recently i spent a couple of my lunches outside of the office, sitting in the sunshine and losing myself in the streets of india. not literally, of course – the skyscraper canyons of hong kong islands business district is a far cry from the dusty streets and masses of people of mumbai. but for those short hours the book i am reading carried me away from the frenzy of the trading floor to a different time and a different life – a place i have never been, being experienced by a person i have never met.

such is the magic of reading, a pastime i have enjoyed since it was instilled in me as child by my parents. through books i learned to expand my imagination, search for education on my own terms, and experience the private joy of escape into the world contained within the pages i read.

i remember once teaching a deaf man in the philippines. we communicated largely through pictures i poorly drew to illustrate principles and ideas. he could not read and therefore depended on these pictures to illustrate the ideas i was trying to get across. i struggled in frustration and effort to try to distill ideas that could have been communicated in a few words into a drawing. i think it was only then that i imagined what it would be like not to be able to read. now i think about what it would be like to be able to read, but not have anything with which to satisfy that desire.

Our little family is joining with the Lefler family this Christmas to journey down to a small island in the central Philippines. It is not much of a tourist destination, but a rural town in Samar. As part of the Christmas season, we thought carefully about the kinds of gifts we might bring to celebrate this special time. We have decided to round up as many books as we can to donate to local schools severely lacking such reading material.

Together we have enlisted the support of Dymock’s, a large chain in Australia and Hong Kong, to house a donation receptacle for us. We will collect as many books as we can until the beginning of December, and will then ship the books down to our destination in the Philippines. In the meantime, we will use our previous Help One Future model of working with local government officials and school administration to pass out the books where they are needed most.

We welcome all donations – in Hong Kong, please let us know if you have books to donate. Outside of Hong Kong, it may be difficult (and costly) to get the books to us. If you wish to donate financially to help one future, your donations are tax deductible as we are a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. please direct any questions to helponefuture@gmail.com.

And keep on reading!

After an hour’s drive out from the town square, we arrived in a small village center where the school was located. It was monsoon season, meaning hot mornings and wet afternoons on good days and typhoons and days of downpours on bad days. Naturally, the slick and muddy dirt road made the trek hazardous, and one of the vans had to stay behind. Finally, we got through the mud and found the school. Children’s eyes gazed out between the paint chipped shutters from the classroom. I saw glimpses of smiles and jet black hair radiating as the midday sun scorched the tin roof. I could see little mud stained feet shuffling around through a large hole on the side of the building. It was difficult to tell which group was more excited to meet the other.

We stepped into the classroom and immediately felt the humid air hit the backs of our necks. What a sauna! I wondered how it was possible to focus in such suffocating heat without even an electric fan to ease the humidity.

The mayor’s official introduced Rick and I as we walked to the front of the room. Just as Rick began his message in Tagalog, a few rain drops fell. I noticed a large hole in the middle of the ceiling and suddenly realized there were no lights. Many children weren’t even wearing shoes. As Rick continued talking to the children, suddenly, he was interrupted by an enormous downpour of rain. The rain fell so heavy that the shouting of his voice eventually became muffled, blending in with the sound of raindrops falling. It grew dark, and I could barely make out the children’s faces. A puddle grew in the middle of the room, just in front of the first row. The teacher yelled that class was temporarily stopped until the teacher’s voice could be heard again. Some children studied their workbooks. Many waited patiently for several minutes just to borrow their neighbor’s pencil or pen. Looking around the classroom, I noticed a few kids looked quite mature for that grade level. After speaking with a teacher I was informed that they could not afford to attend school every year and had to work every other year or two before returning for the following school year. One sixth grader was eighteen years old.

The visit to the Manila squatter village and Ilocos classroom was very eye-opening. It was clear to see that there were some definite needs.

