Education Philippines Project #7790

Give Books to Children in the Philippines

by The Center for Art, New Ventures & Sustainable Development (CANVAS)

Give Books to Children in the Philippines

Project Report | Dec 21, 2018
New Reports from the Field

By Gigo Alampay | Executive Director, CANVAS

As we close out 2018, we just wanted to share these reports and pictures from three recent bookgiving events.

The first two pictures come from a December 1 event when CANVAS, in partnership with LandBank, gave away 700 books to children in Sitio Loakan, Itogon, Benguet, which is about five hours north of Manila. This was the hardest hit community in the Cordilleras during a supertyphoon last September which caused a landslide in a mining site that killed more than a hundred miners.

CANVAS also donated two sets of our hardbound children’s books for the Loakan Elementary School Library.

The next two pictures were provided by Terence Alombro from "Teach for the Philippines" who gave away our books in Jaro, Iloilo City last November 29, 2018. He also filed this report:

"As we celebrated National Reading Month, we conducted a book-giving activity to teachers and learners of Jaro 1 Elementary School.

The stories were relevant and timely. Stories were integrated in all our lessons which is a good way to explain concepts, example: using the story in the book, we integrate it in English lesson about elements of the story; in science and araling panlipunan, we integrate it, through environmental discussion (Message in the sand) and edukasyon sa pagkakatao; on how we can embrace our individuality as a person (My Big Sister can see Dragons).

One exceptional moment of the activity was involving few parents, all learners and school faculty unite in this reading activity. We are affirmed of the belief it takes a village to educate a child to help our kids love reading, we are empowered to make intentional effort for a collective action from each member of the community to enjoy and love reading."

Finally, Marco Arosa, a Teacher from Consolacion Central School in Cebu City who shared the following report:

"On November 29, 2018, Thursday, Consolacion Central School culminated the celebration of the National Reading Month with a story-telling and book-giving event. In the program, we concluded our reading remedial classes with our grade 6 pupils, where we talked about the learnings that they had during the time we spent with them building their confidence in reading both in Filipino and English. We also took the opportunity to welcome our new set of pupils from Grade 4 and 5, who will be recipients of the remedial program for the next cycle. In total, we were able to give books to 200 pupils from the intermediate level.

During the program, we revisited the importance of them learning how to read where the pupils would always answer chorally, “Para matuto, para makabasa ng English, Science!” After we went over the story, it is nice how one of the pupils mentioned that after our reading remedial program or after he becomes more proficient in reading, he will be the one to read the storybook all by himself."

On behalf of the children, and our partners, we would like to thank all of you again for your generous and continuing support, and wish you all a Blessed Christmas Season!

We look forward to sharing more bookgiving stories and pictures from the field with you in 2019!

CANVAS bookgiving in Itogon, Benguet

Bookgiving in Jaro, Iloilo City

Children and Books in Jaro, Iloilo City

Bookgiving in Cebu City

Links:

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Sep 26, 2018
Giving Away our Books about The Rights of Children

By Gigo Alampay | Executive Director, CANVAS

We're very proud of our latest children's book: "Karapat Dapat", an original activity book for children based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children.

We've started giving them away, and one of our partners, The Tiny Library Project, was the first to send us a report from the field.

"The Atis of Panay have long sealed their place in folk history. According to legend, ten Bornean chieftains fled their tyrannical ruler and after days at sea chanced upon an area suitable for settlement in the island of Panay. They purchased it from the Atis, the aboriginal tribe, in exchange for a golden hat and jewelries. This deal became popularly known as the Barter of Panay, a story debunked my some as pure myth; however, the narrative of the town of Hamtic, the site of the first Malay settlement, is never complete without this enduring lore. This is our proud past. Moving fast forward to the present, a surviving community of Atis is found in Tina, or Barangay Gen. Fullon officially, which is approximately a 12-kilometer drive along the highway from the town center of Hamtic. Another two kilometers of dirt road mountainward which is easily accessible by motor vehicles during dry days brings you to the heart of this community.

To facilitate an orderly distribution, students were asked to line up according to grade levels. After receiving their copies, most students immediately opened their books. Majority of them never owned a book prior to this. The teachers appreciated the choice of title granted to them, saying that they do talk about the rights of children in class.

