Helping our fellow Aklanon to become eligible to work in the Philippine government offices.

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” — This is a famous quotation that also mirrors the Glenn Family Foundation founder, Sir Owen Glenn. This project is created to elevate the employment of our fellow Aklanon in the Philippine Government Office. The Civil Service Exam (CSE), also known as the Career Service Examination, is conducted twice a year by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to figure out whether or not an applicant is eligible to work in the Philippine government offices. With the help of our 7-week Free Review of the examination scope inside the GFF HELPS Office in Kalibo, we can help pass the almost 10 examinees. LP and Stef have been the one conducting the Review to topics like English, Math, Philippine Laws, Code of Ethics, Environment and many more since both are Licensed Teachers. We are looking forward to have 100% passers in the upcoming examination in 26th March 2023.

Doing projects with the community is a great way to increase knowledge, skills and promotes progress to people living there. The PH Team, with the guidance of Mr. Saom has initially make progress in communicating to the Muguing Village, an agricultural village 10 kilometers from the GFF Office to partner and create projects with them through the help of Philippine departments like the Department of Agriculture, the Local Government Unit and other agencies. The PH Team will serve as a catalyst to make this project happen. In January, we started communicating the the officers of Muguing Village, did some data survey so that we could decide which project applies best. In February, we communicated to the Mayor’s Office to request permission for a resource speaker from the Department of Agriculture, the Municipal Agricultural Office (MAO) in Banga, to be sent to the Muguing Village and give a seminar on Agriculture and Livestock. The MAO Acting Officer Mr. Elmar Estanislao were very willing to send a resource speaker to Muguing Village in March 2023. The recipient village, on the other hand, was more grateful for the opportunity that we will give to their citizens.

Remedial Classes are ongoing in the four schools: Banga Elementary School, Muguing Elementary School, Sigcay Elementary School, and Lapnag Primary School. Progress of the children were witnessed by the teachers and parents. More students were added to our class, and they also manifested progress despite being new. We continue to provide worksheets and focus on intensive learning. Now, there are more than 50 students under the remedial class from these four schools. We are also grateful for the support of our intern in most of our schedules. We are able to teach many kids in just one session.

Health is one of our priorities. In recent months, we purchased a weighing scale, automatic blood pressure monitor, and glucometer. In every activity that we have, we integrate the health check-up for the participants. One example is the Free Civil Service Examination Seminar where we checked the blood pressure and weight of the participants. All of them were interested to know their weight and their blood pressure. We are planning to hold a seminar in villages about health in partnership with the local government unit and their health workers in the future. For now, we will focus on health check-up integration to each projects that we have.

All human beings are creative by nature. Young children know this in their hearts but lack resources and support. As a celebration of Arts Day, the GFF HELPS Philippines Team brought art materials to Muguing Elementary School. We taught children in Grade 1 how to make animals using simple materials like paper and colored pencils. They made jellyfish and cards out of the materials that we brought. It doesn’t have to be expensive to be creative. The children learned that they could use available materials to create something. Almost 20 kids participated in the activity and proudly showed their work. This activity made us closer to them, and their parents, who are part of the community of Muguing Village. We are happy to ignite their creativity and inspire them to explore their skills.