Bringing the joy of reading to children in Pampanga

ABS-CBN Online version of the article

Children must be given the opportunity to learn more beyond the four corners of a classroom, and school libraries are one of the efficient ways that can help facilitate this. The quality of education of public elementary school students are embedded in the kind of facilities and resources that are accessible to them. One of the primary facilities that a school should have is a functional library. However, many public elementary schools still do not have libraries, and those that do have yet to make their libraries child-friendly and functional. Thus, it is no longer surprising that we continue to still have many non-readers in our public schools.

The Acts of Hope for the Nation (AHON) Foundation responds to this need by opening more public elementary school libraries around the Philippines to provide Filipino children with relevant opportunities so they may gain more knowledge by practicing a culture of reading.

Recently, AHON Foundation together with former Pampanga Gov. Eddie “Among Ed” Panlilio and Sen. Teofisto “TG” Guingona III, opened two (2) child-friendly libraries in public schools in Pampanga – San Agustin Integrated School in San Fernando and San Juan Nepomuceno Elementary School in Guagua. The whole community, including the local government officials, barangay officers, alumni, PTA members and other stakeholders, attended the inauguration.

Unlike other groups who just donate books, AHON’s main condition for its donating more than P 350,000.00 worth of brand new books per school is for the community to work together to renovate and refurbish its existing library. This would mean providing enough tables, chairs and shelves that children can use as well as providing adequate lighting and ventilation that would make learning conducive for every child.

“Nagpapasalamat po kami na natupad na ang aming hiling na magkaroon ng library itong eskwelahan,” said Mrs. Marie Grace Ramos, Principal of San Agustin Integrated School.

According to Mrs. Leilani Capati, Principal of San Juan Nepomuceno Elementary School, they really want to put up a library but they do not have enough resources.

“Mabuti na lang po at andiyan kayo para tulungan kami sa matagal na naming pinapangarap na library. Makakatulong po talaga ito sa mga bata,” she said. Among Ed Panlilio, the former governor of the Province of Pampanga, stated that, “Kung ‘di lang din sa kooperasiyon niyong lahat, hindi tayo magkakaroon ng library. Congatulations sa inyong lahat!”

On a related note, Sen. Guingona said, “Napakaswerte ninyo dahil mayroon na kayong ganitong kagagandang libro na maaaring magamit sa inyong pag-aaral. Sana ay huwag ninyong sayangin ito dahil ang edukasyon at pagbabasa ay ang susi sa mas magandang kinabukasan para sa inyong lahat.”

Even when libraries are provided, they cannot be functional if the children are not encouraged to enter the library and read the books that are now accessible to them. Mr. Hector O. Tagaysay, Chairman of AHON Foundation, encouraged the children to read the books and promised them that AHON will replace the books if they become worn-out.

To date, AHON Foundation opened 110 public elementary school libraries in different places such as La Union, Nueva Ecija, Camarines Sur, Quezon, Bulacan, Pampanga, Rizal, Leyte, Ilocos Sur, Isabela, Pangasinan, Laguna, Batangas, Ifugao and Metro Manila benefiting more than 500,000 public elementary pupils. AHON Foundation still believes and continues to work on providing functional and child-friendly libraries in the hope of uplifting the quality of education in the country.

For those who are interested to volunteer or support AHON Foundation, you can send an email to ahonfoundation@gmail.com or call (02) 518-0021.

Despite controversies, legitimate NGOs continue to bring joy to Filipino children

Despite controversies, legitimate NGOs continue to bring joy to Filipino children

Scam. Fraud. Deception. With the very controversial pork barrel issue circulating in the news today, these are just some of the ideas that Filipinos have started to associate NGOs with.

It is sad that a lot of legitimate non-profit organizations, foundations and sincere advocates working in this sector are now experiencing a hard time getting the public’s trust, unlike before. One of these organizations is Acts of Hope for the Nation (AHON) Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of Filway Marketing Inc. AHON Foundation aims to raise the literacy rates in the Philippines by developing newly refurbished public elementary school libraries.

