“Children Are Special People”

 

A sign on the wall of the Pre-School Class at Berseba Elementary

When we are working in the different areas of the mountain it is always nice to think that perhaps we can do a little to help the communities we are working in whilst we are there.  I know there is only a little we can do during our short time there, and with limited funds available (after all, this is not the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation !) , but maybe it can make some small difference to the people inolved. 

Grade 5 students with new jotters.

 During our time working at Berseba and Mount Ararat I therefore approached the local school and asked if there were some small things we could to to help.  I tried to explaining that although I was a foreigner I was not rich (all foreigners are assumed to be rich !) so we could not offer very big expensive things, just small items to help the children with their education or simply to bring a little pleasure to the children. 

A number of things were mentioned, where they would be very grateful of some assistance.  For a start, the headmaster called in the teacher in charge of the pre-schoolers (age six and under).  The pre-school teacher said she really needed some interactive and educational toys, especially ones which would help the youngsters improve their manual and co-ordination skills.  As a result I made a trip to Guisano, a shopping mall about 2 hours away from where I live, and raided the toy department for toys that seemed to fit the bill. 

 

The Children of the Pre-Scool Class with their teacher (right), Headmaster (left), and me (centre !)  showing off new the toys we provided for them.

Another teacher approached me as I crossed the playground and told me how the school used to do well in the inter-school badminton competitions but lacked rackets and shuttlecocks to practice with.  He was their ‘coach’.  Could I please help ? No big deal – a pair of badminton rackets can be bought for under a pound here, so it wasn’t a lot to ask for.  So on another trip we took them half a dozen rackets and a pack of a dozen shuttlecocks. 

Next, a teacher told me how they really wanted to do more music with the children, but lacked instruments.  Any chance of maybe getting a guitar or a ukelele, or some other instruments so they could form a small school band…. ? Please …..?  I managed to rustle up some money to give them two ukeleles (about £3 each) and a guitar (about £10). 

Not to lose sight of the academic side of things, all the children also got new Grade Pads (jotters) and pens or pencils. 

 

The Grade 3 children with their new Grade Pads (jotters)

Needless to say, when a school is desperately short of resources and someone offers to help (even a little) they can’t resist the need to tell you about the bigger, more expensive things they desperately need too, even if you have explained that there are not big pots of cash available!  Foremost among these was the fact that they did not have any computer – not even one – although the Berseba schools do have electricity which in theory would enable them to run a computer.  They did have teachers who are capable of teaching the children how to use a computer, but no hardware was available.

Sadly, at the time I thought we had not enough money for this to be possible, and explained this to them. They accepted this explanation, and were incredibly appreciative of all we had been able to do.  

However I reckoned without the incredible generosity of the folk back home. During my recent trip home I was given several more donations, including generous donations from a neighbour in Kilcreggan, my cousin John, and – amazingly – a cheque from a Mr D of Newton Mearns who donated enough to cover the whole cost of a computer for the school ! 

But more of that in my next blog, as I have now bought the computer and will be delivering it to the school this week so I will give you all the details once I have the photos of the school receiving it ! 

Thanks to all the kind people who have helped in supporting the schoolchildren of the Andanan mountains in Mindanao !