These days I like to stay at home
every weekend if not travelling to a nearby touristy place to keep myself happy
and busy. I was not usually like this until early this year when a good friend
of mine invited me to volunteer in the Lumad Bakwit School, a primary school
for children that are currently doing their best and sacrificing time with
their family to finish school far from their home town in Mindanao that is
continually torn by violence. Lumad Bakwit School is a mobile school reliant on
help from different organizations and volunteers and it was located at the
University of the Philippines in Diliman for the last half of the last school
year where I volunteered for approximately 3 months. I initially volunteered to
spend more time with my friend that will soon leave the same company I am currently
connected and I also thought that I haven’t been volunteering for a while which
is one thing that keeps me happy when I was younger. Moreover, I was assigned
to teach Horticulture to Grade 11 students every Sunday which is a subject
matter I really love (and nobody wants to teach!) having thought College Botany
for over a decade so I thought it would be a wonderful experience and I was
right.
Younger people deprived of a comfortable
life may have less chances of getting good education and while I think that it
is still the truth, I can see how these youngsters work hard to educate
themselves that they may be able to help their community in the future, as what
they always say. Realization of ones responsibility by this kids is just too
early for me because if I can remember clearly, I was still doing and thinking
of very lame things back when I was at their age. I always find talking to these
Lumad students more sensibly than the average kid who lives a comfortable life
and It is just so amazing how big their dreams are and how much they could do
if they are guided properly in their education. Having thought in the big
universities in Manila, I can clearly compare them to my past and present
students whom their parents can afford the very high tuition fees charged by
these big universities and I can clearly say without any doubt that if these
kids are given the same opportunity they would be able to achieve more.
Surprising, right? Unfortunately, they are born in a lesser economic status. It
made me realize that while some of my students back at the university waste
their parent’s money by enrolling and eventually failing and going to school
without any plan to graduate, there are some poor kids that are trying to get
their education whatever way they can so they can help themselves and their
family which is not only righteous but also very heroic. So I never fail to
talk to my students in the university about this these days to hopefully
inspire them and make them realize how privileged they are.
Teaching at Bakwit School also made
me realize that there are still so many people with kind hearts out there that
wants to make a difference in this world. I can see donations coming, I can see
time given by the volunteers not only for teaching but some volunteer for
administrative purposes and others volunteer in doing household chores particularly
to feed the children and I can also see so many organizations both from the
government and non-government ends , trying to reach out and help in the delivery
of education for these kids. There is just too much love, I can sometimes see
it overflow no matter how much negativity one can read and see in the media.
Love is different, you have to experience it as in Bakwit School and not
observe. As a kid, I wasn’t very much exposed to charity but surprisingly me
and my youngest brother grew up to be continually looking for ways to help
other people and the feeling of validation that what we are doing is right,
drives me to do even more to contribute more.
On the other hand, the experience
also thought me that these Lumad Bakwit School children are clearly - still
children… and that they are vulnerable. They need to be protected and they need
to be placed in the hands that will always carry their best interest which is
to finish their education and I am very grateful for the help so far that they
have received. I usually just enjoy my days during weekends since I finished
volunteering at the Lumad Bakwit School. I used to bring a lot of office work
at home to impress my bosses to move quickly to the top of the corporate ladder
but after volunteering, I intend to notice and later on enjoy the blessings
that God gave me. I am more grateful for what I have so I travel to appreciate
more of life and if I stay at home, I work on my other advocacies like
pediatric cancer patients, animal rights and lately I have been planning to
take part of counseling Patients Living with HIV (PLHIV). I went to the Lumad
Bakwit School to volunteer onwards helping children in their education but the
experience gave me so much more in return making me a better person.
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