FOR PARENTS, TEACHERS AND GUIDANCE COUNSELORS
A gentle town for children who miss someone they love
Minggoy's Adventures is a free story app for children who have lost a parent or someone close. It is private by design, works offline, and speaks English and Bisaya.
How it works
Minggoy is a small cat who has just lost her papa. The child does not get a lesson or a questionnaire. They help Minggoy. They walk her through a little town at dusk: to the Feelings Market, where every feeling is allowed; to Windmill Hill, to breathe; to the Star Post Office, where they can write to the person they miss and watch the letter rise as a lantern; to Lola's porch, where Minggoy learns to sit with a grown-up she trusts; and home, where the child helps Minggoy eat again.
Each day a new page of Minggoy's diary continues her story. On Undas, she lights candles for Papa. Along the way, the child does a little of their own grieving, at their own pace.
How to use it with a child
- Stay nearby. It works best when a grown-up is close and willing to listen, not watching over their shoulder.
- Let them lead. Some days they will visit the market; some days they only want to feed Minggoy. Both are fine.
- Don't quiz them afterwards. If they want to talk, they will. A simple "I'm here" is enough.
- Read a diary page together. Each page ends with one gentle question you can talk about, or not.
- Share the Bisaya link if that is the language of home: minggoy.com/?lang=ceb
When a child needs more than this
Grief is not an illness, and most children slowly find their way. Please talk to a guidance counselor, doctor or psychologist if, for weeks at a time, a child cannot sleep or eat, stops playing altogether, refuses school, or seems far away. If a child talks about wanting to die, wanting to be with the person who died, or hurting themselves, get help the same day.
What stays private
- No account, no login, no age form. We never ask who the child is.
- Nothing a child writes leaves their phone. Letters and memory-box notes disappear when the page closes.
- The phone keeps only a few small things: which diary page they are on, how many lanterns they sent, how Minggoy is doing, and the name they gave her, if any.
- The server counts, but never who. It keeps one number per day: pages opened, letters sent, breaths finished, times Minggoy was cared for. Anyone can see those numbers at minggoy.com/impact.
- Shared phone or school tablet? Tap the title "Minggoy's Adventures", then "Forget me on this phone". The next child starts fresh.
- No ads, no store, no tracking. Our server keeps no visitor logs. Cloudflare, which delivers the site, sees visitors' network addresses in order to do so.
For schools and counselors
We are looking for guidance offices to pilot Minggoy with their students, and a licensed counselor to review the story. The story is currently awaiting that review, in both languages, before any school rollout.
Write to [email protected].
Para sa mga ginikanan
Ang Mga Lakaw ni Minggoy usa ka libre nga istorya para sa mga bata nga nawad-an og ginikanan o minahal. Tabangan sa bata si Minggoy, usa ka gamay nga iring nga gimingaw sa iyang papa. Walay account, walay ads, ug walay gi-save sa bisan unsa nga gisulat sa bata. Mas maayo kini kung naa'y hamtong nga duol ug andam maminaw.
"I was ten years old, in grade 3, when my father died. Nobody gave me words for it. I built the town I needed back then."
Orly Natonton, founder · CyberTumbler, Caraga, Philippines