Project Libro: Stories Beyond Books

For three years now, Broadway has been recounting the story of one of the founding fathers of America - Alexander Hamilton. While not everyone has to cram the details of this man’s life and accomplishments, it takes just one listen to the songs written by the talented composer Lin-Manuel Miranda to appreciate just how great the founding father was. A song written in his namesake, opens with…

How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore
And a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean by providence impoverished,
In squalor, grow up to be a hero and a scholar?

And as if these weren’t enough, his father and mother split. His mother died of sickness. He moved in with his cousin who later committed suicide. One unfortunate event after the other...

Then a hurricane came, and devastation reigned
Our man saw his future drip, dripping down the drain
Put a pencil to his temple, connected it to his brain
And he wrote his first refrain, a testament to his pain

He knew that he had to fend for himself. I think that all of these motivated him to read every treatise and book he could get his hands on. He could’ve just let himself die and give up, but he didn’t. He was determined to move to a big city, get his education and make a difference.

History now regards him with great recognition. He wrote 51 out of 85 of the installments of The Federalist Papers - the single most important reference for Constitutional Interpretation. He was the founder of the nation's financial system and The New York Post newspaper. He led the Treasury Department of the cabinet of President Washington. He led the establishment of a national bank. He advocated for a strong, central government. All these great things, I can confidently say, sprung forth from his love for reading.

While I can't solely attribute his success to his favorite pastime, I also can't deny the role that books played in his self-education. Books changed this great man's life. Imagine what a library can do to the hope of the motherland - the youth?

THE HOPE OF THE MOTHERLAND. Students of Calbasaan Elementary School posed amid the heat and sweat.

Calbasaan Elementary School is located on top of the mountains of Minglanilla, Cebu. Last Sunday, the University of San Carlos Chemical Engineering Society (USC ChES) gave it a visit as the community extension committee had named it one of the beneficiaries of Project Libro. Libro is the Filipino word for book. Project Libro, in a nutshell, aims to build libraries for schools in far-flung areas of Cebu. Since 2014, 3 schools have become the beneficiaries of the project. The project further aims to bring out the reader in every child. It envisions to do this in 5 phases.

The Project Phases

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INTRODUCTORY RITES. Children from grades 1 to 6 listened to the members as the latter introduced themselves.

As mentioned by @ybanezkim26 in his post, the five phases of the project are: library installation, information upload, book reader index, reinforcement of reading materials and optimization of resources. The first phase aims to gather as many books donated by the members of the organization and other sponsors. The members also raise funds to buy book shelves and other useful fixtures. The next phase focuses on building the general reference collection of the library. It also aims to interact with the students through storytelling and puppet shows. The third phase focuses on assessing the effectiveness and progress of the beneficiaries in their reading. The book reader index records the number of students and the frequency of their reading activities. The fourth phase supplements the reference books used in the class curriculum along with workbooks and modules. The funding for this phase comes from benefactors. Aside from the resource supplementation, motivational talks and speeches will be spearheaded by members to inspire the students to read more. The final phase aims to test the reading comprehension of the students through contests. The members hope that through positive reinforcement, students will be further motivated to read and learn more from books and other resource materials.

POSTER MAKING CONTEST. Part of the five phases of Project Libro.

To be honest, I pushed off this write-up for as long as I could because I was afraid that this might fall short in the delivery of my organization's core motivation. I also feel unworthy of sharing this because I had it better. I may not have been born with a silver spoon in my mouth but I didn't sleep with a grumbling stomach either. I don't claim to fully understand their living conditions nor do I want to say that I'm better because I had it better. What I'm saying is I can't give what I don't have. I realized that the role I can take on here is that of a storyteller - telling you their stories that have transcended the pages of books. It is my hope that you relive the experience though my words.

The chosen school and community

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STORYTELLING. Part of the five phases of Project Libro.