We are here in a tiny coastal town called Pilar, in Capiz province, Panay Island. It’s about an hour flight south of Manila. Most people here make a living from fishing or farming, and it’s not much of a living. There’s just enough for day to day expenses, and as any of you fishermen or gardners know, sometimes you have good luck and sometimes you don’t. Today we visited a school in one of the poorest parts of town – a little place called Dayhagan (die-HAH-gun). We went with the mayor’s invitation and the superintendent of schools. We met with teachers and students to assess the need. Some parts were better than expected, and some worse. All of the students at least had sandals. But many came with no lunch, or had secondhand clothes full of holes. When asked by the teacher who had the required supplies, only one or two in each class were able to raise their hands. The classes range in size from 30-50, with more girls than boys. Some of the kids are absent in order to help fish or work in the fields – the only way they can raise enough to buy a $0.25 notebook and $0.20 pen. Because of a shortage of teachers, only this year was the school able to provide grades 5 and 6. As such, there are two volunteer teachers with no pay, and one of them teaches both grades 1 and 2. Also, the fifth graders use an old storage room as their classroom, with homemade bamboo desks and a sheet of plywood for a chalkboard. While the Philippine government will eventually provide some books and classroom supplies, the waiting list is long and in the meantime the kids suffer. Our assessment was that the needy kids should be helped first – meaning those with no money to spend on supplies. Some of the kids are orphans being raised by extended family members. Some have a parent who makes $1 a day when they can find work. When the kids work, they make $0.75 a day. Our original plan was to provide funds for potential students to be able to go to school. But we found that the ones currently in school are in danger of dropping out – many of them are allowed to study even though they don’t have enough for the $0.80 enrollment fee. After the needy kids come the scholars – honor students who work hard and show potential except for their lack of funds. After them comes everyone else in terms of priority for help.

So far I think we can really provide some serious help to the entire school – grades 1 through 6, with a little over $100. This will not go as far as helping to buy uniforms, etc. We figure that they can learn without a uniform, but it’s a little harder without pens and paper. With this money, we can provide about 40 packs of crayons, 20 packs of watercolor, 120 notebooks and pads of paper, 40 pens and 40 pencils. When I can I will send pictures. There are hundreds of these schools scattered throughout the Philippines. Many are in remote places such as this one, where there are no phones, cement roads, or running water, and even to get to the middle of this small town takes 30 minutes on a motorcycle for $0.50.

A bamboo homemade desk:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
the plywood chalkboard described:

 

 

 

 

 

 

the school bell (an old metal scrap):

 

 

 

 

 

The parents try to support their kids where they can. They often donate $0.02 cents per student for electricity each month, and all of the homemade desks are products of the parents. The kids who have the necessities share with the ones who don’t. Sometimes the teachers will give some of their $30 per month salary to help cover the holes. It’s amazing to see the hope in the faces of the kids and the teachers when we promise to try to get them a few pens and cheap pads of paper. We originally planned on starting with 10 kids for this pilot project. After considering how much we can help, I think many students will be benefited by this first pilot project. Over the next couple weeks we will visit more schools in other areas. Help One Future is working closely with civic leaders and other aid organizations to direct help where it is needed most. We are also implementing protocols that will allow for simple administration and scalability for future projects in other needy areas, without the necessity of personal administration. My friend Andrew Baltazar has graciously volunteered his own time, effort and donations to help the program succeed, and has committed to watching over it from Manila.

By donating supplies, we can protect donations from graft and corruption and get it directly into the hands of those who need it. Also, by involving teachers, civic leaders, and locals we increase the number of stewards over these donations, increasing the likelihood of successful distribution. This is a great opportunity to help those who really need it. I know there are other ways and other needs, but it takes a starting point, and this looks to be a good one.

Thank you everyone for your moral support. To give someone hope, to show them that someone somewhere cares enough about them to help them in time of need – this is something that these children will not forget. In fact, before giving them the supplies, the only thing we ask in return is that someday when they are able, they will help others in need as they have been helped now.