A Huge Parting Gift to the Children from Mearns Kirk

 

Bill outside my apartment with a huge pile of boxes of school supplies about to be delivered to Pinagalaan school

Just a couple of weeks before I left Mindanao we revcieved a huge final donation from the people of Mearns Kirk who had raised money from a coffee morning which was donated to the work here with the schools up in the mountains.

As I had very little time left before I was due to leave Mindanao for the final time, we immediately sprang into action.  We contacted the school to see what supplies were most needed by the teachers and pupils, and got to work to source all the items requested.  The list of things each teacher and pupil needed was quite long, and we could never have done it if the donation from Mearns Kirk had not been such a generous one !

Bill handing out school supplies to the children .

I give a pack of jotters, pens, pencils etc to a young pupil as others que up to recieve a pack.  There was so much to give out that the pupils had to go along a line of 3 or 4 “hander-outers” to get it all !

The final list of what each pupil recieved was based on what the teachers told us they needed and was a mighty impressive donation ! Here is the list !

Supplied to each pupil:

Grades 1 & 2

1 plastic envelope

2 Grade pads (writing)

1 writing pad

1 spiral book (grade 2 only)

2 pencils

Various assorted other items (sharpener, ruler etc.)

1 pack of crayons

Pencil case

Eraser

Grades 3 – 6

1 plastic envelope

2 grade pads

7 spiral note books (one per subject)

1 Maths spiral book (graph paper)

1 Formal theme (essay) book (English language)

1 Formal theme book (Visayan language)

1 pack of crayons

2 ball point pens

1 pencil case

1 expanding cardboard folder

For General Use

94 sets of watercolour paints

50 metres cellophane for covering wall posters made by the teachers

Ball point pens

Supplied to each teacher:

2 boxes of Venus chalk

1 box coloured chalk

1 stapler and staples

1 pot glue

5 Marker pens

3 bottles ink

40 sheets graph paper

60 large sheets coloured paper

Crepe paper (assorted colours)

2 reams (1000 sheets) of ‘bond’ paper

Assorted cartolina (large poster-sized sheets of coloured card for making classroom wall posters)

Pencil sharpeners (grades 1 & 2)

Correction fluid

We also left a budget of 2,000 pesos (just over £20) for each teacher to draw down for future needs.

The expressions on the children’s faces said better than any words what it meant to them to get these school supplies !

Teachers and pupils hold a sing-song in our honour  as a thank-you……and …

…….a display of traditional tribal dancing balanced on top of two bamboo poles ! 

At the end of it all we had to get up on a stage in the playground for a formal thank-you speech and to be presented with flowers grown – which are grown locally by the childrens families.

Bill on the stage with some of the children.

The children were soon all sitting everywhere across the playground excitedly examining the contents of their packs. 

 

However, you can be sure the teachers and the pupils knew that the Mearns Kirk had donated the money that made it all possible, and they had prepared a banner to show their appreciation !

The banner the teachers had prepared thanking the Mearns Kirk for their help in making it all possible.

A New Classroom for Valley View School, Berseba

A teacher shows Bill the new classroom built with money raised by our family and supporters in Scotland

Well, a lot of time has passed since my last update of the Blog, and in the meantime a lot has happened.  The main reason for the delay in updating the blog was that my time in Mindanao was coming to an end and there was a lot to do before I left. However, I still have a few items to post to finalise the information about my time there and update you on the last things we did before I left.

Probably the largest single thing we have done is to raise funding to provide a new classroom for a small school in Berseba, high up in the mountains of the Andanan watershed.  The purpose of the school was to provide facilities to enable two additional years of secondary education at the school, which is used by the communities from Mount Ararat and Berseba.  Previously the school had only provided two years of secondary education and wanted to increase this to four years, as the nearest alternative secondary school is a long way away.

Pupils, teachers, us (and the dog!) gather for a programme of singing and speeches to mark the official opening of the new classroom. 

 The whole project took a couple of months to complete, and cost approximately £500. The whole school were delighted with the result and we were treated to songs, and a speech of thanks for our help in enabling them to do this ! They even wove our names into the “thank you” songs !

A pupil reads a speech of thanks for our help in enabling them to build the classroom.

Of course, Bill and I had to respond to the thank-you speeches and I happened to mention it was my ambition to ride a Carabao (a water buffalo) before I left the Philippines.  Carabao are commonly used as “work horses” by Philippine farmers.  To our surprise a Carabao was immediately “requisitioned” from its work where it had been busily ploughing a nearby field and pressed into service to give us a shot riding it !   

The farmer was very concerned that it was muddy and started trying to “polish” it with a sack, but we reassured him that we didn’t mind a bit of mud, and leapt on its back !

 It was a very memorable way to end another enjoyable and rewarding day with the local people in the mountains of Andanan.