TCKs back "home" in the Phl

MANILA, Philippines - I had previously come across similar threads among my fellow Ateneo alumni, but had ignored posting anything since most of those who did were dyed-in-the-wool blue-blooded males who had shared the same jokes from grade school. But since I had just arrived home from the office and craved some downtime, I thought – what the heck – and posted “...you can still sing 50 Nifty United States, and hum John Philip Sousa music by heart...”

I don’t know what exactly urged me, but soon my fingers were flying over the keyboard as I unbelievably zapped what must have been 50 consecutive posts, i.e. “you learned math and Spanish by playing Caracoles”... “you knew Tim Cone as Earl Timothy”...“you remember seeing Audie Gemora in striped bell-bottom pants and camisa chino”...“you lugged kilos of newspapers to win a Hershey bar or a ticket to Rizal theater at the newspaper drive”... etc.

In a few hours, the link was a beehive of activity as Jos began adding people, who in turn added other classmates. Soon, IS alumni from all over the world were avidly contributing to the thread, and in a few weeks, we celebrated reaching the 1,700 mark in a virtual online reunion – no mean feat, considering that most of us had lost contact with each other since graduating more than three decades ago. Reading everybody’s comments became a daily addiction, until many eventually complained our inboxes were so full we could not attend to anything else!

Students at Pedro Palacios Elementary School show off their new books from Ray Wagner (top). Children eagerly look through the books in their new library (above right). Visual aids donated by Jojo Sacro will help these children learn (right).

Jos had scored a coup, and we began to read of mini reunions spontaneously taking place among alumni in Europe and the United States, which heretofore had been so hard to organize. Being third culture kids (TCKs) – children of military officers, missionaries, embassy officials, journalists, factory managers, or business executives whose posting in the Philippines provided the only solid roots as they grew up – many IS alumni had an exotic, rootless childhood, and “living in the Philippines” was at least a four-year constant in their lives. Thus, years after many had left for college, the answer remained the same when asked “Where are you from?” – finding something to relate to “back home in the PI” was such a heartwarming experience, even online.

Experts acknowledge that TCKs are “the ideal citizens in a globalized world – multilingual, highly adaptable, broad-minded, often untouched by racial stereotypes, and more culturally aware than their peers.” Probably coping with difficulty back in America as “pampered misfits” who were used to having maids, TCKs who spent their adolescent years in the Philippines matured enough socially to know the disparity in educational opportunities afforded to Filipino schoolchildren in private and public schools hereabouts.

Realizing the strengths and weaknesses of IS alumni as TCKs, Jos took his networking skills further by hatching a more socially relevant program that would allow us to continue cherishing the memories while emphasizing what it was that really bound us together – literacy. 

For thousands of IS alumni, memories of time spent with our English teacher and high school guidance counselor Vicky Sycip-Herrera was a shared bond. In fact, before she retired, Vicky’s office wall had our photographs in a montage, and to this day, we are amazed at how much she remembers of our foibles back in our teen years... down to what we wore on specific occasions! So when Jos got wind of Vicky’s plans to set up public libraries, he vigorously campaigned for book donations and active participation at the launches through a series of memes anchored on the school initials, starting off with “altruISM.”

ALTRU-ISM AT ITS BEST: Students listen attentively as Vivien Mangalindan tells a story (above). The Mendez Crossing Elementary School in Tagaytay shows its appreciation to the ISM alumni (right).

The first library was launched on Feb. 27, 2012 at Sungay Elementary School in Tagaytay. Joining Jos (Class’78) and Vicky (Class ’67) were Jeric Soriano (’74), Jess Canlas and Rizabel Cloma-Santos (’76), Vivien Mangalindan (’69), Aarsi Sagar (’02), Stephanie Horne-Hagedorn (’90), and myself (’77). Jeric, now a full-fledged pastor, gave the blessing, while Vivian performed an energetic storytelling session, and Aarsi provided a scientific demo.

Last June, the second library was inaugurated at Mendez Elementary School via a special gathering highlighting ISM’s Filipino scholarship program. Alumni-scholars led by Angel Ramos of Class ’73, Ike Estalilla, Tiny Meneses and Patty Sotto-King (all from Class ’69) hobnobbed with Armin de Pano-Raralio and Mel Macaraig (’77), Jojo Sacro (’83), Jesus Salazar (’85), Gene Nisperos (’86), plus alumni coordinator Rose Sagun (’05) and the oh-so-much younger class reps, who were just about as old as our own kids! Jos and I were around as “mukhang iskolar.”

And just last Sept. 7, IS alumni formally opened the third library at the Maitim Segundo Elementary School, which had shelves filled with brand new books, supplemented by tables and chairs, plus rubber mats – all courtesy of National Book Store, through Miguel Ramos (’87). On hand with Jos, Vicky, and Miguel were Vivien, Aarsi, Armin, Jenny Pascual (‘92), Chand Daryanani (‘06), JC Echiveri (’77). 

Because of the overwhelming volume of donations received lately, particularly several balikbayan boxes from Ray Wagner (’74) and Beth Rhodes-Wenck (’79), some of the materials have been given to San Jose Elementary School and Tagaytay National High School, with mathematics charts from Jojo Sacro (’83) going to the Pedro Palacios Elementary School in Calatagan, with vitamins from Patricia Pascual (’91) and Pfizer supplementing the school’s feeding program. Already, the next library-beneficiaries are being lined up, and some alumni like Mike Brown (’80), and Angelo Lee (’09) have even begun sending financial donations through a Paypal account to purchase brand new selections from the Manila International Book Fair. Alumni gatherings have also become fund-raising events for the project, with attendees encouraged to bring at least one book each.

Every time Jos and Vicky post photographs from the libraries launched, we cannot help but marvel at the bright happy faces of these public school children who are obviously hungry for reading material. In this day and age when computer instruction seems to have taken over our classrooms even as the dearth of teachers remains unsolved, having an honest-to-goodness library where the kids can touch and read books off the shelves is so precious. 

I often shake my head recalling the time I ran the Books Across the Sea program under the Thomas Jefferson Cultural Center, when platoons of teachers would show up at the Fortune warehouse in Novaliches asking for storybooks, dictionaries and encyclopedia – only to keep them locked up in shelves thumb-tacked with plastic lining – for display. And there were those epal politicians who had the gall to secure book donations and stamp them with their names! 

The Vicky Sycip-Herrera Reading Centers are a far cry from all that. At those vibrant, colorful libraries, schoolchildren can simply curl up in a corner or lie down on rubber mats to devour story after story, acquiring not just literary skills but improving their language ability as well. Teacher-training programs on storytelling being promoted by DepED along with other initiatives to “animate” literature will hopefully enhance this invigorating library project. The inspiring quotes painted on the walls have it down pat: “The man who reads is the man who leads”... “Read more, know more, achieve more.”

Indeed, payback time has come for TCKs, and IS alumni are channeling resources back to improve literacy among public school students in the Philippines – the only “home” they’ve ever known. Such a small price to pay for having gotten the best education in the world – inside and outside the classroom.