Minglanilla, The Philippines - New boys and new timetables
On 9th January we were privileged to receive an update from Sr Eva at our boys’ school in Minglanilla.
This call was a chance to hear about the progress of the new boys who were welcomed into the school during the summer last year.
446 boys were accepted into the school in June. These boys have received intensive support and care since their arrival into school and they are now doing very well.
As with so many of the poor children joining the Sisters programmes post pandemic, these children have borne the brunt of the closure of state schools during the pandemic. They now arrive at the schools lacking more than two years’ of primary education and this is most obvious in their ability to read and write. The youngest boys are therefore receiving additional help with these subjects.
The government has recently changed the National curriculum to increase the subjects taught and help the youngest students in the country. The Sisters in Minglanilla are working hard with their teachers to re-write and adjust their lesson plans and timetables to accommodate eight sessions a day rather than seven. This is a significant change and the Sisters are hopeful that the introduction will provide greater support for these boys’ education.
Christmas and looking to 2025
Christmas was a joyous celebration at the school in December. The boys were thrilled to have a party, assemblies and presentations prior to leaving school for their annual holiday. Thanks to our generous supporters, the children received modest gifts of school bags, shoes, underwear, socks and food. They were overwhelmed with this generosity saving most of the food to share with their families during their holidays.
Sr Eva looked ahead to 2025 and reviewed her needs at the school for the year. Her priorities centre around the vital maintenance and repair required to the infrastructure of her aging school. The kitchen urgently needs renovation so that it is a comfortable place for all to work. The machines like the rice steamer in the kitchen are central to feeding the children and reaching a significant age are no longer reliable. Of greatest concern though is the bill for electricity for the school. The school utilises a lot of electricity, particularly for the workshops offering technology training and in the Philippines electricity is expensive. Sr Eva talked us through her green energy initiatives to address this problem and her hopes for a more sustainable solution for the school for the future. These will be a fundraising focus for us for this year.
São Paulo programmes in Brazil
January has also been a chance to catch up with the Sisters running the educational programmes based in São Paulo, Brazil.
In this region of the country Sr Maria and Sr Lourdes run nursery and elementary (primary) education programmes for the most deprived youngsters in the local community.
The Sisters have two, day school programmes focused on younger children – an early learning, kindergarten programme for children aged 3-5 and an elementary school for youngsters aged 5-10.
On 29th January, the Sisters will welcome new children to start the new terms at these schools – 90 at the Kindergarten and 70 in the elementary school.
Welcoming new children in need
These children have been accepted from the most desperately poor favelas which are located in the communities around the school in São Paulo. Many of these families are separated, the mothers are frequently very young, uneducated and unable to secure reliable work, so the families are poor and their children are neglected and urgently in need of a place of safety and a better start in life.
The families know the work of the Sisters well by reputation and by the award granted to them late last year by the municipality for being the best school in the region, so they are desperate for their children to be accepted. The Sisters spend time with each family in their homes in order to make the right decisions and offer the limited number of available school places only to those families most in need.
Education in partnership
The Sisters meet separately with all the parents and guardians of the children to ensure that they can count on their help in getting the child to attend classes each day. This partnership is important for the parents to realise the value of the education to the child’s future and helping them to achieve their potential.
If all goes well with these discussions, the parents will be given all the school supplies for the children including notebooks, pens, uniforms and sports kit.
The kindergarten children start school with the sisters at 8 am each day and finish at 4.45 pm. Their day is filled with activity sessions, early learning and play. They receive two healthy meals and a snack and they have the chance to learn vital foundational skills which will set them up for a future of learning.
In the elementary school, there are two sessions each day and children come either from 7.30 am to 12.30 or from 1 pm to 6pm. This helps to maximise the number of children who can attend. The children learn Maths, Portuguese, Geography and computing and enjoy various sports and play activities and gardening.
The opportunity is a lifesaver for so many of these children who have no access to a quality elementary education. It also provides the children with a head start into high (secondary) school. Many are able to qualify for scholarships to Brazil’s private schools and some girls also progress onto our secondary school in Brasilia.