AHON Foundation: 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.