Send Vulnerable Filipino Children to School

In FPVI’s continuing efforts to develop and hone the students’ writing skills, we introduced them to letter-writing during their last school break. The project was initially received with anxiety and panic due more to the fact that, as the FPVI Lead Volunteer explained, “their generation is not into sharing experiences in a written narrative.” With more amplification and encouragement, however, the anxiety and panic turned into excitement.

The letters in this collection exhibit the students' much improved ability to express their thoughts in written English and reveal an unexpected degree of openness in sharing their personal feelings and emotions. A major feat indeed.

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In March 2019, three fresh graduates from Barangay Astorga Elementary School in Tunga joined the FPVI Learning and Development Program. They came highly recommended by their teachers on the basis of their academic performance, their motivation, and the economic situation of their respective families. The three participated in the FPVI Summer Program as a way to get to know the students already in the Program and familiarize themselves with various FPVI activities. By the opening of the new school year, as new high school students, they were faced with the daunting challenges of a new school, new teachers, new classmates, and making new friends. They approached these challenges quietly but seriously, working hard, and the Sundays at FPVI provided a chance to review and reinforce lessons not totally understood in classes through tutorials and more focused exercises.

The challenges they encountered at the start of high school, however, paled in comparison to what awaited them in the succeeding two years during the pandemic. The physical constraints and emotional/mental hardships the pandemic brought on were incalculable. FPVI came up with innovative ways to continue connecting with them to mitigate the harsh effects of the isolation, and assist them with lessons remotely through distance tutorials.

The three returned to in-person classes for Grade 10 in September 2022. And in July 2023, Lyka, Marky and Hannah completed junior high school with honors and subsequently qualified for the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) strand they have chosen to pursue in senior high school.

We have, in the past, experimented with video as a new way of updating everyone with our activities. This reporting season, we are delighted to share with our FPVI supporters and friends a new video of our students showcasing their growing creativity and confidence. The guideline for the project was to choose a character they admired, find out as much as they could about these characters, and develop their own material to be used in a performance. They rose to the challenge.

Over the years, we have observed the expanding use of their imagination and the incremental improvement in self-confidence. The growing curiosity of a world wider than their own locality is something FPVI takes credit for, but our greatest pride is in seeing the children in our care derive genuine joy in the process of discovery, creating, and learning.  

https://youtu.be/5Ruk3WdxRPA

For students in its care, FPVI provides the platform for discovery and adventure. Each Sunday session brings new learnings in unexpected ways. For example, while the schools settled with the modular distance learning system during the pandemic, FPVI introduced learning through self-discovery. Projects like the e-book, the video trilogy---Christmas in August, Local News Recap, and Uswag, virtually---fully reflected their own experiences and memories that they were not aware they could tap and mine for their written work and arts and crafts work. 

The FPVI Christmas celebration in 2022 came in the form of Year-End Retreat aimed at helping the students focus on setting goals beyond senior high school, encompassing the spiritual and practical dimension, and made possible by sessions with a Catholic missionary priest, a school teacher, a district school supervisor, a Theology School rector, and Tunga’s town mayor. The side activities were just as important and the thoughtful questions at the end of each session and at mealtime revealed a growing maturity in each of them. The retreat reaffirmed FPVI’s role in the students’ lives and as a safe place for fostering and nurturing their potential. It was a first for all but also their first sleepover, first visit to the city, first time to dine in a proper restaurant, and first time to see historic sites. The group left the FPVI Center with a genuine sense of joy, appreciation and optimism from the 4-day retreat experience.

This e-booklet aptly captures the spirit of the retreat. 

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All the children joined FPVI in different times with different degrees of shyness, almost resistant to all manners of persuasion to express their thoughts and feelings, and share what they know or ask what they don’t know. But the regular sessions, shared activities, and confidence-building exercises allowed them to flourish gradually, in their own pace and time.  Their recollections here reveal a measure of transformation…

“I first came to the FPVI Center in 2019 expecting that the support I would be getting if admitted would be limited to the school expenses involved in going to high school. I was in for a pleasant surprise. I was not confident speaking in front of a group and talking with others not close to me. But FPVI helped me overcome my fears. FPVI also has instilled in us the importance of good manners and basic home-based values. And reading, writing and speaking in English for which I am very thankful now. FPVI also has exposed us to art-making and I am now enjoying painting. FPVI continues to guide us not just in our school work but also and especially towards becoming better persons.” ---Hannah

“I was nervous, happy, scared, and excited when I showed up for the interview in 2019. And I kept praying that I would get in. My prayers were answered and I knew then that a new life had started for me. I have always been shy but slowly FPVI started ‘deleting’ my shyness through activities like open mic, theater arts, team role-playing. It was terrifying at first but gradually I could feel my self-confidence being lifted. Sharing meals with the other FPVI Fellows, I learned more new things---setting the table and using a spoon and fork to eat. It was also thrilling for me to have a table napkin during meal times. And having been exposed to many kinds of art materials plus various ways to use them and with FPVI encouraging us to try, I can now confidently paint and do collage. I have grown much under FPVI in my learning journey.” ----Marky

“Joining FPVI in 2018 has been one of the best things that happened to me. I used to be a shy and not-so-friendly boy but FPVI changed that. FPVI drew out from me what I did not know existed. Through various ways, FPVI boosted my self-confidence and I very much like the new me. The impact FPVI has made on my life is hard to measure and I’m happy to be a part of the FPVI family.” ---Angelo

“Being part of the FPVI is the greatest thing that happened to me. Nervous, I came for the interview in 2019 not knowing what to expect. I remember the terms being explained to me and was surprised being asked to determine the grades I needed to achieve. FPVI’s support of our school needs is a huge help for my family. But FPVI does more. They help us to gain more knowledge and expose us to new experiences. I have discovered many new things in myself which FPVI helped me identify, develop and enjoy. The most enjoyable activity for me is art-making, painting in particular.” ---Lyka

“I first joined the Sunday sessions at FPVI in 2018. Shy and awkward, I felt I was not good at anything. The tutorials helped me to discover that I like Science. I have learned that school work could be fun as well. At first, role playing and team open mic (where I experienced my first debate) seemed frightening but the experience was fun too. FPVI also exposes us to nutritious meals and sometimes cultural aspects of what we are eating. Now, I am not shy anymore. And I can draw and paint and construct good sentences. And my grammar is improving.” ---Gaby

“I first went to FPVI in 2018 as a guest. For a 5-year old, FPVI was the most fun playground. There were toys, puzzles and books and the group did fun activities such as the open mic and team role playing. I also participated in several video projects which was fun. Best of all, I learned to love books. I can borrow books that I enjoy reading. I am now learning to write essays and recently contributed several pieces to the e-book which FPVI published during the Summer of 2022.” ---Manuel