Read-along and a meal for malnourished kids

BAGUIO CITY—A meal, coupled with tales about nutrition and the trees, filled the tummies and minds of poor children of Rizal Elementary School here during the Inquirer Read-Along program on Tuesday.

The children are beneficiaries of a feeding program developed by volunteers led by Dr. Mark Noel Ventura, a pediatrician.

Ventura and his friend, Henry Carlin, started sponsoring the morning meals of the pupils in September 2011 when they learned that the children went to school in Barangay Pacdal with empty stomachs.

“These children from indigent families walk and attend classes without eating breakfast. And when you see their lunchboxes, these contain only rice. No viand. For most of the kids, this is their last meal for the day,” Ventura said.

Ventura and Carlin have since been feeding up to 60 children (from Grades 1 to 6), using their own money and the funds they raise through friends.

When the bell rings at 9 a.m. every Tuesday and Thursday, the school’s severely malnourished pupils line up for their first meal of the day, said Brendalee Celino-Tade, the school principal.

When they return their bowl, they again line up for a spoonful of vitamins, she said.

“This way, our pupils will perform better in school, read better, and participate in activities more actively,” said Tade.

Inspired by the Inquirer Read-Along stories, however, Ventura and Carlin asked the teachers if they could take the feeding program a notch higher.

“Since we have been regularly feeding the children, why not feed their minds as well through storytelling?” they asked.

The school and the feeding program volunteers partnered with the Inquirer for a Jan. 24 session, which they intended to sustain on their own with the help of Baguio-based artists, writers and educators.

On Tuesday, before the children consumed a bowl of arroz caldo and fruit drinks, an award-winning special education teacher read them a story about the value of caring for the trees, while an American puppeteer read the tale about eating fruits and vegetables.

Nora Amowas, a special education teacher, used storytelling as a therapeutic tool to counsel children who were victims of Typhoon “Pepeng” in 2009.

She read the book, “Si Emang Engkantada at ang Tatlong Haragan” by Rene Villanueva. It is the tale of three naughty children who habitually throw trash anywhere, uproot plants and trees, and waste water and electricity.

Amowas, who won the National Search for the Outstanding Special Education Teacher in 2007, said the story is close to her heart because she has been encouraging her students to plant more trees.

Dr. Floyd Darden, who has a weekly program on a local cable TV,  surprised the children when he brought out a puppet he named “Uncle Joe” as he read the story “Joey and The Veggie Gang” by Beng Alba.

The story—a fitting tribute to the school’s feeding program—revolves around skinny boy Joey, who refuses to eat vegetables until he falls sick from the amount of junk food he consumed.

“I want my children and other youths to read more and to develop good values. We can do that through storytelling. And it is more fun if we are creative,” Darden said.

The Inquirer later distributed books and school supplies. Antonette Cachile, a Grade 2 pupil, said: “I will read every day, at home or even at school.” Gobleth Moulic, with a report from Jane Deocampo and Charlene Azcueta, Inquirer Northern Luzon