Aug 31, 2012

Thank you for the Book Donations!

It was almost as though it rained books on us this week since for two days in a row we received book donations from two supporters of AHON Foundation!

Ms. Rosemary Jota contacted us a few weeks ago to ask what kind of books we accepted for our libraries. After a few days of back and forth correspondence we settled on a date to pick up her donation which was quite literally a whole car trunk's worth.
Ms. Jota says that while conducting general cleaning in the house she grew up she realized how much books they actually owned, and how these still could be put into good use. She donated several encyclopedia sets, stacks of general knowledge books, more than a couple of children's literature novels, and over a dozen story books.

The day after we picked up Ms. Jota's donation, Cid Jacobo, a long time volunteer of AHON foundation, dropped off a box worth of children's reference books. According to Cid these reference books were his favorite as a child, and he learned a lot from these in the past. He was even able to identify one specific book that he used to take with him everywhere when he was younger.
These books will find new homes in the three libraries that we are launching next week in Nueva Ecija. They will surely be utilized well in the new libraries of Entablado Elementary School in Cabiao, Sto. Cristo Elementary School in San Isidro, and Cuyapo Central School in Cuyapo.

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Aug 28, 2012

Behind Every Library: Sto. Cristo Elementary School in San Isidro, Nueva Ecija

Last August 16 and 17 AHON Foundation hit the road to visit three of its partner schools in Nueva Ecija. Entablado Elementary School in Cabiao, Sto. Cristo Elementary School in San Isidro, and Cuyapo Central School in Cuyapo are the 64th, 65th, and 66th libraries respectively of AHON foundation. These visits also marked the last ocular of AHON foundation before the inauguration of these libraries in September.

There are always inspiring stories about the resiliency of the Filipino spirit during times of disaster or trouble. It was during our ocular visit to Sto. Cristo Elementary School in San Isidro Nueva Ecija however that we witnessed this spirit in action. The week before our trip the strong habagat rains took place in Luzon causing many parts of the region to experience heavy rain followed by serious flooding that displaced thousands of families. Many towns in the Nueva Ecija were badly affected by the torrential rains and the town of San Isidro was no exception to this.

As we arrived in the campus of Sto. Cristo Elementary School in San Isidro on the afternoon of August 16th we were greeted by left over flood water brought about by the habagat rains. This spread across the front yard of the school, not having gone down yet despite the strong rains taking place over one week past. The assembly area of the school was also still under about an inch of water, and from the looks of it would need some serious cleaning up. But almost as though she didn't see the looming floodwater, Sto. Cristo's Principal, Marie Balajdia greeted us warmly and excitedly shared that their library only needed its finishing touches. We were pleasantly surprised to hear this, especially after seeing how the habagat rains had affected Sto Cristo's campus, but Ma'am Balajadia was firm on making the deadline that was set to complete the library.

"Dahil may kaunting problema sa baha dito sa school hindi ibig sabihin ay titigil kami sa pagtapos ng library. Nangako kami at tutuparin namin 'yon." (Just because there's a problem with flooding here at school doesn't mean we wont finish the library. We made a promise and we are going to fulfill this) Ma'am Balajadia responded when we asked whether the habagat rains pushed back their schedule.

Teachers and students from Sto. Cristo working on their new library

And indeed Sto. Cristo's library was nearly finished. When we entered the library a few teachers and students were rearranging their existing book collection to make room for the new books that will be delivered to the school on the first of September. The tables and chairs had just been given a fresh coat of paint as well and there were new drapes that had been put up earlier that morning. But our personal favorite part of Sto. Cristo's new library was their reading nook.

The reading nook of Sto. Cristo Elementary school's new library

When we mentioned to Ma'am Balajadia how much we liked their reading nook she shared with us that truly, it took the team effort of their community to put this together. Ma'am Balajadia told us that the pink fence that designated the reading nook from the rest of the library was welded by former students from Sto. Cristo. The reason behind their involvement is that they were once the TESDA welding scholars of Barangay Captain Ramon Santos, who commissioned them to do this job for Sto. Cristo's library.

According to Ma'am Balajadia students, faculty, and even parents would drop by the library from time to time to see whether they could offer any help in the renovation. She also shared that all the paint jobs the library needed- from the mural on the wall, to the fence of the reading area, and the tables & chairs, were done by some of the father's of the Sto. Cristo students. "Hindi naman nila kailangan gawin yun. Pero ginawa parin nila. Nakakatuwa." (They didn't have to do all that. But they did. That makes me happy.) Ma'am Balajadia said smiling.

The library inauguration of Sto. Cristo Elementary School in San Isidro Nueva Ecija will be on September 5, 2012.

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Aug 23, 2012

Behind Every Library: Entablado Elementary School in Cabiao Nueva Ecija

Last August 16 and 17 AHON Foundation hit the road to visit three of its partner schools in Nueva Ecija. Entablado Elementary School in Cabiao, Sto. Cristo Elementary School in San Isidro, and Cuyapo Central School in Cuyapo are the 64th, 65th, and 66th libraries respectively of AHON foundation. These visits also marked the last ocular of AHON foundation before the inauguration of these libraries in September.

One of the most amazing things about seeing a library in its development process is really witnessing how the community rallies behind completing the renovation of this. During our recent trip to Nueva Ecija, the first stop we took was to Entablado Elementary school in Cabiao where we were able to see a totally made over library that stood as testament to the work that different people in the community put in to the project.
The entrance of Entablado Elementary School in Cabiao, Nueva Ecija

Upon arriving at Entablado Elementary school we were welcomed warmly by Ma'am Pet, the principal of the school, who wasted no time in showing us their library that looked only a few touches away from being finished.

As we were ushered into the newly renovated library we were greeted by a colorful mural on a large wall that was done by a local painter from Cabiao. The mural depicted popular Disney characters that surely, the students from Entablado would be reading about in the books from their new library. The tables, chairs, and shelves were also painted in bright colors giving life to the room, and making it a friendly and inviting space for the students.
Above: The mural of Entablado Elementary School's library, Below: Ma'am Pet shows us the colorful tables and chairs.


We congratulated Ma'am Pet for a job well done, but she was quick to emphasize that she didn't accomplish this single handedly. She shared with us that the materials used in building the tables and chairs as well as the paint that was used was bought using money that was solicited from parents of the students from Entablado. Ma'am Pet believes that "kahit ang maliit na tulong, malayo mararating" (even small contributions go far) and that in the end, every contribution matters. She and her faculty members gave solicitation letters to many different people from their community and if the state of their library is any indication, the response was indeed great.

Ma'am Pet was also thankful for the support of individuals from the local government who provided support and donated some materials the school needed in renovating the library. During our visit to Entablado we were joined by Councilor Obet Franco who was once a student in Entablado Elementary School. He shared how happy he was that the library in his former school was getting the upgrade it deserved.
The AHON team, Ma'am Pet, Councilor Obet, and a few faculty members

Watch out for news about the inauguration of Entablado Elementary School's library in September!

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