We had a spirited discussion with BftB founders Nancy and Dan Harrington, who used to live in the Philippines for about seven years (she was a teacher and he was a navy pilot). When they went back to the United States about 22 years ago, they had a vision and a mission to do something for the socially and economically disadvantaged young children in remote barrio schools in the Philippines. That vision gave birth to the Books for the Barrios Foundation. Over all these years, they have sent over four million books that have touched the lives of thousands of young minds across the Philippine archipelago. Through their Model of Excellence school projects, they have also upgraded 38 remote schools to become comparable to any California school. The foundation has trained teachers to maximize the learning process of these young students with the use of computers and books from the United States.
Books for the Barrios started with a simple project of the heart: to organize American schoolchildren to gather, ship and distribute books, computers, typewriters and educational aids from America to the Philippines while helping protect the environment in California by recycling its books and educational materials that are normally just discarded in dumpsites. BftB has also sponsored the National Teachers Training Conventions to enhance teachers’ instructional skills. To date, Books for the Barrios has also set up and supported 38 "Model of Excellence" schools in the Philippines. The newest one, Anisca MOE, in the town of Laoac, (the birthplace of this writer) the first in Pangasinan and the second in Northern Luzon, is scheduled to open this coming school year to coincide with the Philippine-US Friendship Day celebration on July 4, 2002. Ms. Harrington is scheduled to visit the Philippines again and will grace the opening of the newest MOE School in the Philippines. The Board of Trustees has designated the area of Basilan in the Sulu archipelago to be the next MOE School site. However, she implored that she needed more corporate sponsors, volunteers and funds to expand and sustain these projects.
Before our group of volunteers (who helped in the packing, crating and loading the books into the APL container) left after a whole day of work, Ms. Harrington showed us very candid and interesting slides of school children in various MOE schools. She told the audience that every child, wherever he is, has the right to get good quality education. It is her passionate dream and legacy to the world to make that happen to as many children as possible.
After the slide presentation, she asked the young volunteers what they have learned from their "field trip" experience to the Books for the Barrios warehouse. Comments were varied such as "I am touched by what I have seen," to "Now I am more aware that I am indeed lucky and blessed with what I have here in the United States," to "I want to share more now that I know there are more people in need." At the end of a hectic weekend, Katipunan-USA co-founder Donna Rivera Delfin commented that she felt very blessed to be able to help the young Filipino children, some dozen children she has personally met when she visited the Philippines many times in the past. Added Loreto Dimaandal, "Coming to volunteer our time and our books donations was wonderful way to share with others especially this Easter weekend!"
Through this column, I personally would like to relay Nancy Harrington’s challenge to all in America, especially in California, that there is still great need to be involved in collecting many things that many families no longer need and bring them to their facility such as: encyclopedias – 1988 or later, board games and puzzles, crayons, pencils and scissors, children’s storybooks, clean scrap paper, toys and stuffed animals, dictionaries, clean kids’ summer clothing, little girds’ dresses and computers – Pentium or better. And for Northern California school children with their teachers or parents to have a field trip to their offices for a global sharing experience opportunity.
For more information, visit their website at www.booksforthebarrios.com or e-mail joinus@booksforthebarrios.com.
To provide a better system or vehicle for the Philippine leaders to work with, it seems prudent and wise to continue the healthy discussion of these needed changes to the constitution of the land to allow more flexibility and accountability of leaders who must be nearer to the people whom they govern. To amend the constitution for such changes might be necessary this decade to make the Filipino people more involved in the nation’s political processes.