The GFF HELPS Philippines Team has been conducting activities in schools most of the time, and we seldom visit the group of kids in different villages. We made sure that this month, we can visit them at least once. We chose the dates of the holidays because we are sure that the kids are in their houses. The team was divided into two: LP in Laserna Village and Stef and Intern Erica in Ugsod Village. These two villages were located in different towns and were far away from each other. LP conducted activities about waste segregation because most of the kids were in primary school. Stef and Erica distributed worksheets in English subjects because most of the kids were in Elementary School. Every time we visit them, we can see in their eyes how much they miss us. They are always looking forward to the day that we can visit them.

Teaching geography is essential because it equips individuals with the knowledge and skills to understand the world, appreciate its diversity, make informed decisions, and contribute to a more sustainable and interconnected global community. The workshop in geography focuses not just on its meaning but also on exploring, locating, and naming places on the map of the Philippines. They participated in guessing the names of tourist attractions in the country, shared their thoughts about it, and where they wanted to visit in the future. Maps are given to each of the participants. They learned about the different regions of the Philippines and memorized some of them for a short period of time. They answered the given activity where they have to write the names of the different provinces located in each region. They had fun locating places on the map.

Teaching poem writing is important because it nurtures creativity, improves language skills, fosters emotional intelligence, encourages critical thinking, and allows students to connect with others through meaningful expression. It enriches their personal and academic lives, providing lifelong tools for effective communication and self-discovery. Participants learned what poem writing is all about, the things to consider in writing, and the essence of creating their piece. Most of them said that they have written poems in school without knowing the rules or the guidelines for writing. We let them read and understand some examples of poems, and they wrote their pieces after. Each of them has their themes to which they wanted to dedicate their poems. Most of them expressed gratitude towards their beloved parents, their family, favorite teacher, and friends. Some of them dedicated their piece to their crush, special someone, or their inspiration. No matter what’s their theme in writing poems it’s limitless just like their various thoughts about poetry.

This Science Experiment in Muguing Village presents volcanoes through the making of volcano models. This was taught because of the ongoing eruption of one of the active volcanoes in the Philippines, the Mayo Volcano. Together with the 20 children, we had successfully reached the goal of this day which was to learn about volcanoes by making a volcano model.The children will also be fascinated with the eruption aspect of volcanoes wherein, they will be able to observe how the eruption changes the original form of their volcano model.

Why is it important for children to learn this? It is important for children to learn through this activity because most of them have not seen a volcano first hand. Many children may be unfamiliar with what volcanoes are.

What will they take away from this? They will take away the learnings from these experiments as some of them will be learning the experiments in their later years at school. They will get familiar on why and how the volcanoes erupt.

Teaching elements of a story to students is crucial for several reasons as it lays the foundation for their understanding and appreciation of literature and communication. It is easy to forget these elements and one may lose appreciation of stories if this happens. We included the Elements of a Story in the Mid-Year Workshop for Teenagers. We first conducted this activity in Muguing Village. The 14 teenagers learned about the three main Elements of a Story, identified the elements in a story, and make their own story with the three elements. They already learned this topic in high school, so they have prior knowledge. They made good stories and read them aloud. We also conducted this activity in GFF HELPS Philippines Office for selected ten teenagers from the town of Banga and Kalibo. Most of them already know the elements and easily identified them in the given stories. The parents of the teenagers send messages to thank us for the learnings.

The Philippine Teams achieved the goal of this workshop which was to make the teenagers aware of the language used by our special friends like the deaf-mute individuals. Learning sign language is a bit hard but it could be a great way for the participants to build up connection with the deaf kids/adults whenever they found one.

Lady Peace taught more than 100 basic words in American Sign Language, including self introduction, family, emotions, greetings, and many more. This would help the children expand their social life as they learn how to communicate with the deaf.

Meanwhile, Miss Pia, an invited newswriter, shared her knowledge on newswriting and newspaper labeling to teenagers. They were inspired to become a news writers in the future.

Every Thursday, we have our free coaching to participants for them to pass the national exam and get a stable job in the government in the future. What we always do is to study every area of the exam, divide it between Stef and I and sometimes hire a Guest Coach especially connected to a particular area, like Miss Pia, she is a Biology Graduate and she explains well the Environmental Protection and Issues in the Philippines that is one of the parts of the examination.

