By Maritoni L. Saberon | Project Officer
Two years have passed after the super typhoon Haiyan wrought havoc in Tacloban City, Philippines. Many families were displaced; several lost their loved ones. What seemed unimaginable for the common Filipinos in the area happened in a blink of an eye, everything was destroyed- houses, churches, schools, malls and more.
However, with the restoration programs made possible by both government and non-government organizations, the residents have managed to move on with their lives. One of these NGOs is the Children’s Joy Foundation, Inc. which partnered with US based Global Giving to conduct long term initiatives in the area. One of its projects is the building of three Day Care Centers in (1) Barangay Nula-Tula (Lower), (2) Barangay Fatima, and (3) Barangay Sabang, Dulag. Its target was to provide pre-elementary education to at least one hundred 3 to 4 year-old children in the community and to prepare them for formal schooling.
For the school year 2013-2014, these day care centers had a total number of 205 enrollees of which 113 kids had successfully passed their pre-elementary training and are ready for the next level when the classes open in June. Most of those who were retained were still too young to be promoted to formal school. Maria Jesusa Lacarnia, a mother, thanks the donors for the new classroom with complete facilities for learning. “Damo kayo na salamat sa tanang nagtabang na nakaeskwela among anak sa magandang building ug naganahan sab ang bata sa iyang pagsulod sa eskwela. Salamat pud kayo sa mga school supplies kay naka-save mi ug dako. Gipalit na lang namo ug pagkaon ang budget para sa mga gamit niya (Thank you so much to all those who have helped for our children to be able to go to a nice school building. My own child was really motivated to learn. Thank you also for the school supplies that you provided that we were able to save money. We used the budget for her things to buy food instead.)” Her daughter, Abella Ashley, received a Silver Medal for her academic performance during the Moving Up Ceremonies on April 17, 2015.
Barangay Captain Alvin Surpia of Fatima also commended the fast completion of the day care center. He is also thankful that CJFI shoulders the monthly salary of the Day Care teacher. He further said, “Now that our memorandum of agreement with CJFI is almost finished, we are just so amazed that its volunteers came back for other programs like the Computer Literacy Program and the provision of school supplies for the opening of classes next month. With these, we have seen your sincerity in helping us until we can stand on our own feet. Thank you so much.”
The success of this endeavor lies on the concerted efforts of all the stakeholders. Most importantly, we thank our Global Giving donors and partners for making all these projects possible. Your donations have made an impact in the lives of these families that we have helped. Please continue to support this cause by sending your donations online via Global Giving. Your contributions will fund the establishment of four more day care centers in other barangays to accommodate the increasing number of enrollees this coming school year. Thank you and more power to all!
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