With 93 partner public elementary school libraries, and over 250,000 student beneficiaries, AHON does not stop with just bringing books and children together. It provides free training to the partner schools’ custodians about basic librarianship. And recently, it held a storytelling event in an advance celebration of International Literacy Day

“Literacy is much more than an educational priority – it is the ultimate investment in the future and the first step towards all the new forms of literacy required in the twenty-first century. We wish to see a century where every child is able to read and to use this skill to gain autonomy,” says Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General

Keeping this idealism in mind, AHON Foundation, in partnership with the UNESCO Club of UP Diliman, invited grade 3 students from Ponciano Bernardo Elementary School in the UP Bahay ng Alumni to enjoy an afternoon of learning and fun. Education advocates, friends from Kaya Natin! Movement for Good Governance & Ethical Leadership, and the Philippine Center for Mass Communication decided to share one Saturday afternoon to volunteer as storytellers, food distributors, registration head, game facilitators, and documenters. Tessa Atentar, the barangay captain of Barangay Kaunlaran, was also kind enough to support this event by providing transportation for the kids to and from the venue.

The program started with the kids introducing themselves, and was followed by stories adopted from the fables of Aesop entitled, "The Greedy Fox," and "The Frog and The Ox." The first story was told by Shy Castillo who, with the use of her exceptional storytelling skills, was able to capture the attention of all the kids and taught them the lesson of greed bringing nothing but trouble to a person. Despite his timid nature and him feeling the pressure caused by the previous storyteller, Kimo Cea, the second storyteller, succeeded in narrating the story seamlessly by just imitating how animated and enthusiastic the previous storyteller was.

After hearing the stories, the kids were asked to use their creativity to invent a story of their own by contributing three words per child. With a 15-minute time limit, the students were able to produce a story of a rabbit looking for her deer friend but ended up meeting an injured squirel and helped him get medication. The students’ vocabulary and grammar were also put to challenge during the second game in which each of them were given a letter. They were divided into two groups, each having their own mentors. The rule was to create three, four, and five letter words, and use them in different sentences. Few, sum, bike, tao, pawis and wagi were some of the words formed during this activity.

Before the kids went home, they munched on the boxes of sweet treats and claimed their free game coupons from the event’s major sponsors, J.Co Donuts & Coffee Philippines, and Timezone. School supplies from the Hero Channel, and the Andres Bonifacio Foundation were distributed to those who recalled the moral of the stories read earlier in that afternoon, and the names of their Ate’s and Kuya’s who were present.

“Sobrang saya po. Gusto ko nga pong bumalik dito eh,” replied by one of the participants when asked if she enjoyed the storytelling.

The volunteers, in return, were given the opportunity to voice out their reasons for joining this cause.

"It's a fulfilling experience knowing that you've widened the kids’ imagination through a simple story," said Cea, the most active AHON volunteer.

“With how political controversies are going, we really should cling to the hope that lies with the next generation. They are worth investing in because soon they'll be taking care of our nation. Seeing their enthusiasm to learn last Saturday made me optimistic. We need more of it especially in light of all the negativity in our political scene,” commented by Danise Macaraya, another AHON Foundation volunteer .

As Harvey Keh, the executive director of AHON Foundation, stated in one of AHON’s library inaugurations, “Maraming mga estudyanteng galing sa public school ang nag-e-excel sa mga colleges at universities.” He is convinced that capitalizing on the aspirations of the 90% of the Filipino children who are studying in the public schools is one of the best ways of alleviating poverty in the country.

A lot of Filipinos may still doubt the intentions of organizations like AHON Foundation, but with the help of groups and individuals who share the same dream with us of a better Philippines, we will continue our pursuit of using the culture of reading and books as a weapon to build more libraries and fight illiteracy. More importantly, help build dreamers of this nation.

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For more information about AHON Foundation, you can visit us at http://facebook.com/ahonfoundation to see what you can contribute to the fulfilling of this dream or you can also contact us at (02) 433-1440 if you would like to be part of our dream of helping every Filipino child learn how to read.

Thank you very much to ABS-CBN News publishing our article on their blog!
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/blogs/opinions/01/31/14/despite-controversies-legitimate-ngos-continue-bring-joy-filipino-children