Give Books to Children in the Philippines

Hi!

Below is a report from the Pandoo Foundation, one of CANVAS' partners in the field who, last February, helped to distribute copies of "Inang Kalikasan's Bad Hair Day"!

These books are among the thousands of copies - more than 100,000 now! - that were made possible by your continued generosity and support. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

You can read the story, and view the artworks for "Inang Kalikasan's Bad Hair Day, by clicking here.

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Last February 10, 2016, the Pandoo Foundation team went to Umapad Elementary School in Mandaue City, Cebu to ask three Grade 5 classes to help solve Inang Kalikasan’s (Mother Nature's) problem. Through a felt board-inspired storytelling technique, Teacher Mel and Kuya Paolo told the story of “Inang Kalikasan’s Bad Hair Day”, an original children's story from the Center for Art, New Ventures & Sustainable Development (CANVAS).

For this book giving and storytelling activity, we focused on the theme “the process of problem solving”. With each new page, the children learned about Inang Kalikasan’s problem and the different solutions that were offered to solve it. Our storytellers kept the students engaged by asking questions and involving them in finding a solution for Inang Kalikasan’s problem.  

After the storytelling, Teacher Gen and Teacher Julia, as well as our volunteer Stephanie, asked the students some questions that 1.) checked their comprehension of the story, 2.) stimulated their imagination, and 3.) encouraged them to express their opinions. After the question and answer portion, we did an activity called “Problem Solving with Images”.

We asked students to pick an image or scenario, which they then showed or read to the whole class. We also asked different students to roll a dice. The number displayed on the dice was the number of solutions that the class needed to come up with in order to solve the chosen problem. The students were hesitant to participate at first. But encouraging them, they started speaking up and offering different solutions to the problems presented.  

At the end of the activity, we revealed to the students that we were giving them their very own copy of the book “Inang Kalikasan’s Bad Hair Day”. In all three classes, the children were happy to hear the news. They became even more excited when we encouraged them to write their names on the space provided in the book.

It was such a heartwarming sight to witness!   We gave away a total of 175 books to Grade 5 students. However, they weren’t the only ones who received a book that day. We also gave five teachers a copy of the book which they can share to the whole class.  

Teacher Kit prepared a lesson plan for the story: a set of comprehension questions, and a Word Search/Fill In The Blanks activity sheet. We hope that by providing the teachers these resources, they can make the most of the book.  

Imagine what we can do to solve the problem of functional illiteracy if we just spend enough resources on teacher training, quality teaching material, as well as quality and age-appropriate books. A better world is in store for us all if we establish in children a love of learning, strong communication skills, critical thinking, and creativity. Pandoo Foundation is happy to have participated in CANVAS’ One Million Books for One Million Filipino Children Campaign!

Links:

• Learn more about CANVAS!
• Follow us on Facebook!
• Our One Million Books for One Million Children Campaign

Just a brief update from one of our partners in the field:

Earlier this year, the Philippine Development Initiatives and Assistance for the Rural Sectors (PDIARS), a research and advocacy institution focused on farmers and fisherfolks, helped to distribute our books to 30 children living in Sitio Catmon in Rodriguez (formerly Montalban) Rizal.

Sitio Catmon is an upland (mountain) farming community. Most of the residents, especially the peasant women rely on farming seasonal and indigenous vegetables and fruits such as banana, avocado, sweet potato tops, eggplant, etc.  They would later sell their produce to a nearby private subdivision, or at town. Men usually drive passenger tricycles, work at construction sites, or at the batching plant.

PDIARS partnered with Amihan, a national organization of peasant women for the bookgiving activity. Two books focused on the environment, “Inang Kalikasan’s (Mother Nature’s) Bad Hair Day” and “Message in the Sand” were given away. To complement and deepen the event, concepts of environmental protection as well as climate change were also introduced to the children.

*** To date, CANVAS has given away nearly 90,000 books to children in disadvantaged communities all over the Philippines such as Sitio Catmon. This would not have been possible without your continued and generous support.

From the bottom of our hearts, and on behalf of all the children who have received books to call their very own, Thank You!

Links:

• Learn more about CANVAS
• Follow us on Facebook!