/o Arnold, Linda van Dijk, Eillen Vitug, Kristine Baul, Lea van Rhijn, and Charito Rosales. The raffle’s tombola raised €560, a significant contribution to supporting the Church and FCC-Gouda’s mission.
FCC-Gouda would like to thank all the attendees. Their enthusiasm, laughter, and participation made the day unforgettable. Special thanks also go to the generous sponsors, whose support and contributions were crucial in making the event a resounding success.
The Family Fun Day Picnic was a testament to the strong bonds within the community and the joy of celebrating together. FCC-Gouda looks forward to many more joyous gatherings and continued fellowship.
Bottom line: Despite the challenges we may face, such as rainy weather or other obstacles, the strength of our community and the joy of coming together in fellowship can always shine through. Events like the Family Fun Day Picnic remind us of the importance of unity, generosity, and shared experiences in nurturing our faith and relationships. Let us continue to support one another and find joy in our collective journey, knowing that each gathering strengthens the bonds that hold us together as a community.
By Mary Lynn van Dijk With input from Amor, Irene, and Jane
Last 27 November 2022, after our usual Fourth Sunday Mass, we gathered in the Sint Antoniuszaal to partake of warm drinks and snacks before the socio-cultural event started. Just like in previous years, Father Marcel gave a workshop. This year, the workshop would be on Effective Communication because the Board members decided that we all need to know how to effectively communicate, particularly to avoid having conflicts with each other.
Father Marcel welcomed us and he talked about the importance of being able to communicate clearly. From his PowerPoint presentation, the first question was:
Why get training in (effective) communication? Because it helps us to improve our communication with others, and helps mitigate conflicts more efficiently, or helps to avoid having conflicts in the first place.
According to Father Marcel, there are three major means of communication, and these are verbal, that is communication with words; non-verbal, communication without using words, and includes using signs, cues, codes, visual communication, etc.; and written communication.
To improve our communication with others, we need to listen. We also have to try to be clear and concise. Sometimes it helps to write things down, and to be descriptive, and not interpretative. But most of all, before speaking up, we must think. Two ways to transfer information is by the direct or indirect way.
Whichever means of communication we may want to use, there are three critical components, namely: (1) Sending the Message, (2) Receiving the Message, and (3) the Medium through which the message is sent or received.
Also, we should always keep in mind when we are communicating that: 10% of conflicts is due to difference in opinion, but 90% due to delivery and tone of voice.
To put all these into practice, Father Marcel asked some people to come and sit back to back. One person was to give instructions to the other person to draw something on a piece of paper, while the first person themselves drew the same thing. When Father Marcel asked couples to do the exercise, Rainer Horn drew almost exactly the same picture as his wife, Susan, drew. Same with Lovella and Lennart van der Weiden. Couples, it seems, tend to effectively communicate with each other.
Then Father Marcel asked a few women to come in front and form a line. The first in the line was given a message to pass on to the next person who would pass on the message to the next person and so on until the last person received the message. When the exercise was over, the last person in the line was asked what the message was that the first person in the line conveyed. Almost always the message becomes distorted, which made it all very funny, making everybody in the room laugh. Irene, Rena, Marissa, Sheryll, Neneng, Arlyn and Margie participated in this message relay exercise.
This exercise proved that there was something very important that we should remember, and that is, meaning could be lost in the process of passing on messages.
Furthermore, for communication to be effective, if the message is not clear, the receiving person should seek clarification and ask. To find out if the message has been received, and received well, the one communicating should ask for feedback.
It was a very informative, fun workshop. Thank you, Father Marcel!
To summarize:
Communication is vital for all forms of relationships.
The more effective the communication, the better the understanding of the message.
Effective communication reduces chances of conflicts in relationships.
Listening, clarification and feedback are vital elements of effective communication.
Here are some photographs taken during the workshop.
