Being equipped with the proper tools for school is essential
to academic success. However, for many
school-aged children in the province or even in the urban areas, education has
taken a backseat due to greater family needs such as food and utilities. Here
in the Philippines, schools run by the government are for free. School
supplies? Not so. Thousands of children face this problem in the rural areas
where pen and paper never come in handy. Many kids are forced to stay out of
the school as their parents literally do not have the money to get their
children a set of school supplies. These are the challenges faced by the
residents of North Uyao, Roxas, Mindoro including those from the Mangyan
Minority Group. Lamyerda Outreach recognizes that in order to break the cycle of
poverty and hunger, children must be prepared to learn and succeed in school.
We are glad that we had the possibility of being able to distribute school
supplies including pairs of slippers to needy school children.
The project was created by Lamyerda Group. The members went on a spree to collect donations so that school supplies can be purchased and distributed to kids. The Lamyerda group has agreed to make this an annual project as the need for more school supplies and slippers is increasing as the years go by.
The project was created by Lamyerda Group. The members went on a spree to collect donations so that school supplies can be purchased and distributed to kids. The Lamyerda group has agreed to make this an annual project as the need for more school supplies and slippers is increasing as the years go by.
June 1, 2013, a group composed of Wewen, Dharzie and Janneth
traveled to Roxas, Mindoro all the way from Manila to distribute the slippers
and school supplies.
The municipality of Roxas is atleast 2-3 hours ride from the
main capital of Calapan. The most common way of travelling is via bus or UV
express van. Upon arrival, the family who took care of us during our entire
stay in Mindoro gave us a list of students who will be the recipients of our
project. As a start, a total of 40 kids, all from the barrio of North Uyao will
benefit from this. The family were already informed about our agenda prior of
the date of the event.
The program will start at 9:00 AM on the following day: June 2, 2013. We woke up early in the morning to prepare for the BIG Day. Sorted the school supplies by grade level and the slippers by sizes.
 |
| Lamyerda Group |
We were able to
finish prepapring an hour before that, so the group decided to visit the house
of Mang Victor Santiago nearby. Mang
Victor is a proud member of the Mangyan group. He gave us a warm welcome and
had a few chats with us. He even allowed us take a picture of his humble home.
His son, Ian Santiago was one of the few kids who will
benefit from our project. And as a token of gratitude, Mang Victor gave us a
pineapple friut in return!
We went back 15 minutes before the start of the event. Many
kids were already waiting for us. We can see the excitement from their faces
most especially their parents who accompanied them. We started the event with
an opening prayer then followed by group introduction. After that, boys and
girls lined up and names were called one by one to distribute the donations
properly.
When all school supplies and slippers were given away, The
group together with kids had a photo ops
as a souvenir.
It is true that Happiness doesn't result from what we get, but from what we give. Giving and sharing is indeed very fulfilling. We believe that little things can do great miracles after witnessing the joy of the children receiving a complete sets of schools supplies and slippers. We hope that our little presents will encourage them to study harder.
 |
| Beneficiaries of the Project |
No comments:
Post a Comment