In order for a middle-schooler to be accepted in the university, they have to pass the interview with random questions. The Team conducted an orientation via ZOOM, with 5 students one-on-one, and we throw them a lot of questions that is commonly asked during a school entrance interview. We taught them the proper behavior, proper arranging of thoughts, and techniques in answering interview questions. The 5 participants have passed and the university interview. They surpassed the other 68 aspiring students.

Students in Lapnag Primary School show great progress in playing Scrabble. Every Tuesday, during school days, we regularly visit the school and conduct sports project. We alternately play Chess and Scrabble every week. In the early weeks of the project, students can only make short and basic words. They still don’t know how to make use of bonus tiles and how to get high scores. Now, they can already make longer words, make use of bonus tiles, and think of how to make their scores higher. They always get excited to get bonus points and double their scores.

We also introduced Chess in Sigcay Elementary School before the school closed for vacation. They learned about the Chess pieces and the different moves. In Lapnag Primary School, they always play in groups with four to five members. They help each other to make different moves. Some of them still forget the movement of each piece, but we are always there to assist them. These children are becoming quick-witted not only in playing chess but for having tactics on how to move the chess pieces rightly for their advantage and to win the game.

Remedial Classes are ongoing in the two schools: Sigcay Elementary School and Lapnag Primary School. These two schools remained because the other schools were busy and do not have classes during our schedule. The villages where these schools are located are also adjacent to each other. We can easily monito progress of students from school to school. Teacher Ronnie in Sigcay Elementary School noticed the progress of the students in Grade 1 that he talked to us to include some of his students too. He selected the non-readers and slow-learners. What’s interesting is that they are all boys. It is a challenge to us to teach this group because they are competent and always argue with each other. During the first meeting, we assessed their needs and brought worksheets that will target their weakness. During sessions, we encouraged them to spell and read the words. They also have to identify the pictures from their worksheets. They are always excited to see us every Monday. Progress of these students will be recorded for their teacher’s record.

The Civil Service Examination is a test to determine those qualified to work in public service. Having Civil Service Eligibility means one can apply for permanent jobs in the government, and be entitled to a number of benefits such as competitive salaries, career growth, and insurance among many others.

The GFF HELPS Philippines initiated a Free Review for the test takers of the Civil Service Examination. The First Phase of the project started last February 9^th and ended on March 16^th. It was a fruitful 7-week review. We had a Guest Coach that helped them to solve Math equations. It was a special day and the reviewees learned a lot.

The reviewees took the exam on March 26^th. We are very excited for them during the exam. Some of them sent selfies before and after the examination. We are now waiting for the results that will come out on June.

The second examination for this year of the Civil Service Commission will be in August 13^th. We prepared a Phase 2 of the Free Review that will start this June 1^st up to August 3, 2023. It will be a 10-week review every Thursdays. We are now gathering interested reviewees. Preparation is ongoing: invited speakers, materials, and etc.

These months were full of holidays. Schools are also busy with different activities so they have to postpone their classes. The school year is fast approaching so teachers are seizing the remaining school days. During these times, we can’t go to school, so we conduct a house-to-house visit to the students. We have the students of Capitan Tazan Memorial Primary School that lives in the same neighborhood. During the peak of the pandemic, we regularly visit them because they are only in their houses. Now that schools are open, we seldom visit them. We always contact their parents during holidays if they are available and we make sure that we can have an enjoyable time together. The kids missed us a lot. Their parents keep on saying that they always look forward to the day that we can visit them. We promised that we will visit them during holidays or when school year ends.

We also have another group of kids in Laserna Village in Kalibo Town. Reading alone wouldn’t be fun, especially for children. That’s why, we as their mentors need to be flexible enough to teach them not only in reading but with a twist to make it exciting and memorable. To test their skills in art making, we prepared art materials such as coupon bonds, scissors, pre-cut colored paper, and glue. We let them write their names first on the coupon bond. Then, they select the color of the pre-cut colored paper they wanted to use. They need to fill the coupon bond like a mosaic or assemble the pieces to create larger and more beautiful letters. While doing this activity, they enjoy cutting the pre-cut colored paper based on their chosen shapes and then pasting it on the coupon bond. This activity teaches them not only how to follow directions carefully but it allows them to showcase their talents in art making.

