"Volunteers come and go, but God's work continues."
– Fr. Ted Gonzales, SJ
I've been away from BASA myself, so being back for a short vacation, it's great to know about how others, particularly Marifel Castriciones, have carried BASA's torch.
When I first met Marifel, I thought she was observing BASA's reading workshop in Maximo Estrella Elementary school in May 2005 to find out if she wanted to be part of our organization. That's her in the pink shirt (in the top photo, which was taken last year at Maximo Estrella) . I met her again through the first ever Agimat retreat for young leaders (with Fr. Ted as retreat master and several other young people including yours truly as part of the Agimat core) hosted in Rizal in June 2005.
I didn’t know that Marifel and I were actually working on BASA at the same time in different capacities. Marifel's done a lot of leg-work for BASA, researching different reading techniques, attending seminars, and gathering groups of children in Payatas to read to them, speaking with teachers and principals of schools, and even organizing trainor's training aimed at Cultivating a Culture of Reading.
Later on, BASA, in coordination with the Lay Defenders of the Catholic Faith (LDCF), Cainta
Chapter, a parish-based organization to which Marifel and her husband John are affiliated, opened Karangalan Library. Karangalan Library is the 40-45 square-foot first floor of a private home in Karangalan Village, Cainta, Rizal. A couple, Mr. and Mrs. Buenaventura lent the downstairs part of their abode to BASA so that children from the nearby public school (Karangalan Elementary) had a venue for reading and writing during their break time. Community help soon poured in – a carpenter built three big bookshelves for library use. Books donated to BASA were sorted by volunteers.
After having attended numerous reading workshops (Bagong Kulturang Pinoy, Aklatang Pabata, Alitaptap, and Marungko by Learning Links), BASA gave its own reading workshop to the non-working moms of the Row 4 kids.
In March 2006, the library opened its doors to students grades one to five, mostly Row 4 kids of Karangalan Elementary School. Row 4 is a moniker given to students who sit in the back row of the classroom and usually do not do well in school. Intervention was clearly needed. Every school day, from about 11:30am to 1pm, volunteers read value-laden stories to the children and supervised their writing activities. Each completed activity was equivalent to points which could be exchanged for school supplies and other prizes. Some scholars were also provided packed snacks they could bring back to school with them. Aside from reading and writing, the children were taught to say grace before meals, to sing Christian songs and to relate with one another.
The parents (who are mostly illiterate themselves) would often help the volunteers prepare the physical environment and some would even participate in the writing projects! Whether it is the point system that motivates them or that they are grabbing the opportunity to learn something, the parents' presence is a great help to everyone involved (volunteers and students alike). In the future, BASA volunteer Rhea wishes to see parents in more active roles in terms of environmental issues.
First things first though. BASA has already had to overextend its ministry to ensure the success
of the program – it needed to cater to the children’s basic needs. A lot of the children would often come hungry, shabbily dressed (or sometimes not dressed at all!), unmotivated and easily discouraged. Some came in, never knowing a single letter of the alphabet or numerals. At one point, when Marifel fed the children chicken afritada for lunch, some of the children would throw up, and explain that they weren’t used to a full meal; they were only accustomed to rice with soy sauce as topping. One child’s family would also often go to bed without supper!
Below: Children meet here to exchange their chits for prizes.
The volunteers responded by lending the children clothing, and more. Some of the parents of the children were even assisted to find other means of livelihood. After each reading session, each child receives a pack of biscuits s/he could take back to school. On Saturdays, youth volunteers would help provide the children alternates of arroz caldo, boiled mongo beans with milk, noodles with eggs, champorado or 3 slices of bread for each child’s breakfast, follow up on their assignments; give them more reading and writing exercises, and teach them basic hygienic practices. The encounter would culminate in the exchange of chits (from the point system) for school uniforms/supplies, slippers, shoes and clothes and some toys donated by the members of the community.
"Ginagawa namin ito dahil mahal kayo ng Diyos."
"We do this because God loves you."
- Marifel C to the Row 4 kids, explaining the BASA project
Children are frequently reminded that God loves them and it is because of this love that volunteers come regularly doing what they do in order to give the children a fighting chance in school.
Already, some kids, like Ricky, Mico and Marjorie are dropping out of the program because of their newfound independence in alphabet writing and reading skills, having undergone the program during their vacation in March 2006. Their farewell letters to their volunteer teachers were a testament to the skills they learned. Still, there are others from the original group who do not make it to the library at the appointed time, lured by tex and other games, while others can't make it because they are assigned to be "classroom cleaners of the day" by their teachers at public school. However, the library has recently attracted other visitors: some children who come only to listen to the storytelling session but would not join in the reading and writing exercises given to the Row 4 students, and also students from higher grades who are non-Row 4 students dropping by after classes to do research.
I'm looking forward to being part of this project before I leave again for school in August. This time around, our roles are reversed. Marifel is at the helm and I'm taking a backseat, but I don't mind the view!
Would you like to help out in the project?
Would you like to start a project like this for your adopted community?
Please call Marifel at 0915-445-53-97 or send an email to friendsofbasa@gmail.com
BASA wishes to thank Lay Defenders of the Catholic Faith, volunteers, and recent donors Eileen Legaspi-Ramirez of UP, friends of Yong and Vickie Bunye, Hawaii, USA, Scalabrini Congregation, and the Ateneo High School Book Club. Thank you very much and God bless you! Very special thanks to Marifel.
Donations to Karangalan library (writing pad paper, scratch paper, pencils, sharpeners, erasers, books, door prizes like sports equipment for the point system) may be sent to :
BASA c/o Fr. Ted Gonzales, SJ
Center for Family Ministries
8 Seminary Drive
Ateneo de Manila University
Loyola Heights, Quezon City 1108
BASA's new library: Karangalan (Cainta, Rizal)
Marifel's cell group
Briefing of the seminar participants
Alice Quilicot of Bagong Kulturang Pinoy, who sponsored the trip to Masbate
