Community thrives from a dumpsite
Knowing that it takes a community to raise a child, the Gawad Kalinga (GK) community inside Multinational Village in Parañaque City made sure it built a school in the middle of it.
“For most families here, education is seen as the way to break out from poverty,” said Edmund Alquizalas, the GK project coordinator that converted the former dumpsite of the posh subdivision into a thriving community.
The 2,983-square-meter landfill that was once called “little smokey mountain” is now cleared, paved and built with row houses painted with bright colors, complete with a community center and chapel that the residents themselves have worked for.
Alquizalas said that when GK decided to transform the dumpsite into a village, they wanted the informal settlers to reform as well.
“When the place was filled with shanties, people used to be afraid of this area especially at night. In fact, even I would not pass through it as much as I can avoid it,” he said.
For the better
In 2006, things turned out for the better when the subdivision homeowners’ association donated the land to GK. The group then provided the construction materials and the P14-million project carried out its mission for residents to build their own houses.
Two classrooms were also designated where children of most residents from 3 to 6 years old are encouraged to take the first step to value the importance of education.
The kids have no excuses to miss class located in the middle of the village. They are never late for class, too.
Hardly any absences
“You see their enthusiasm. There are hardly any absences in class. Everyone knows everybody else, so classmates are neighbors, too,” said teacher Nida Leonardo. “If one student fails to attend class, we try to find out and visit the child’s house within the community.”
Nida counts the days down to the start of school in June after seeing her last batch of prep students graduate last March. More than 20 kids graduated from kindergarten who are part of the FedEx Sibol Project, while the top students are chosen as scholars to private schools.
“It was their ‘moving up’ day in Sibol,” said Leonardo. “The best students of the class get scholarships and get a shot at quality education.”
Sibol, which means growth, is one of the projects made by FedEx-GK since 2006. The partnership has provided classrooms, free tuition and two teachers to eight different GK communities across the country, including the one in Multinational village, according to FedEx managing director Rhicke Jennings.
The other Sibol schools are located in Napa, Parañaque City; Cubic, Parañaque City; Botolan, Zambales; Bacolod City, Negros Occidental; Talisay City, Cebu; Purol Islam, Sultan Kudarat; and Malaybalay, Bukidnon.
Pioneer Sibol top graduate of 2007, Sharica Rugeria, 11, is an incoming Grade 5 student in Madre Maria Pia Notari School within the subdivision. She loves Math, she said English was easy, she got a medal for exemplary behavior and she was top 2 of her class last year.
When Sharica took the admission tests in four private schools, she topped all of them. She then chose the one nearest to her house because she could walk to it every day from St. Timothy Street to St. Simon Street.
Outsider
But it wasn’t the subjects that made her stay in the new school difficult. When she first came in as a Grade 1 student, some of her classmates did not welcome the “outsider.”
“Some students from Grade 1 to Grade 6 picked fights on me. They said I don’t belong there. Some called me names—negrita daw, hindi daw ako bagay doon kasi mahirap kami,” shared Sharica.
Her mother immediately talked to the teachers of the school where her classmates were scolded.
“When that happened, I cried for my daughter. I told her to be patient and be strong,” said Noraline.
In time, Sharica showed her strong suit. Her academic excellence paved way to be accepted and even seen with high regard. Her mom said that Sharica now has friends even from the high school department.
“Some of my classmates even try to copy from me,” she said.
New graduates
About 1,000 kindergarten students have “moved up” from the Sibol program. New graduate and last year’s top student Eunice Gertos is one of them.
Eunice, 6, said she wants to become a doctor one day. Sharica added that she wants to be a nurse to help the sick. “We might even work in the same hospital,” the two girls said and laughed.
The students at Sibol are also tech-savvy as Eunice pointed out they have a small computer room in their school. She said she’s even Facebook friends with her classmates. She even requested to take a photo of her Sibol friends to be uploaded in the networking site.
“Sometimes, my classmates and I would ask each other about our homework or anything,” added Sharica. She mentioned other Sibol “honor roll” scholars John Ceasar Magtolis, Dennis Corado, Jerico Villasin and Gabreil Fadrilan, to be among them.
Unfinished business
With about 200 families, the “Multi” GK site has 120 units but about 25 units are still unfinished.
“It is unfortunate that some of the residents retain the mentality of their old way of life,” said Noraline.
Alquizalas, however, was quick to add that they are still actively engaging the residents to complete the project.
Other projects
Aside from the Sibol, there’s Project Sagip (which means “save”) for children 7 to 13 years old and Project Siga (which means “tough”) is targeted to supplement alternative education to teenagers.
GK also provides livelihood, health and sanitation programs in the community.
“We only want the best for them. We are one community here,” said Alquizalas.
