Kraft 'starts small but thinks big'

MANILA, Philippines - Eleven-year-old Yna (not her real name) loves school. For someone who lives in the slums, she believes that education is the key to a better life.

Yna studies her lessons and attends classes religiously. But like students from her school in Sitio Sampaloc II elementary school in Paranaque City, hunger, sometimes, has caused her to lose focus.

Reports quoting the Department of Education explains that most elementary students in the country are forced to drop out because of poverty.

Their parents, often times, are either jobless or are earning below the required minimum wage, making them less able to pay for tuition and provide proper nutrition for the kids.

Hunger, according to, Kraft Foods Philippines is one of the barriers to quality education.

It is through this that the company decided to dedicate its first five years of corporate social responsibility program to the Sitio Sampaloc II elementary school.

Maria Cindy Lim, the company’s head for corporate and government affairs, explained that they wanted to “start small but think big” when they launched five-year-adopt-a-school, that is now running on its second year.

“Unlike with other companies when they launch, or do CSR, they start with a big number right? They piloted 50 schools or a hundred schools. The strategy that we decided to take was let’s start with one school,” she said.

“We first wanted to really find a model that will really prove that efficacy of the intervention. We didn’t want to go big. We wanted to start small and make sure that we will see the results. That’s pretty much how we said it. Let’s just pick one school. Let’s make it work. Let’s see the success of the intervention,” she added.

During its first year, Kraft focused on three areas: Nutrition, literacy, and teacher training. For Kraft, the education system’s failure on these areas are the basic “barriers” to quality education.

The company implemented a nine-month feeding program for 372 “malnourished” students from kinder to Grade 6, whom were classified as wasted and severely wasted. Yna is one them.

Students like them are provided with iron and vitamin A fortified squash bread daily. Lim explained that the company even partnered with the Food and Nutrition Research Institute to ensure the quality of the bread.

The FNRI, for its part, tapped a local bakery near the school that will bake and deliver one bread daily to these students.

“I feel blessed because I was chosen (as one of the beneficiaries). I don’t have to worry about breakfast anymore,” Yna told the STAR.

For literacy, the company implemented a 31-day read-a-thon for Grade 4 students. Lim said the program aimed to encourage students to read. At end of the first year — in an area where television watching is the common past time — those who joined the program had finished a minimum of 19 books.

Forty-two science, math, and values education teachers had to be trained, too. Principal Marita Briones said this step is part of the company’s long-term plan for the school.

“The children will come and go but the teachers stay. They need to learn, too. And many of these teachers need to undergo training not just to adapt to the changing needs of the students but to reignite their passion for teaching,” said Briones.

Lim said they have yet to establish a concrete method to measure the efficacy of their interventions.

“When we started with this program we really didn’t know the answers. That’s why this is very close to our hearts. We want to know which intervention had a direct impact at least from a total project perspective. We’re relying on the national achievement test,” she said.

When Kraft adopted Sampaloc Site II, it ranked 11th among the 21 elementary schools in the city. It now placed second based on the NAT results, according to Kraft’s Michelle Pador.

Kraft also partnered with Ateneo Center for Educational Development to develop a pre and post-test for the students. This will gauge if the program, based on the training curriculum provided for the teachers, really worked.

According to Lim, Kraft employees are “hands on” when it comes to project implementation.

Kraft employees engage in the project by either volunteerism or pledges. Even the company’s general manager Sudip Mall is all eyes on the project to ensure its success.

“Our president is our number one volunteer. He makes sure that every activity we have he’s really at the forefront. He really believes in the program. It’s very close to his heart. He would actually say that if we’ve touched the hearts of three students and actually feel the impact then it’s better than say we helped 100 schools and not feel it,” she said.