Projects
In early August, we launched the Adopt-A-Learner project. Currently, we are supporting 11 students with lunch packages and snacks for their breaks. Our budget is approximately 25 pesos per child per day. Since they attend school 20 days a month, this equates to a monthly support of 500 pesos per child, which is around €8 per child. Unfortunately, this may not always be sufficient to provide every child with a healthy lunch daily. At times, we may need to limit it to a healthy snack. However, our goal is to provide a full lunch each day by collaborating with local businesses to reduce costs and by finding producers and exporters who sell products for the Philippine market.
We will also be responsible for creating healthy and enjoyable ideas for lunch packages, as well as educating and encouraging the children to eat healthily.
“Yehey!” is a Filipino exclamation similar to “Hooray!” or “Yay!” in English. It is used to express joy, excitement, or triumph, typically in informal or celebratory situations. This word is a part of everyday Filipino language and is often used to celebrate good news, small victories, or simply to express joy.
The goal of the YeheY project is to work alongside local residents, parents, teachers, and volunteers to improve conditions for young learners. Initially, our focus is on providing free meals to the students participating in our Adopt-A-Learner project. Additionally, we support parents who are willing to help with this project and want to build something for themselves by offering them a small, interest-free microloan.
Participants in this microloan program receive funds that enable them to contribute to our YeheY project. This allows them to build something for themselves and eventually become self-sufficient. The loan is not a permanent gift; it is intended that through the repayment of a small monthly amount, they will financially support Bulbugan Elementary School for general expenses and maintenance. This will increase their involvement in the school’s situation and potentially provide them with the opportunity to sell homemade snacks or healthy treats locally to better-off students at a low price.
Given the potential of this project and the number of people it can help, we are seeking financial support. A small monthly contribution of €20 or more can provide significant assistance and enable us to accomplish great things in the Philippines. Donations can be made via our donation page on the website.
Whiteboards for all classrooms
Last week, we received a request from the Bulbugan Elementary School, which we support in Oriental Mindoro. They would like to fulfill the teachers’ request. For years, they have been using the familiar dark chalkboards. However, it is clear that this is no longer contemporary, given the changes here in Dutch elementary schools.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to replace all these chalkboards with modern digital boards. But we can replace them with beautiful whiteboards. A common complaint from teachers is that they have allergic reactions to the chalk and dust that comes from it. Of course, we want all teachers to be able to do their work under the best possible conditions. That’s why we have started collecting donations to purchase 10 whiteboards in the Philippines. At the moment, the school has used white covers to create makeshift whiteboards.
With the help of donations, we have already been able to purchase a few whiteboards, but we depend on more donations to make this happen. Can you help us? Support us with a donation; any amount is welcome. A whiteboard in the Philippines costs about €70. This provides comfort to the teachers and children at our Bulbugan Elementary School. We hope that as many people as possible can help us so that we can quickly order the 10 whiteboards. Will you join us?
Attached is the school’s request with photos of the current situation.
Project Overview: Bulbugan Elementory School
Speel-O-Theek
Last period we started refurbishing and improving the Speel-O-Theek at the Bulbugan Primary School. The Speel-O-Theek started years ago with donations of toys and has become less and less over the years due to the influences of natural circumstances such as the storms and floods that regularly hit the Philippines.
The Speel-O-Theek was founded with the intention of giving the children a good time with toys. In addition to studying, children should also be able to relax with toys. In addition to being fun, toys are of course also educational. Many people have donated toys in recent years and we have been able to send them regularly. Now we as the Ama Namin Foundation want to take this up again and make the situation better so that the children can enjoy the toys and learn to deal responsibly with the belongings of others.
School uniforms
In consultation with the school, we are making an inventory of how many children do qualify for a set of school uniforms. Unfortunately there is a large group of children who can’t afford it just like the other students, to appear at school in uniform. As a result of our efforts it would improve the togetherness and the differences between the children. As a result of our efforts, no children will be excluded from the group process
At this moment 30 children are at the school for which we are going to commit ourselves to be able to give a uniform. The uniforms cost approximately € 10,- per child. The first target has already been achieved, and production can start
Update (17-07-2022): 1 box is now on its way to the Philippines with 3 sewing machines. This shipment and the sewing machines were made possible by Stichting Wereld Wijd.
Update (29-08-2022): The first payment to the Bulbugan primary school has been made for purchasing the fabrics and material and production can start.
Update (15-11-2022): First uniforms have been delivered and are proudly shown in the photos. Production will of course continue and we hope that we can raise even more money for this project.
Chairs with table top for students
With a local carpentry company, we are to prioritize the production of tables with chairs the students will need to participate properly and comfortably in primary school classes. The school has a capacity of about 400 students. They all need a table and chair, and we hope to be able to finance these quickly with our donations. The first chairs for the “Kindergarten” are already in the making, and we hope more will follow soon. Several parents are already involved in order to have it finished as quickly as possible. The hands are there, but the budget is not yet there.
Walkway to school
To ensure the children reach the school dry and clean, it is necessary to build a concrete walkway with a roof, this way the children can resist heavy rainfall or extreme heat, reach the classrooms dry and will comfortably taking classes. This project comprises approximately 60 meters of concrete and roofs. Quotations are requested to provide an idea what the costs are, to enable us to start a project on the site.
Local shop
In collaboration with a local entrepreneur, we started to set up a local store for the sale of food products to the residents in the area. The aim of this store is to give the entrepreneur a means to provide for himself with his daily income, but also to contribute to the projects that have been started at the primary school in the area. In this way we want to try to set up a system that people have the possibility to provide themselves with an income and to motivate entrepreneurship.
