CARE INITIATIVES

The Concerned Alimodiananon Resource on Education (CARE) has two initiatives in Alimodian:

BOOK-LENDING

Why?

This is a paraphrase of someone’s description of the state of literacy – or illiteracy, if you will – in a barrio school in Alimodian: Last year ang Grade 3 students indi pa kama-an mag basa.  Now they can read, but the problem is indi nanda maintindihan ang anda ginabasa.  Indi nila maintindihan kay waay ti praktis – kulang ang barasahon.

This is not an exaggeration.

Here is an excerpt from a recent communication from the District Supervisor: “The test results (of the Grade III students in the nationwide National Reading Comprehension Test) showed a dismal reading performance of our pupils in both English and Filipino.  Analysis of the test questions revealed that our pupils are weak in vocabulary, which contributes to their non-comprehension of what they are reading. The root cause of this is the lack of exposure of our pupils, most especially in the barangays, to the reading materials. Shortage of textbooks, supplementary reading materials, dictionaries, and encyclopedias is the main reason why our pupils did not develop proper reading habits.”

Of course there are other factors to explain the poor performance of the students, but access to reading materials is certainly an important component of the solution to the problem.

Why not simply donate to libraries?

Experience has shown that what is sorely needed in Alimodian is a book program, not just book donation.  Donated books will go to waste if they are not made accessible and read.

The Alimodian Municipal Library, we are sorry to say, has limited impact.  It has not gotten the attention and support it deserves from either the LGU or the private citizens, and this is reflected in the sorry state of its physical facilities; it is hardly a user-friendly place for students and library-users.  Moreover, being a public facility, it is only open on regular government schedule, and thus is not accessible during after-school hours and weekends.

The school libraries are probably doing better; still, anecdotal reports suggest that the students find them “intimidating” and are therefore not using the resources as much as they should.  And as with the municipal library, they are not accessible during after-school hours and weekends.

Some barangays outside the poblacion do not have libraries at all.

Goal of the Book-Lending Program

The goal of the book-lending program is to bring books to children, students, and other young people who, for one reason or another, do not use, or use marginally, the resources of the municipal or school libraries. 

Setting up a Book-Lending Facility

A book-lending center can be set up in as many neighborhoods and barangays as there are books available and volunteers to manage the book-lending operation.

First thing to do is recruit volunteers and get them to organize themselves.  There are no hard-and-fast rules to organization; the volunteers can improvise as they go along.

Find a place to locate the lending center.  This can be a space in a public or school building, or a private residence with ample room.  The most important requirement is that there are bookshelves available to hold the books.  One cannot minimize the importance of having bookshelves.  If the books are kept only in boxes (for fear of their being stolen or mishandled), the set-up is not attractive enough to encourage young people to use the lending center.

Where Will the Books Come From?

Michelle Ann and Mariel Fleur Loredo (M&M), CARE Alimodian liaison, have custody of the books shipped by CARE U.S.A. The CARE volunteers will process the books, traffic the books from one lending center to another, and monitor the location, care, and maintenance of the books.

M&M will also lend assistance to the volunteer group in setting up the procedures for borrowing and lending books.  For years now they have operated a modest (free) book-lending operation in the Plaza Libertad area; it is doing quite well (for the resources they have).  A volunteer group that would like to set up a lending center in their neighborhood or barangay can visit and observe M&M’s operation to get some ideas.

CARE Alimodian will supply the books to the lending center. If the lending center is a more or less permanent set-up, the books will be replaced on a regular basis so there are always new titles to borrow on any given time. CARE U.S.A is hoping to send a wide range of books to interest young people from pre-school to college, as well as young and old people who read books for personal leisure.

Before they arrive at the lending center, the books would have already been processed by CARE volunteers at M&M's – inventoried, catalogued, covered with plastic, and borrower forms pasted at the inside back covers.

How Should the Book-Lending Center Operate?

The general intent is to have the lending center open at least two hours after school on weekdays, and a few hours on Saturdays. This is only a recommendation.  The volunteer group managing the center in a neighborhood or barangay can make up its own schedule.

The book-lending program will be operated like a library – a child is issued a library card; when he/she borrows a book, a volunteer takes him/her through the process. The ritual of borrowing and returning books is important: it teaches children how to use a library (albeit in a mini form), and in the process teaches them responsibility because they have to return the books at a certain date. (If it so wishes, the lending center can impose a token penalty to drive home the point.)  It also makes them feel like responsible adults. This is a way, maybe a little way but cannot be underestimated nonetheless, of building their self-confidence; of impressing on their minds that they matter. Sometimes we adults don't pay enough attention to developing positive self-perception among impressionable children.

DROP EVERYTHING AND READ (DEAR)

This is an initiative that we hope the volunteer group will adopt in tandem with the book-lending program, not necessarily at the same time as the setting up of the book-lending center, but perhaps down the line.

Goal of DEAR

The goal of the Drop Everything and Read program is to develop in young children a lifelong habit of reading through regular reading sessions conducted by adult volunteer “readers,” and by working with their parents to reinforce the habit at home.

Also, we hope that the reading session serves as a stimulating learning environment for children to be mentored by caring adults, for them to interact with other children, learn social and communication skills, and build their self-confidence.

A reading session is better seen than explained.  Again, M&M have done this in the past, and sometime in April, during the “launch” of CARE in Alimodian, they will conduct a reading session.  Prospective volunteers can attend and watch that reading session.

To make it worthwhile for the kids to attend, they will be served “snacks” during these reading sessions.  It would be like a Flores de Mayo “incentive”.

To reinforce the reading habit among children, the volunteers will lend books to parents so they can read to their kids at home.

Other Activities for Children

Actually, there are other activities that can be done for children that are easy to set up and are low maintenance.  Our hope is that the volunteer group for the book-lending and DEAR programs will think up ideas (the imagination is the only limit) and implement them.

For instance, the volunteer group can enlist a donor to invite to her/his house the children in the neighborhood to watch a children’s movie or cartoons.  Afterward, a volunteer can ask the children about what they had just watched and everyone will talk about them.  

Other activities can be associated with holidays like Halloween, Pasko, and New Year.

Anything that stimulates the children’s imagination (especially those whose world is restricted by reason of the family’s economic status) and boosts their self-esteem is worth doing.

ROLE OF CARE

CARE, within the limits of its resources, will work with the volunteer groups to implement the twin initiatives (and others related to them).

The resources  associated with the book-lending program (aside from book collecting, that is) are mostly manpower in nature – volunteers to process books, transport books, monitor the location, care, and maintenance of books; volunteers to train volunteers on library forms and procedures; volunteers to train DEAR readers; volunteers to handle whatever else needs to be done, etc.

CARE is committed fully to lending these forms of assistance (and others that may arise).

It will work with the volunteer group to raise funds to provide T-shirts for volunteers and enlist donors who will provide snacks during the reading sessions and other activities.

 Concerned Alimodiananon Resource on Education (CARE)

www. alimodian.net   .   E-mail: care@alimodian.net

Leila Caparanga Amarra  .  Raymond Altura Deza  .  Angioline Loredo  .  Noah Montenegro 

 Michelle Loredo  .  Cirilo Caparanga

Holy Week:
http://community.webshots.com/album/549563270TDohML

ACES Assembly:
http://community.webshots.com/album/549561731nUMBYE

Bato Dungok, via Barangay Lico:
http://community.webshots.com/album/549683490kLEQBH