A kind smile, a gentle demeanor, an orderly system of going up and down to the offices, a balance of vigilance and courtesy from the guards and a warm welcome to people who need help and assistance. Such experience isn’t usually characteristic of government offices, but this was the exact treatment we received from the officials and staff of the Social Security System. We were there to solicit financial support for Lunch of Love, the feeding program of our school and the SSS, under the office of Chairman Thelmo Cunanan, gladly extended their support.
Proud of the slogan as kabalikat ng bayan, the commissioners of SSS have actually been supporting feeding programs in various public schools and communities throughout the country. This is in response to the call of the government for different agencies to help alleviate poverty and malnutrition in the Philippines.
Sixteen years ago, a philanthropist Jesuit established a school to provide free quality education to impoverished communities. Unfortunately, providing free education was not enough to make a difference. Teachers began to notice a high dropout rate due to lack of money to send a child to school every day. A considerable number of those who are able to walk to school attend classes absent-mindedly and stare blankly at the teacher when asked a question. Lunchtime is library time for them to avoid the risk of embarrassment of being seen with no allowance and survive on eating candies and drinking water from our sinks. Many of these children also engage in misbehavior and no amount of counseling or disciplinary action could stop them from committing socially undesirable acts. It is true what former President Joseph Estrada repeats like a mantra, “A hungry stomach knows no law.”
The worst feeling of a teacher is to know that all the hours spent on writing lesson plans, preparing visual aids, and checking quizzes and compositions would go to waste when a student decides to quit school. It is a feeling of helplessness that leads us to question the relevance and meaning of our profession.
It was truly delightful news to learn that Chairman Cunanan of SSS had learned of the school’s plight and decided to support the feeding program dubbed “Lunch of Love.” It isn’t just mere financial dole-out. The SSS demands reports of social status and the health profile of each participant. The school also has to prepare and submit nutritionally balanced recipes on a weekly basis before the SSS would release the funds for the project. Each expense must be clearly liquidated, and the students’ height and weight are monitored regularly. It is tedious work on the part of the teachers who are members of the committee but certainly a much-needed gesture and proof that our government is engaged in a clear, transparent, and efficient system when it comes to handling the people’s money.
It is because of SSS then that Ricardo and Ricky, two honor students of ours, whose mother we always cross paths with every afternoon while selling fish and other goods beside the railroad track, are assured of finishing school with flying colors without worrying what to eat to alleviate their hunger or where to go to avoid the social stigma of being too poor to have no allowance. We teachers are also assured that these students of ours will finish school and thereby provide meaning to the burdensome task of educating the poorest of the poor.
Most of all, it is proof and a constant reminder that the government cares for the welfare of its people. The many partnerships between NGOs and government agencies nowadays provide a flicker of hope to the supposed darkness that other people portray of the country. It is with continued hope then that because of their government, Ricardo and Ricky will soon spread the fire of change in our country.