More than a school. An in-depth program for better development of children in Philippines

The Philippines is a natural paradise. However, life is difficult for the inhabitants of this island nation. Poverty abounds in this country – more and more people seek their fortunes abroad, earning money as nannies, cleaning staff, construction workers, sailors or carers, and sending their salaries home to their families. This needs to change. As long as universal education is not available to people from all social backgrounds, people will continue to live below the poverty line and be unable to feed their children or send them to school. As if that were not enough: the Philippines is one of the countries most affected by global climate change.

A better future: learning for life.

Our goal is to improve teaching and living standards at the San Roque Elementary School. By renovating the old school building, reinforcing it and protecting it from natural disasters, the children will receive a better education and enjoy improved health.  

Ensuring an environment conducive to learning

The school campus is made up of separate ground-level buildings. Most of them required repairs as the buildings hadn't been maintained. Additionally, the campus was far removed from an ideal learning environment due to cracked cement floors, leaking roofs, defective fans, unbearable heat in the classrooms, broken toilets and missing sinks.

As part of step one, the school was renovated from the ground up, and then a library and a computer lab were added.

Training and further education to ensure better quality teaching

Well-trained teaching staff are as important as modern equipment and materials (such as computers) for ensuring continued success. This is where, thanks to your contributions, the Child & Family Foundation comes in. It is especially important to tailor the lesson plans to the regional needs, where poverty and malnutrition abound and foodstuffs are extremely costly. Agricultural and nutritional expertise  aren't just essential to children's learning but for the entire community.

In 2013, to promote children's healthy growth and development, the Child & Family Foundation started a Health and Nutrition Program. In cooperation with teachers and parents, hungry, malnourished students receive a warm meal at school once a day. There are currently 115 students enrolled in this programme.  Additionally, Greenfinity Foundation planted an organic school garden, from which the school kitchen will source fresh produce.

Hygienic habits for a healthier life

Poverty has many consequences. People often don't have enough money or sufficient knowledge to maintain proper personal hygiene. In 2014, we started a hygiene program which provided students with body care products. Children learn proper personal hygiene as part of specialised lessons as we know that washing our hands and brushing our teeth contribute to our long-term health.

Let's work together to improve quality of life in the long-term

The assorted maintenance costs are covered by the Child & Family Foundation. Educational offers are constantly supervised and reviewed.

To ensure long-term support, parents have to be made aware of the fact that education provides an escape from a life of poverty.

Only when school directors, teachers, parents and the community believe this and work to improve the quality of teaching and living, will we achieve our goal - to provide the children with opportunities which go above and beyond education. We are thrilled that the school garden project, started by the Greenfinity Foundation, has become an integral part of the community.