Calbasaan Elementary School is the third beneficiary of the project since its conception. The organization's community extension committee head shared that he knew of the school through news posted on the internet. It turned out that the school was also a beneficiary of a number of influential charity foundations in the province. But later on as we've discovered, the efforts, though admirable were still insufficient. Sitio Calbasaan is 16 kilometers away from the main highway, according to the Cebu Daily News. Being this far from the road, I can only imagine how hard it is for the residents to acquire basic necessities. They had no access to a stable source of power too. Paper clippings posted on a classroom's bulletin board highlighted a number of charity institutions that tried to provide the community with a power source. However, a student told me that power outages hinder their studying at night. Furthermore, commercial electricity has been made available to the residents just two years ago. But still, most people couldn't afford the services by the Visayan Electric Company (VECO).

THE WAY UP. Children have to climb up the mountain just to get to school - a metaphor for the role education plays in real life.

The community mostly depended on farming, selling charcoal and other small enterprises. We didn't get to immerse and converse with the locals but I can say that though their houses were far away, people there knew each other well. The students had to climb up a mountain to get to the school. The distance from their houses to the school didn't faze the students. They still went to school eager to learn and play with their friends. Seeing them play told me that they enjoyed the latter more than the former.

The students

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THE LITTLE WOMEN. I got to know the children a lot better by talking to them.

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" I asked these group of kids. Sarah wanted to be a singer, Rachelle and Jessel wanted to be teachers. As I soon observed, a lot of the girls whom I talked to wanted to become teachers. I guess their teachers were the role models they looked up to in the community. I decided to tell them more about chemical engineering. They grew more curious as I tried to teach them the basic roles of a chemical engineer. "A chemical engineer makes soaps and shampoos among other things." To which they responded, "Oh, so you make your own shampoo, ate (big sister in Bisaya)?" Ah, a child's inquisitiveness - one must be ready with lots and lots of answers.

I then went on to ask them if they liked Math. Surprisingly, a huge portion does! A subject that they don't particularly like is English. I guess it's because they don't get to hear the language being used that often. They can only hear and use the language during class hours. Another thing that I learned is that the school library was hardly accessible for students. The teachers imposed strict rules for library usage to sort of preserve their collection of books. I personally think that this is going against the main purpose of the library. I told the children that they should read more often so that they can go to places they've never been and learn new things that will help them become successful in the future.

Speaking of success, I also shared to the group of girls my personal advocacy. I told them that they had to study hard, make their names in the craft that they wish to pursue and only then will they start their own families. I was under the impression that in the countryside, the women only had one role and that is to become mothers of their children. I'm not saying that being a mother is wrong, I'm saying that there are other options for them as well. After I told the little kids this, an alarming fact was shared to me by a young girl.

She told the others to keep this a secret among ourselves. She shared that her father placed her inside a sack once and tied her to a tree. "My father told me I was being stubborn," she said. I didn't know what to feel and say at that time. I just paused and reflected for a while. I was about to say something when another girl shared that she suffered the same fate too. I didn't want to tell the girls to rebel against their fathers because I was afraid of what that would do to them. Instead, I told them to use their suffering to motivate themselves to study harder, to be better, and to ultimately succeed.

After I'd heard of that, I was more certain that I will come back. I'm more determined than ever to inspire the young girls to find their power to do great things for themselves and their communities.

The hope

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BRINGING OUT THE READER IN EVERY CHILD. Project Libro will continue to support communities in remote areas.

I know that I wouldn't be making that much of a difference if I went alone. The organization strives to expand and continue the legacy that it has started in Calbasaan Elementary School and in the other two schools as well. Even with 100+ members, we still won't be making that much of a difference without help from people who believe in the same cause. We are thankful for the gifts that we've been given and we welcome support that will come our way. With this, all the proceeds that this post will get will be going to the Project Libro Fund.

Help us find the next Alexander Hamilton among these children, fellow Steemians.

May we bring out the reader in every child,
@thegaillery

All the photos were taken by Janah Teodosio. The lyrics from "Alexander Hamilton" is by Lin Manuel Miranda.