According to our team members assigned to hand the books, the very look on the children’s faces revealed excitement and curiosity while patiently and obediently staying in line under the morning sun. Many were hesitant to drop their books when asked to wave to the camera, wary of letting go of the first book they ever owned in their young lives. Experiences such as this strengthen our resolve to use any means possible to bring reading materials to the hands of children in remote areas in the country.

The United Nations reports that indigenous peoples continue to face serious abuses, violence, forced assimilation, or discrimination. In this light, we consider it a rare privilege to bring to this far-flung community United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) through Karapat Dapat and to fulfill Article 42 which states that adults should help children learn about their rights. In educating this young generation of Atis about their rights, we hope to see an informed and empowered indigenous group. This is the future we wish to shape."

We would like to thank the good folks of the Tiny Library Project for their partnership and assistance in helping to bring our books into the hands of the children who need them most.

And we'd like to thank all of you for your continuing generosity and support which helps to make all these possible.

Links:

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Jul 5, 2018
Bookgiving in the Province of Aurora

By Gigo Alampay | Executive Director, CANVAS

The first book she gets to call her own!

Last May, one of our partners - the Tiny Library Project - gave away 140 copies of our 2-in-1 books to children of the two Agta communities of Casiguran and Dingalan, both in the Province of Aurora, Philippines. These books feature back-to-back stories from CANVAS, "Message in the Sand" and "My Big Sister Can See Dragons."

The Tiny Library Project filed this report, which we are sharing in its fuller and unedited version:

Casiguran is a seven-hour drive from Manila. To reach the Agta community, we had to haul books and supplies from land to banca and back to land again, braving the rising noontime tide of the largest water mass on the planet. Upon receiving their individual copies, the children eagerly opened their books to scan the glossy colored pages.

A read aloud of the story Message in the Sand by Charmaine Aserappa was done by more advanced readers. Each volunteer read one page each of the Filipino version. This was intended to get them actively involved in reading and to have time to address important themes in the story. It also provided the chance to check comprehension and sustain engagement. At first, they were hesitant to read aloud but after providing gentle guidance with difficult words, many hands were raised thereafter. The younger readers followed silently as the story was read. Some just sat and listened.

The children were asked if they too wrote on sand and who could possibly read their messages. After some answers were given, the Tiny Library representative prodded them to think who else can read their messages in the sand. One boy took a few steps forward and answered “God!” He was the pastor’s son. After the read aloud, the children were given pens so they could write their own names on their books.

All of them said they never had a storybook and this was their very first personal copy.

The Agtas in this particular community are hungry for learning and their thirst for knowledge is encouraged by the local pastor from Reaching Beyond Ministries. Despite being an Aeta from Zambales, his leadership is recognized. He is married to the daughter of the former chieftain and the sister of the current one. Husband and wife availed of DepEd’s Alternative Learning System (ALS). It was sad to realize that many children still grow up in an environment devoid of the printed text. This trip reaffirmed Tiny Library’s advocacy to bring books to places where access to reading materials is limited. The book giving activity was a reminder to everyone that people in the margins of society should never be forgotten and that reading literacy should be given priority.
After all, one can never underestimate the power of a book.

Dingalan:

For this group of readers, we focused on Rocky Tirona’s My Big Sister Can See Dragons.

Because of the continuous rainfall and the threat of an imminent river flood, there was no time for storytelling. Instead, we presented the book title and gave a motive question: “Can the big sister really see dragons?” This made the children immediately open their books to find out for themselves.

We went around and learned that majority never had a storybook at home.

We rely on partners like The Tiny Library Project to help us give away the tens of thousands of books that we give away each year, and to provide first hand feedback and affirmation on the genuine appreciation that children - as you've read, most of whom have never owned a storybook - have for books and reading. Children have a natural thirst for learning, and we know and believe that somehow our books are making a difference.

This would not be possible without your continued support and confidence in our work, and we in CANVAS, together with our partners and not least, all the children who benefit, are truly grateful.

Thank you!

Giving away books in Casiguran

Dingalan children waiting to receive their books

The children with their new books

Our storybooks help children learn to love books!

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