Summary of Chess Session with Sigcay and Lapnag Kids

Chess game knows no age. It could be played by children, teenagers, adults and even senior. Some of them see it as pasttime, but for many it is educational. It helps somebody to be creative, strategic, logical, wise and sport, thus, the goal of GFF Philippine Team why we teach this sport to two schools in Banga. We are hoping that their logic and strategic thinking will be improved as well as showing participation and sportsmanship throughout the 10 weeks time in this project. The team also prepares powerpoint presentation for Chess so that the children could learn the basics. The are also thankful to the teachers especially in Sigcay School, the Principal, Mr. Norman Remaneses said, “This is a great help for our students to learn about Chess that the curriculum doesn’t teach.”

Summary of Scrabble Session with Lapnag Kids

Scrabble makes the children in Lapnag Elementary School learn English words and their meanings. The game is interactive and informative. We made sure that everyone was included and received fair attention from us. As the Philippine Team introduced what it is all about, we can sense their excitement and eagerness to play and learn. Even though it is quite new to play this kind of game, they’re very active and cooperative. Scrabble doesn’t only give them time and a chance to cooperate and play with each other, it also enhances their capability to think, create, and form a series of words in Scrabble. Moreover, because of this game, the children learned to value teamwork, fairness, and sportsmanship as key elements in winning.

Earlier this year, we have been in partnership with the Muguing Village and the Agricultural and Health sector in Banga Town. This is to make our goal a reality by providing seminars in the villages. Recently, we had our Rabies, and African Swine Fever Awareness conducted by the Agricultural Office and this upcoming June we are in collaboration with the Health Department to conduct a seminar on “Dengue Awareness” (the original topic that we wanted was on “Heat Stroke and Nose Bleeding Awareness but the doctor advised another helpful topic to be discussed.”). We have been making letters of intent, meeting the doctors and other authorities that we will be needing in the said seminar. The Town Doctor said, “Your programs are very helpful but I would advise you that Dengue Awareness is more important to discuss with but we can also talk a few minutes about Heat Stroke.” With this being said, we are grateful for the doctor since this topic is relevant to the weather here in the Province of Aklan. Right now, more on processing the letters so that we could be approved to handle such seminar in Muguing Village. We are looking forward to have this seminar with the teachers, parents and other concern individuals in Muguing Vilage as soon as possible.

Childrens education and their overall development has been a prime goal that GFF Helps has set and have been working towards. Every month GFF Helps India representatives visit the SOGG Learning and Information Centre to conduct Mobile Library sessions. This project has been undertaken and been carried out efficiently for the last three years. This month our newly appointed GFF Helps India Representative, Ms. Surabhi Subba, visited all the three SOGG Learning and Information Centre – Pudung SOGG, Bong SOGG and Chibbo SOGG on 10th, 11th and 12th of May, respectively. A fun activity was held where the students were asked to read the books and relate with the various pictures drawn in the pages to enhance their cognitive abilities. 

Unemployment has been one of the major problems faced by youths in Kalimpong. After completing their education many students feel directionless with no prospects in their sight to pursue. Sadhu Sundar Singh & Rotary Centre or Skill Development – Disha have been providing various courses with low cost fees to help the youths get enrolled in jobs. GFF Helps Representative Ms. Surabhi Subba, along with Bong SOGG Coordinator Mr. Yugen Lepcha visited the Disha Centre on 18th of May. They met with Mr. Don Fonning, in-charge of the Disha Centre where he explained the various courses (Assistant Electricians, Customer Care Executives, General Duty Nursing Assistant, etc) and their placement schemes. aware about such programmes.

Some courses are also provided by the Centre for free at times, so Mr. Fonning assured that he will contact us when such courses are available. All these information about various courses and current recruitments were shared with the SOGG coordinators and teachers and pamphlets were distributed to help many young people interested in these courses and fields to find employment and gain knowledge about its further scope.

Newly appointed GFF Helps India Representative, Ms. Surabhi along with Bong SOGG coordinator Mr. Yugen Lepcha made a visit to the Indian Postal Office in Kalimpong. GFF Helps India has collaborated with the Indian Postal Department in the past and hosted workshops on money saving and various saving schemes in Bong village. Therefore, we once again visited the office to discusses and to know about newer updated savings schemes available at present. The Post Master, explained newer schemes available such as the Mahila Sama Saving Certificate which is for financial upliftment of women, the Sukanya Samridhi Yojana for girl child, Kisan Vikas Patrika (KVP) for farmers, Senior Citizen Saving Scheme (SCSS) for senior citizens and many more. All the information of these schemes will be taken and shared with the villagers in hopes that they will avail and reap benefits from it.

