PHOTO CREDIT: PAUL RANDEE KIMAYONG of TEAM INJURY
Pusong Pinoy believes that no child should be left behind and advocates literacy for every child. It takes a clear stand, when it comes to its support for the Millennium Development Goal 2 (MDG 2) which states the universal importance of primary education. It strongly supports the international initiative on "Education for All" launched in 1990 in Thailand by making an effort to reach remote communities which have children of indigenous origin.
The Aeta community in Sitio Dueg, Maasin, San Clemente in Tarlac, is one of the many resettlement areas created by the Philippine government to accommodate the Aeta tribes which were left homeless after the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991. The people have lived in the mountains of Sitio Dueg since then. Dueg Resettlement Elementary School was built to cater to the education of the Aeta children in the community.
On December 15, 2012, as part of PP's Christmas project, Pamasko ng Pusong Pinoy 4, PP Pasig Team Leader JENNY OLIVA together with volunteers from TEAM INJURY, a Manila-based mountaineering group, delivered 500 storybooks and 198 pairs of slippers to the teachers and school children of this community.
To reach the site, the group traveled three hours from Manila to the San Clemente Municipal Hall and another one and a half hours in a dump truck to the eastern slope of Zambales mountain which is a part of Maasin, San Clemente.
The teachers either walk for hours or ride the same dump truck to school every Monday. These teachers also contribute a portion of their meager salary to provide a feeding program for the pupils. Apparently, many of the children come to school hungry and weak.
Team Injury, likewise, prepared gift packages for the teachers and children. The teachers received packs of manila paper, 8 boxes of chalk, 3 dozen permanent markers and 1 Webster’s Dictionary. The children, on the other hand, received the following:
- 250 apples
- 189 gift packs containing:
- school supplies (pad paper, pencils, sharpener, eraser, crayons, pens, pencil case, ruler)
- toiletries (face towel, a toothbrush, shampoo, toothpaste, bath soap)
- snack items (juice, cupcake, chocolates)
Thank you to all the HEROES who supported this project! Special thanks to Pusong Pinoy USA Team Leader CARL BERNARDO for providing 198 pairs of slippers and to Team Injury for all the gift surprises provided. You have brought tears of joy and wide smiles to their faces!
To find out how you can help communities like this and be a part of Pusong Pinoy's ongoing projects, please visit our website at www.pusongpinoy.org. Unleash the HERO within you! Be a PUSONG PINOY HERO! ♥
