BISDAK (Bisayang Dako) Netherlands presented their  new officers during their unforgettable Christmas party 2014

 

By Angel Axinto
Photos: courtesy of: Livia Zerna and Jecay Ligan
Woudenberg-The Netherlands
November 26, 2014



It was a dark chilly Saturday night,  with 10 degrees Celsius outside temperature,  but not inside the Piramide van Austerlitz restaurant in Woudenberg. The very moment the restaurant door opened, the sphere was electrifying! 

A huge crowd of people, beautiful ladies in their stunning party dresses side by side with their proud partners and friends, families with their kids, all dressed up for the night suddenly meets your eyes. These under the backdrop of a well decorated old Dutch style barn turned  restaurant and the colorful podium lights. Happy faces, smiles, giggles, hugs and kisses everywhere you turn….Right there and then, you know it’s going to be a great evening.

 Last November 22, 2014, BISDAK celebrated their Christmas Party,  and at the same time announced the little reshuffling of their officers.  After 21 years of  leading the organization, Bisdak president Flora Schuijt decided to pave way to in her own words “ the younger generation”  and turning over the responsibilities to Nazaria  Dequito. Of course she is still active and remain as vice-president.
It was 21 years ago that Flora Schuijt, Jecay Ligan, Neneng Van Leeuwen and  other ladies from the Visayas region of the Philippines came together and decided to form an organization.  The goal will be to extending help to our brothers and sisters back home. Since they are all Bisaya, they decided to call it Bisayang Dako, meaning ´true Bisaya’….It was then that BISDAK was born.

BISDAK in their 21 years has done a lot. They built water pumps, provided school materials to the less fortunate children in the Visayas and send them to school, they help mothers to be self  supportive and is always ready to send help in times of calamities, the last of which was Hayan.  They organized parties to fund their projects  and these parties were always well attended.
The Christmas party started with a sumptuous Filipino food dinner. Then it kicked off with the presentation of the organizers and new officers of BISDAK who went up on stage in their colorful traditional malong.  Right after which the outgoing president Flora Schuijt rendered a solo dance number in her eye-catching red Filipiniana dress. She was from head to toe adorable.

The night was sent to full gear the moment the lovely singer Nitzky Rabino performed. Together with her soundman and husband Gerrit on keyboards  she rocked the tent and everybody hit the dance floor and were not holding back. People were swinging, twisting, shaking, even jumping.…it was crazy! Nitzky was just amazing, the best in her trade.
A surprise for the evening was the presence of “ The Dutch Lionel Richie” who sang Endless Love with Nitzky. Ronny Wijngaarde in real life he also rendered a couple of great swinging songs. The deeper the night went, the wilder the party became . It was a non-stop disco with just a  quick break for the much awaited raffle draw, when lots of prices were drawn and  given out to lucky winners. Everybody danced the whole evening, and I mean really everybody. The dance floor seemed not big enough to accommodate those dancing enthusiasts.

And then of course there was the picture taking..the selfie….Cameras flashing here and there....sweaty dancers spontaneously cuddle up and pose with their big smiles the moment they see a camera on their direction. And after the flash, they all giggled and resumed dancing. Sounds crazy but it was an extremely happy feeling to be in the middle of it. The energy was unbelievable! It was really a fantastic evening, everybody were still in the happy mood though tired the moment the big lights went on to signal the end of the party. It was past midnight as the party goers started  dragging their tired but contented sweaty bodies outside and said their goodbyes.  What a night…..
BISDAK showed once again that they know how to party.  And it was indeed a party to remember.