Early Christmas gift to public school for special children

Posted by Herbel Santiago on 14 December 2010 | 0 Comments

Tags: books, libraries, Ahon, special children

Early Christmas gift to public school for special children
The Manila Bulletin
By Herbel Santiago
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/292377/early-christmas-gift-public-school-special-children
MANILA, Philippines – Gifts become even more significant when they last a lifetime and are geared towards the upliftment of the lives of a community or an individual.

This is the kind of gift that AHON (Acts of Hope for the Nation) Foundation gives by helping build fully-functional libraries our public elementary schools not just during the Christmas season but all year round. Due to limited budget allocated to develop libraries, public elementary schools are not able to maintain a library that can serve as a haven of reading, critical thinking and learning.

Batino Elementary School (BES) in Quezon City also serves as a public school for special children. It received an early Christmas gift with the opening of their newly-renovated library complete with Science, English, Mathematics and History reference books last Nov. 24. The 39th chosen beneficiary school of AHON Foundation caters not only to the mainstream children but also to kids with learning disabilities. BES struggles to provide quality education to special needs children while promoting equal opportunities.

In her inaugural speech, Dr. Grace Parungao, the principal, remembers quite vividly that three years ago the library was nothing but a dream.

“This is a dream come true for me. It took us three years para maging functional ito. Dati, sobrang dilim. This is a welcome development. Kaya naman, mahalin ang mga aklat na pagkagaganda. Tangkilikin ang ating library. Magbasa ng magbasa. Doon kayo makakakuha ng maraming ideas.”

The school is chosen as AHON beneficiary through the recommendation made by Quezon City Representative Bolet Banal.

AHON Foundation generously delivered half a million pesos worth of books to BES and together with its teachers, AHON set up the package composed of highly interactive and graphic set of reference books suitable for enhancing the skills of early learners. The success of the AHON Library at BES is also due to the bayanihan spirit employed by the principal, hardworking teachers, and the unwavering support of the parents. Vicente Rescobar, vice-president of Parents-Teachers Association and himself a blind man, expressed their heartfelt gratitude towards AHON Foundation.

Harvey Keh, the president and executive director of Ahon Foundation, good-naturedly said “Kapag hindi niyo ginamit ang mga libro, babalikan namin kayo.” Turning serious, he added
“Kami sa AHON Foundation ay naniniwala sa kabataang Pilipino, at naniniwala kami na edukasyon ang susi sa kahirapan. Kaisa ng DepEd, ng mga guro at ng mga magulang na itaguyod ang kalidad ng edukasyon para sa bawat isa sa inyo (students). Ang mga libro ay narito para basahin, ang mga libro ay narito para gamitin.”

As part of its effort to reach more public elementary school libraries all over the country, AHON is currently raising funds by selling AHON Christmas cards. Each set of three Christmas cards cost only P300. Proceeds will help the foundation provide more books to public elementary schools.

The author is currently the program officer of AHON Foundation. To volunteer or donate, contact us at 355-1567 or visit our website at http://www.ahonfoundation.com.