Bituen Eco Volunteers

Badoc, Ilocos Norte  - (First Leg of the National Tour from North to South) Badoc South Central School is the most populated school of the town with about 740 enrollees. Many come from marginalized families. During the reading session, some Grade 1 and 2 pupils, all from marginalized families, intuitively point on the letters and count with their other set of fingers to recall what the letters are in front of them. Some of them cannot read. In the case of this writer, out of 41 pupils, 6 pretended to be able to read, murmuring non-syllables. Incidentally, only 2 Grade 1 pupils out of 20 were noted to have difficulty reading. They already use books in vernacular and this could have helped because among the Grade 2 pupils, 4 cannot (out of 21 pupils). When asked why he cannot read, one pupil answered he have no books to read. Probably, he meant no interesting books to read. Public school pupils are provided with black-ink, dog-eared, disin...

All photos taken during Reading Caravan events. We are happy to announce that we are embarking on a nationwide book distribution through Reading Caravan. This is quite ambitious but will need all the support you could give, especially colorful children's' books. The children beneficiaries during RC opened their books immediately, with thirst for knowledge seen in their faces. Some of them were known to have reading problems as all public schools conduct a pre-post school year reading assessment. But with the eagerness in their eyes, the problem is not them but access. They do not even know how to open and flip the book pages properly. Philippine Literacy Right Now The situation right now in Philippine public schools is that all books are printed of black ink on newsprint pages. Gone are the colorful hardbound pages the 70s children experienced. These books today are dog-eared if not completely useless bound by packaging & scotch tapes for years of tear...

Sto. Tomas is home of Bituen and the volunteers. We have been lucky to establish the first Reading & Information Center in Sto. Tomas since April 2011. A public library, it is also connected online and where pupils, the students, and the public come to learn, get update from their relatives abroad, and become aware of what is going on around the world. Incidentally, the project was able to make it to the provincial Siglat Search level, and the volunteers were told that it was visited by the Siglat Search team (Ilocos Sur). In this Reading Caravan, we included a chess competition due to insistent public demand (mainly by the male kids), so, we also provided the chess winners some books to read. Part of their prizes were free lecture and orientation on computer use and internet browsing. Keep the books coming. Created with flickr slideshow .

(October 17, 2011) During rainy season, it is a challenge to go to Carusipan, Cabugao, in Ilocos Sur. There is a hanging bridge which could scare a pseudo-acrophobe like me... So, we opted to hop and balance against the stone bridge(s) on the widened river instead. There were already many parents and children at the area when we arrived. But the participants were eager, and so were the volunteers. The participants were from the barangay's elementary school which is also beside the river. Many of them still need improvement based on their level. However, there were a few who were well-adjusted and with high comprehension skills. It was during the distribution of books that we saw once again the happy faces of the children. All who participated were given books while those who showed more effort to read and re-tell in vernacular (ilocano) what they read were given more books. We look forward to get more (colorful) book donations and reach out to more underprivileged childr...