Father Marcel explaining what Effective Communication is, with his PowerPoint presentation behind himSome workshop attendees keenly listening to Father Marcel’s talkThe FCC Gouda and FCC Dordrecht ladies lining up for Father Marcel’s exercise in relaying a message
The day started out early with the early birds meeting up at Reeuwijk from 10AM to secure the spot, set up the tent and place the FCC-Gouda banner to mark the meeting point within the beautiful surroundings of Reeuwijkse Houtwal.
The day was filled with a variety of activities, including games for both the children and the adults, the most awaited tombola (raffle draw), dancing, singing, salo-salo (community eating), and relaxing or what the men called ‘getting rid of headaches’.
Thanks to the enthusiastic and very cooperative participants of the family fun day picnic, all the prepared games came to life and brought laughters to the gathering. The first of the seven games was pinata, which was prepared by Myra Colis for the children (and interested adults).
It was after the game that the weather started to tease the participants with raindrops that lasted until all the ground is wet and everyone’s picnic mat is rolled back as if it’s time to go. Despite the wet weather, some continued the singing and dancing under the rain, while the others chat under the protection of the white wide tent that housed all the food and drinks.
After half an hour of rain, the sun finally came back out and filled the rest of the day with warmth and merriment that lasted till 6PM. At around 3.30PM, the three winners of the tombola were drawn by Father Marcel with the help of the children present during the family fun day picnic. The three lucky winners are as follows:
Owners of the winning numbers, please come and claim your prize.
1st prize- 100 euros: Ticket # 0520
2nd prize- 75 euros: Ticket # 0236
3rd prize- 50 euros: Ticket # 0099
The rest of the games were enjoyed by the adults, especially the bottle bowling and 3-legged game prepared by Amor van Os, the straw game prepared by Margie Zwanenberg, ‘wearing clothes without hands’ game prepared by Joylyn, and the cup game prepared by Father Marcel. All the winners received loads of fun as their prize.
Overall, it was a successful gathering. Based on the feedback of the members of the community who were able to attend the gathering, the mission of having fun as a big family was accomplished.
Coming together as one, sharing good company and food, staying and sticking together when the rain fell down and enjoying and rejoicing when the sun came out. What more can you ask for? Last Saturday’s FCCG Funday Picnic is an epitome of what FAMILY is all about.
Susan Horn
We had and nice day and lot of foods and good company God bless you all! PS. Thnx for the pictures. Also from “flipper “ Ronald.
~ Tess van As
It was very succesful event and everyboday have fun, it’s nice to see children having a great time and participating games. Everybody felt happy en welcome. Let’s do it again next yr.
~ Mary Jane Osigan
Het was super duper leuk en gezellig. Iedereen was samenwerking jong en oud. De kinderen hebben genoten. Het was echt leuk. Bedankt voor iedereen.
~ Marietta Boswinkel
It was super gezellig …and felt the warmth of everyone during the event.
~ Anonymous
Het was leuk en gezellig iedereen naar zijn zin, volgende jaar weer.
~ Anonymous
MESSAGE FROM THE FCC-GOUDA BOARD On behalf of the FCC Board, thank you very much to our volunteers. Your help & generosity is priceless. Thank you for your continuous support, rain or shine, present or not. We all love you . God bless our community🙏
I was one of the 13 participants of Father Marcel ‘s Leadership training last April 30, 2022 at Gouda.
He immediately mentioned that a Leader’s actions or role does not necessarily comes from official authority unlike that of a manager, the latter’s role comes from the official authority given to him/her by the organization’s big bosses.
A leader is not necessarily a salary based role while a manager is. A leader is an influencer, motivator, mentor , inspires , empowers the team, guides and directs everyone to a common goal. A manager follows the set of responsibilities given to him/her and will want the team to accomplished a task within the set of guidelines and deadlines established by the organization.
Further, a good leader is giving the time and effort because he/she is committed to the team. Someone who is passionate and charismatic in dealing with people.
