Team Reports |
Batangas: A Special Place to BePatti Jones -- Oakville, ON
As a very-recently-retired principal, my ten-day SCAW trip to the Philippines has really been a journey of five years. The staff, students and parents of Willow Glen Public School, our small and needy school in Mississauga, began collecting pennies for Sleeping Children in January, 2003. Because the collection was also a contest based on the weight of each class's penny tin, all students were able to contribute. There was no incentive to bring loonies or bills. In recent years, voluntary donations to SCAW for admission to school concerts became a tradition. A display of each year's SCAW pictures holds a prominent place in the school with a map to identify each destination plus a full bedkit on display. On a personal note, as the school became more involved with Sleeping Children, so too did my own family. Bedkit donations became treasured gifts on many special occasions for relatives and friends. As my retirement drew near, I hoped to continue my SCAW involvement by joining a distribution team. Kind support from colleagues, friends and family helped my dream come true – with my promise to return to school and tell the story of personally delivering the bedkits donated by the students. As we near the end of our daily distributions, I am filled with gratitude for having had the unique opportunity to be a travelling volunteer. Not only have I had the joy of seeing 6,000 children glow as they received their bedkits but also, I've had times to chat daily with Filippino teachers and principals, and to visit numerous schools both inside and out.
It has been a truly awesome finale to my career as an educator and it has given me a deeper appreciation for the amazing work done by educators in public schools in this far away country. Their challenges include class sizes of 35-70 students in kindergarten to grade 6 and half-day classes in some cases. Families pay for absolutely all school supplies or the children don't go to school. There is irregular student attendance due to extensive travelling distances, extreme heat, poor basic nutrition, and difficult sleeping conditions for these young learners. That is why bedkits are so important for children in all of the selected distribution sites around the world. School supplies, clothing, and bedding items promote better learning and a better future. At my own Canadian school, we conscientiously lived the vision of, "A Special Place to Be." On each of my ten days, I was so proud to know that the 99,000 pennies from Mississauga helped thirty-three Filippino children in a town called Batangas, in their own special place to be. |