In the upcoming month of June, the entire world celebrates the Environment Day on 5^th June. We at GFF Helps are planning to celebrate it by organising “fruit sapling” plantation at the three villages on Bong, Pudung and Chibbo by distributing it to the villagers. When it comes to fruit saplings, we cannot plant whicTherefore Ms. Surabhi from GFF Helps and Mr. Suk Tshering Lepcha, coordinator from Bong SOGG visited the Krishi Bigyan Centre in order to get a better know how about the fruit saplings. KBK centre are spread across India and are associated with a local agricultural university, and serve as links between the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and farmers to apply agricultural research in a practical, localized setting. Dr. Basudev Khadka recommended us which fruits were best suitable to be grown. Mr. AD Thapa suggested us to visit the Forest Silvi Culture office and gave us the contact details as good quality saplings were available there at subsidized prices. Visit to the KVK Centre was indeed a helpful one.

This month has been a memorable one because after the pandemic this was the first time that all the SOGG coordinators, teachers, GFF Helps representative and our office staff for able to physically meet for the general meeting at GFF main office on 18^th of May. The General meeting was extremely successful as we were all able to discuss, take feedbacks and and plan upcoming activities with the teachers of other SOGG learning centres as well. After the meeting all the attendees of the meeting decided to clean the office and we ended the day with a good lunch which Mr. Saom had kindly arranged for us. All of us were glad to be able to physically gather and take each other’s suggestions and advices.

The Philippine Team is currently working with the village of Muguing in Banga Town under the GFF HELPS Adopt-A-Village Project. This is for the benefit of the residents of Muguing where most of them are farmers, hog/pig raisers and agriculture/animal-related occupations. We planned for a timely seminar that could benefit everyone. We collaborated with the Municipal Agricultural Office (MAO) in Banga Town and after a series of fulfilling the required documents to the Town Leader, Village Leader and MAO Head, we were able to invite 2 smart Registered Agriculturist, Miss Jhinke Navarro and Mr. Dennis De Mesa, and they were able to conduct our first ever face-to-face seminar where it was attended by 25 residents, including the Village Councilors and Secretary, last 28^th March 2023 in Muguing Village.

Before the seminar started, we checked the attendees Blood Pressure and Weight to simply provide assistance for them and after that I introduced Sir Owen Glenn and the GFF HELPS Philippines. We then started the seminar, during the 2-hour event, the speakers provided printed copy of their talk, and they presented meaningful and up-to-date talks about the fast spreading of African Swine Fever (ASF), and its prevention. The rabies awareness where also tackled as it is one of the most cases during summer, especially that dogs are sensitive to hot weather and children are outside playing hence they are the most vulnerable.

During the talk, many of the residents raised questions about tips on how to raise healthy hogs/pigs and how it can prevent the ASF, as well as the benefits that they could get whenever they’d bitten by a dog with rabies, and so on which were all answered gracefully by the speakers. The seminar ended with some snacks cooked by our Association Member and awarding of Certificates to the speakers and participants.

Remedial Classes are ongoing in the four schools: Banga Elementary School, Muguing Elementary School, Sigcay Elementary School, and Lapnag Primary School. Students are pulled out from their respective classrooms to join the remedial classes. These are the selected students who have slower academic progress. We observed that they were so excited to start and participate in the remedial classes. During the class, most of them participated well, but some students still needs guidance to complete the task. One-on-one guidance is needed because some of them can’t understand or follow simple instructions. But still, they learned a lot from CVC flashcards, activity sheets with pictures, reading aloud then spelling words. We give prizes like stickers, stamps, etc. to motivate them in doing their activities. Students who participated well in reading words are the ones who got high scores when it comes to spelling. Overall, they’re still progressing and applying what they’ve learned in remedial classes. We’re happy to see that they’re having fun while learning!

This coming May, our Team will start the Sports Project where it highlights the teaching -and-learning on Chess and Scrabble. We are done visiting and talking to the School Principals of both schools, Sigcay and Banga Elementary Schools. The Letter of Intent were also signed, the materials are also ready as well as ourselves when introducing and teaching the school children these Sports. The School Principals were happy knowing about our project for the children and according to Mr. Norman Remaneses, School Principal of Sigcay, “This is a good project,it will help our students excel more in Sports. I hope that you could also help us in training the children in Mathematics-related Sports like Sudoku, Kakuro and Tower of Hanoi.”