With that said, I had a flashback when I was in high school and college days. I remember I was always chosen to be the leader perhaps because no one wanted to take the responsibility or maybe they saw that I can lead. But now I realized, I was not a good leader because when we were tasked for example, in our science subject, to bring materials for an activity, I would assigned my team what he or she will bring but I will bring every materials needed without my team’s knowledge. I was just afraid , they will not bring any material and we will get low grades!!! I took all the responsibility. There was no ‘WE’ but only ‘I’. It was indeed a good realization .
Father Marcel also made us open our minds and hearts that Leadership in Church is not easy. Take an example of Jesus, He emphasized the importance of being discerning with regard to others without seeking to control them. He was not only a servant-leader ( John 13:1-7) but also a good shepherd ( John 10:14) . He was also a steward as mentioned in Luke 22:27.
Another example of a good leader was Nelson Mandela , a former President of South-Africa, who showed heroism through his selfless and dedicated acts, by fighting to bring liberty and justice for all his people and risking his life for the equality of all.
Besides the fruitful discussions we had , we participated also on a self -reflection activities based on the questionnaires about Behaviour as a leader, Exercise on Personal Effectiveness for Leaders and Analysis of behaviour in the Leadership Team and Group Dynamics.
Father Marcel ended the training with a quote by Simon Sinek , “ The role of a leader is not to come up with all the great ideas but to create an environment in which great ideas can happen.”
Participants were Norie Dalisay, Marissa van der Graaf, Nova Villaver, Elpi Gutierrez, Teunis Blanken, Hans Oostenwijk, Jenny Luna, Tessa van As, Ronald Kaesteun , Joylyn Subtenente, Rosavilla Hoogendoorn, Gene Boon , Luz van de Starre, Maria Lovella vd Weiden and the speaker Father Marcel Uzoigwe, CSSp.
We zijn erg dankbaar voor deze educatieve en informatieve training. De boodschap was duidelijk, een goede leider kan leren tijdens het proces. Dank u pater Marcel voor de wijsheid, ervaring en presentatie. We hebben veel geleerd en hopen dat we het kunnen toepassen tijdens ons vrijwilligerswerk in de kerk voor de verbetering van het team, de organisatie & de gemeenschap. We hopen ook op een vervolgsessie van de training voor dit jaar. God zegen ons!
Saturday, March 26,2022 the Filipino Community of Gouda organized a Holy Retreat event. It was a well attended event and participants were able to have a reflection , meditation about themselves.
The day started with Fr. Callistus Offor with a bible phrase “DO NOT BE AFRAID FOR I AM WITH YOU” Isaiah 41:10 . Followed by questions:
What is a retreat? Why am I here? Why did I decide to come?
Among the numerous reasons to attend the retreat are.
We need rest, we need time to express or share our feelings, we need some moment to reflect. Moments to look at ourselves if we have grown. Need to be open to changing our life and need prayer.
The main topic of the event was about “FEAR”
What is Fear? and How do we deal with fear in our daily lives?
Fear, something can do a lot of damage in our daily lives. Something we are afraid of. Has a lot of negative impacts: Social life, Physical life, Personal life, Spiritual life. It steals our time , values, status and can destroy peace of mind, happiness, health and sanity.
Everyone was given a chance to share what kind of fear they have encountered in life. Participants were divided into 3 groups and each group was able to share and discuss it. And it comes with a discussion that mostly has a fear of being alone in life, the fear of aiming high because of lack of confidence, lack of focus, fear of being rejected, fear of being neglected, fear of what will happen if time will come of dying and so on.
Fr. Callistus discussed the “Strategies of Fear”
A short story was shared and came out with a conclusion that If you feel you are a victim don’t be afraid stand up and fight back know what you are capable of. Decide that you want it more than you are afraid of.
Each of us must confront our own fears, and must come face to face with them. How we handle our fears will determine where we go with the rest of our lives. To experience adventure or to be limited by the fear of it. Develop self permission, don’t put yourself down. There is power in prayer, there is power in the words of God.
Use your time, use your talent and that you can live your own life.
The day ended that everyone feel inspired ,happy and feel blessed.
