Support Education in Tacloban

Thanks to your amazing support our work supporting education in Tacloban has progressed in leaps and bounds over the last few months.

Since our last report we’ve repaired typhoon damage at two further schools and one Day Care centre. Taken together, this work has changed the lives of 400 children by giving them back the education they need to build bright futures.

One of these schools is the Guintigian Elementary School, which is located about 40 minutes drive from Tacloban. While not far from the city it’s more rural location means that its 147 kids are often poorer and more neglected than those in the city centre.

When we first visited the school it was in a terrible state! Two of the school’s classrooms were in makeshift buildings which were badly exposed to the elements. The roofs leaked and during rains classes had to be suspended. School supplies were often also damaged. Overall the kids’ education was really suffering as a result of missed classes and inadequate learning materials.

But thanks to your incredible generosity we’ve changed all that.

We’ve renovated and extended one of the classrooms, and completely rebuilt the other from the ground up. We’ve also added a second bathroom, provided furniture and supplied the school with new books and sports equipment. The transformation has been amazing and the kids and teachers are thrilled with the results. Thanks so much!

We’ve also had similar successes recently at the nearby Planza Island school, and the San Agustin Day Care centre. Our repair and renovation of those faciltities has supported the education of 253 kids. However, much work remains to be done, especially in other rural locations.

For example we recently visited Jaro, which is about 40 miles from Tacloban, and found several schools in desperate need of help. The most urgent of these is the Anibongon Elementary school which is responsible for the education of 76 kids.

The only bridge to the community was washed away by typhoon Haiyan and, as a result, the school hasn’t received any help at all since November 2013!

The school’s four classrooms were severely damaged by the typhoon, but with nowhere else to go the kids are still using the buildings. This is not only destroying any chance of a decent education, it’s also extremely dangerous. One of the kids could be seriously hurt, or worse, just by trying to learn.

We’re really keen to help Anibongon school and we’re making it one of our highest priorities moving forward. However, we need more funds to finish all the work we have planned, including supplying the school with learning materials once the repair is complete. So, please consider donating today to help children who have been incredibly neglected to date.

As always, if you ever have any queries about how we’re using your donation, please don’t hesitate to email Andy@IDVolunteers.org. I would be delighted to hear from you.