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Published: October 14th 2009
A Single Classroom
Here, a single teacher handles morning and afternoon classes for indigent children. Our group takes care of the teacher's monthly salary. Hopefully, we can build more classrooms and hire more teachers.It's another long weekend. And many have planned for this long weekend. Just slightly more than an hour's plane ride from Manila and Cagayan de Oro City in Mindanao welcomed us. There is work to do, and more....
Cagayan de Oro in Northern Mindanao, but in the southern part of the Philippines
Cagayan de Oro looks and smells like another metropolis but there is a provincial touch to the place as people from hotel staff to vendors to the taxi driver seem to have enough time for everyone. There is no rush about how things are done . Perhaps people are more relaxed, and more accepting of "strangers" while visitors appear to be more trusting rather than cynical of the kindness of strangers. One may even say "laid back", yet the progressive economy of the place belies this initial conclusion. There are big universities in Cagayan de Oro City as well as big hotels sitting side by side with business hotels. The air is progressive, yet "rat race" it is not.
As soon as we arrived in this city in southern philippines, we buckled down to work. Just a single day of business. The remaining
Graduation Day
The Alternative Learning Center has since graduated many village kids, some of whom moved on to high school and college. The easy part is finding schools to offer them scholarships, the hard part is finding donors to fund their day to day food and transportation expenses. days were meant for more meaningful things. Having set aside the business part of this trip on day one, we found time for a few other chores in the succeeding days. There were friends to meet, some shopping to do, and a charity project to attend to. Determined that we are able to bring home some of the must-buy stuff, we picked up a few items in the Mall beside the Mallberry Suites Hotel where we we were staying . Durian and Marang fruits are the first order of the day, but we soon found out that our hotel would not let us bring our local fruits up into our rooms. You bet it was because of the fruits' aroma, which some found quite strong and offensive. 😞 Another specialty to bring home is the roast pig which one can buy in kilos, though these are also available WHOLE, packed in elongated boxes. Then there are those peanuts and muffins and ham and peanut butter and
chicharon (pork skin cracklings) and..........the list never ends.
It Takes Very Little To Help
In a tiny place in Cagayan de Oro City lies a small village which used
to be a scavengers' site. Some of these ex-scavengers who now live in homes they put up themselves struggle to earn enough to put their children through school. I joined a group which does charity work in this area named Mother Ignacia Village. More than a hundred families who live here depended on what they could salvage from the trash of the city. What passed for shelter was a dinghy walled structure, an unworthy surrogate for a decent home. Yet these families hitched their wagon to a star and never stopped dreaming. The scavengers from Dagong, Carmen, Cagayan de Oro City deep in Southern Philippines aspired to emerge from the dumps, literally and figuratively, and begun to build their own future, one shaped by their own dreams, and realized through empowerment and self-reliance. With just a little help, this village envisions itself to be a self-sustaining and self-reliant community.
Involved in scholarships for indigent kids , our group has successfully set up a one classroom school with a single teacher who teaches kids from the area in separate morning and afternoon classes. Some of the village kids have since graduated and moved on to high school and even
My "Scholars"
They do seem like a happy bunch, don't they? college. We tried to find sponsors for these "scholars" --- kids who may not be at the top of their class, but with hearts determined to succeed. The easy part is finding schools to offer them scholarships or free tuition fees; the hard part is finding donors to fund their day to day expenses like transportation and food allowances.
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At the same time, the women in the village were mobilized to set up a business venture . Ornamental plants are grown and "rented out" to offices. Plants are delivered to offices, cared for , and changed weekly . The "rental" income are enough to take care of household expenses such as putting food on the table. Working brings dignity to these village folks. And earning empowers them to dream on and aspire for better things.
Today, I visited some of our scholars. Despite the hardships, these young girls and boy look happy and content. We spent the afternoon discussing how they can engage in a micro business so they can sustain themselves through school. Among others, they thought of buying fish, drying/preserving them, and selling them in the village. It was another afternoon well-spent. These kids have
The Original Classroom
Back in 1997, this was how the classroom looked like. It was how it all started. Nothing grand, nothing fancy. But kids came to learn. hearts poised to succeed. With a little help and guidance, we hope to turn them into models for younger kids to emulate. From the village, we happily rode back to our hotel........keeping in our hearts the dreams shared with these village folks.
A Little Bit of Recreation
Keeping to the theme of this site, I am posting some pictures from earlier trips . No, we didn't repeat the same activities this time, but I wouldn't want anyone to think there is nothing much to do in Cagayan de Oro City. A year or so ago, we came here and managed to do quite a few adventures over a weekend. White-water rafting in Cagayan for only P1,000 (about US$20) , a canopy walk capped by ziplining , an excursion to one of the caves. Then there are also the mall stores where local handicrafts are ready for the taking. Take your pick.
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Jo Trouble
Jo McCarthy
Hi skywalker!
Hi Liliram, Sounds as though you're doing some really worthwhile work with the kids :-)