Give Books to Children in the Philippines

Climate Change in Two Languages

Last year, we published I Am the Change in Climate Change, an activity book for children that not only explains the concepts of climate change, but also maps out a few actions they can do to help mitigate its effects. It was originally written in English by Dr. Alyssa Peleo-Alampay, a professor of Geology at the University of the Philippines. This 2022, it is now available in Filipino.

Books for Kids at the National Museum, Nueva Ecija, Puerto Galera, Batangas, and Puerto Princesa

Since the start of this year, we have been able to donate a little over 2,000 climate change books in English and Filipino to various children through our partnerships with individuals and organizations. In several instances, our book served as a complement to their educational and environmental activities.

The National Museum, with hosted a one-day Lakbay Kalikasan (Journey to/with Nature) virtual seminar to teach children of their staff about the extinction phenomenon that affects our flora and fauna and connected this with the phenomenon of climate change. They gave away our books as a complementary learning material. A few weeks after, they also held a virtual seminar called Lakbay Sining (Journey with Art).

Similarly, partners at Stairway Foundation in Puerto Galera, USAID Sibol (Sustainable Interventions for Biodiversity, Oceans and Landscapes) Project in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, and Indie Green in Batangas held book-giving activities to coincide with their talks and celebrations of Earth Day 2022.

The 1,000+ I Am the Change in Climate Change books sent to Puerto Galera through Stairway Foundation now form part of a climate literacy and plastic pollution campaign launched by two of local youth groups in their community -- Kabataan Para sa Kalikasan (KAPAKA) and EACY Club. The initiative was launched on Earth Day, April 22. Stairway Foundation shares, "The climate change talks will be held regularly every Friday around elementary schools in Puerto Galera, with teams of storytellers doing the activities. Storytellers will meet once a month to improve further the knowledge and skills of the budding climate activists."

In Nueva Ecija, where we sent 164 books through Outreach Philippines, a grandmother of one of the recipients of the book shared a heart-warming note, "In my time, we [did] not have books like these, we [relied] on stories told by adults. I am a grandmother now and I noticed that for children nowadays, it is not enough to tell kids about stories or anything, they want to have something that they can hold or see. Since receiving this book, my granddaughter always read[s] it on her own or with me and her mother, before she sleeps. She is still young, but she [is] very interested to hear her mother (who is a teacher) explain the things that she finds in this book."

Partners at Teach for the Philippines also distributed books to their communities in Victorias City, Negros Occidental, in cooperation with Project EVE (Empowering Volunteers for Education). They reported back to us that "through the activity book, children were able to identify their role in bettering the environment with creative and challenging activities" and that "volunteers of Project EVE guided the children in accomplishing the activities in the book."

Hardbound Books for School and Community Libraries

We also do our best to send our partners off with hardbound books for their school and community libraries. These titles are part of a collection of children's books that CANVAS has published through the years. 

A teacher from Nueva Ecija told us that "the hardbound books [will be] equally useful especially upon full implementation of face-to-face classes. Our schools have reading corners in each classroom and we will put the books there so that the children can share."

It is important to also note that children in the Philippines have been, since the start of the pandemic in 2020, not been able to resume face-to-face classes. They have been relying on take-home modules that their parents or guardians pick up from the school weekly. Some classes are also done online, but with the uneven access to the internet, not all children are able to attend. With the easing of pandemic restrictions this year, the government is looking at opening schools again for face-to-face classes.

Thank you!

We are excited to learn how our books are useful to the children who receive them and hope that this will truly deepen their passion for reading and learning. Thank you very much for your continued support!

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