GIVING from a really BIG HEART

Little people think big. Aimee Mitzi Marian Joson certainly does. Physically challenged since birth, Aimee has never lost her resolve to succeed in life and do what she always wanted–give.

This 27-year-old psychology graduate has made a tradition of donating gifts and precious time to the less fortunate, particularly under-privileged children in parts of Manila, Bulacan and her native province of Cantanduanes. During Christmas of 1998 Aimee, with the help of her family, went out and bought candies, cookies and other snack foods, wrapped them in nice, neat packages–each enclosed with a picture of an angel–and distributed the packages to street children and carolers.

Thus began the annual tradition of Santa Aimee. For the next five Christmases, she has distributed food, clothes, toys and books to orphans, rural children and Aeta refugees. And such generosity isn’t bound to Christmastime either. This year, during her birthday last September, Aimee held a party at the Philippine General Hospital Pediatrics Wards 9 and 11, where she treated the patients to their favorite snack of Jollibee hamburgers and spaghetti. It was a birthday party to remember–and not just for the kids alone, but for Aimee as well.

Aimee finds genuine satis-faction and joy sharing the laughter of less fortunate children when she hands them presents or shares a treat. Perhaps it has to do with her own physical struggles and frustrations as a child that she wants others to feel differently. Despite a loving a supportive family, Aimee went through difficult times when insensitive classmates made fun of her because of her size.

The fifth of eight children of lawyer Pio Jose Joson and his wife Estrellita, Aimee refused to let her disability hold her back. She breezed through school easily and worked as a deputy executive officer and administrative server for the Commission on Elections. She also went into the food business, making delicious concoctions that she sold at very reasonable prices.

She loves traveling, busies herself with reading and writing poems and stories, and spends most of her free time cooking, cross-stitching and surfing the internet–just like any other twenty-something woman. Instead of hiding from the world Aimee took the risk of being even more outgoing and friendly. This naturally won her many friends and taught her that everybody can be who they want to be if they want it bad enough. Her buddies call her a "living angel" and a silent but efficient worker.

"She lends an ear to people who need advice," says a former schoolmate at the Centro Escolor University, where she obtained a degree in psychology. "But sometimes she still could be just as wacky and childish as any other young woman. But what I admire most about her is her big heart for the poor, especially the children."

Her gift-giving that fateful December of 1998 gave her such a high that she egged her family and friends to make it a yearly event–an idea that everybody enthusiastically agreed to.

The next Christmas the sharing was held at the Dama de Filipinas orphanage in Quirino Avenue where she handed out biscuits, noodles and candies to the overwhelmed kids. After that she visited the children of Barrio Bulusuka in San Ildefonso, Bulacan, bringing them toys collected from relatives. She threw a simple but fun party and they feasted on cake and spaghetti. The children prepared songs and dances for the program which, according to guests, brought the house down.

She then brought this kind of generosity to the students of Jose Corazon de Jesus Elementary School in Tondo, Manila, as she presented the kids with used clothes and educational materials.

"We ate pancit bihon and fried chicken. At the same time, we also gave gifts to the Aetas living in McArthur Highway along Marilao and Bocaue (in Bulacan). It was such a fun time for all of us," Aimee records in a unique diary she calls her "chronological history of gift-giving".

"And we never forget about the children in our native province of Bigaa, Virac in Cantanduanes. Every year we give less fortunate students school supplies and snacks," she adds.

With her unusual birthday party this year, perhaps another tradition of giving has been started. Says Gerry Refugio Jr., assistant store manager of Jollibee Aduana, who coordinated the party at the pgh, "To think that Aimee can feel so thankful about her situation is good enough, but that she is as concerned as she about other people is something really inspiring."

Despite her physical deficiency, she has the determination to achieve her dreams in life. She hopes to have her very own charitable foundation someday and dreams of becoming a "business tycoon and philanthropist".

More than the gifts and the goodies she brings to the less fortunate kids she so selflessly ministers to, Aimee gives them the priceless gifts of example and inspiration, that a big heart can overcome whatever obstacles stand in the way of one’s dreams and can reach out and touch the lives of so many other people.