Aside from ourselves training the children, we have also invited a consistent Chess Awardee who is willing to teach the kids with us. The parents of the children are also happy knowing it and they said that it is one of the steps to limit their kids’ cellphone usage.

Since we started our Reading Workshop & Mobile Library, Online Storytelling, and Remedial classes, we made a difference in the lives of the kids, parents, teachers, and schools. These projects were running for a significant period of time. Last March until this April, we collected feedbacks from kids, parents, and teachers about the impacts that the project brought to them as well as their message for the GFF HELPS and to Sir Owen. We made a video of the compilation and uploaded it in YouTube. Here are some feedbacks:

We are happy to be part of the students’ progress and the schools’ vision. We will continue these projects as long as there are students who are willing to learn.

The 7-week Free Coaching on Civil Service Examination has finally ended last Thursday, March 16th, 2023. This program was attended by almost 10 participants, who are living in the different towns of Aklan Province, some are l job orders or working temporarily in the government. Due to the lack of the eligibility, they cannot be employed regularly or cannot be promoted in their respective fields. Once they pass the Exam this March 26th, they will be qualified to be employed regularly or to get promoted in the future. This program was done every Thursday at the GFF HELPS Office Kalibo. The PH Team is very proud of the participants’ diligence in coming to the office once a week to personally attend the said program. We followed a weekly schedule where Stef and I discuss every topic assigned to us. We were the one teaching them the areas of the exam. We also provided them some worksheets, test papers, handouts and answer sheet similar to that of the Civil Service, we also invited a Mathematics Teacher to teach the Math area of the Exam. We are yet to have the result on May depending on the releasing date of the Civil Service Commission in the Philippines. We are hoping that our participants will all pass the Exam so that they can get a permanent job in the future. 

Most of our programs ran for 6 to 1 year. This includes our Remedial Classes which started almost the same time when the government-funded school opened after two years of pandemic. We visited the four different schools in Banga Town and teach different children with Math, Science and English along with the e different worksheets we provided. We also lend books to schools and to the children during our Mobile Library Project and interviewed the parents, children and teachers about our programs -they were very grateful with all the books they had during the pandemic, when the schools were all closed, they read our books. Maica expressed her joy that she is always excited reading all the books over and over again. She said, “My favorite book is ‘The Little Bunny’ and the lesson I learned that I am unique and have many talents like the little bunny in the story.”

The parents were also very thankful for the Online Storytelling, which had developed the children’s creativity, took away their shyness and improved their English competencies. The participants of the Free Review for Civil Service were also grateful for the opportunity given to them, this is their ticket to employment once they pass the eligibility exam on March 26th 2023. (The result of this exam will be in May 2023.) Likewise, with the participants of Workshops: Crochet and Calligraphy, and Baking class – they had gained new skills that will lead to a livelihood when taken right.

These are some of the projects results that we have evaluated and we are looking forward to more quotations from the participants in the coming days.

Remedial Classes are ongoing in the four schools: Banga Elementary School, Muguing Elementary School, Sigcay Elementary School, and Lapnag Primary School. The progress of the children was witnessed by the teachers and parents. Some students were pulled out by their classroom teachers already because they showed improvement. They were replaced by other students who need remediation too. Some students who still need attention and remediation remained in the remedial class. We assessed why they are showing poor improvement and saw that their learning style is different as compared to others. They learn more when they are playing and not through worksheets. We changed our teaching approach and introduced them to educational games. It is more challenging for us because they are energetic kids and like to play around. We are always finding ways to help these learners who are misunderstood as “lazy” and “naughty”.

The GFF HELPS TEAMS are composed of hardworking women from different races and backgrounds. Our beneficiaries and members of the GFF AKLAN WORKERS’ ASSOCIATION were mostly women. To celebrate milestones and extraordinary roles of women in all spheres of society, we made cards with messages. These cards were given to teachers who work with us and women who are member of the association. We went to their schools and houses to personally give the card and greet them. This is just a small act but they were touched by our genuineness. They left a heartfelt message to GFF HELPS and to Sir Owen. To all the women in the whole world who are making positive changes, “Thank you for being the woman you are!”