Travelling back to Marawi City last February 20 for a consultation on education priorities was a bittersweet homecoming for the Synergeia family.  Marawi City ran several education programs with Synergeia in 2004 to 2010.  This time, however, it was sad to see canvas tents serving as makeshift classrooms on some empty lots and in the middle of what used to be playgrounds of schools outside ground zero.  Despite the destruction and displacement of war, community is resilient, looks forward to the rehabilitation efforts and is brimming with hope that they can rise again.

School principals, city officials, barangay representatives, DepEd officials and civil society representatives gathered for the day’s activity.  It is important that the education priorities of Marawi should be set by the school principals and local officials themselves.    City Administrator Sultan Khamid Gandamra, Councilor Nasif Marangit who is the Chairman of the Committee on Education, and DepEd Superintendent Pharida Sansarona emphasized the importance of prioritizing education.  Councilor Marangit could not have said it more truthfully that one of the most affected by the war is education of the children of Marawi.

The construction or repair of school buildings has been identified as a top priority.  The principals stressed that children cannot go back to school if the classrooms are not rebuilt. Classrooms have to be conducive for both learning and teaching.  The principals identified the importance of health and sanitation facilities such as improved water systems, hand-washing areas, and comfort rooms for the learners.

In terms of soft infrastructure, the participants identified training on the use of technology in learning, training on management of schools, and values and peace education as their top three priorities. The educators stressed the importance of making learning fun and creative.  They hope that programs on sports, arts, and crafts  can be built into the program..

The consultation workshop was truly productive and the real work on Marawi’s education priorities is just beginning.  The Founding Chair of Synergeia, Father Ben Nebres, said it best when he said, “It is now the time to look at the long-term future…which is education of our children.”

The school-based parents’ training had been postponed in the past so the parent leaders themselves took the initiative to push through with the activity this time.  Thus, the back-to-back parents’ training workshops in Miagao, Iloilo were finally held last March 14, 2018.

Pungtod-Caitid Elementary School (PCES) is an in-land school some 1.5 hours away from Iloilo City.  It served as venue in the morning for the school-based training of parents of children from 7 schools namely Pungtod-Caitib, Bacauan, Miranda, Valencia, Guibongan, Kirayan and Miagao Central.  Mr. Gerardo Monta, HT III of PCES welcomed the participants – some 71 of them – and thanked the SGC and the community for their effort in the preparations for the workshop.

The first workshop activity was on parenting practices.  Some parents became emotional during the sharing session but they learned good parenting techniques from one another.  They said the opening activity was very inspiring and helpful to them.

The parents had fun in the role playing portion and they took their roles in different fashion.  They were given several situations involving children in need of parents’ attention and they were to act out how they would deal with it.  In the next module which the parent facilitators introduced, the parents learned more about “You” and “I” statements, and how to use “I” statements as an effective technique to discipline children.

The last workshop module was on how parents can teach their children to love reading.  A very effective way is to always read stories to children, and I read one heartwarming story to them titled “Love You Forever” by Robert Munsch.  After reading the story, many parents shared different life situations that showed the undying love of a parent.

Even with just a half-day workshop, many parents said that they learned strategies on how to help children read, love reading, and develop a good attitude towards studies.  One mother said it is important for parents to make their children feel their love for them and their support for their studies and a better life ahead.  Another mother volunteered her time to reach out to more parents in her school.   Mr. Monta, the school head, was pleased with the turnout and pledged to hold more parenting workshops in the school.

For the afternoon workshop, I travelled for 15 kilometers from Pungtod-Caitib ES to Aguiauan ES.  The venue proved to be very challenging – – it was a small room with low ceiling and poor ventilation.  Mr. Failaman, the Principal of AES and I suggested to hold the workshop under the cool shade of mahogany trees in the school grounds. The parents did not complain and helped carry the tables and chairs outside.

Some 67 parents were registered but a few more came in when the workshop had started.  Our participants were parents of children from Aguiauan, Malagyan, San Jose, Indag-an Tan-agan, Ticdalan, Tigmarabo, Monteclaro and Consolacion Elementary Schools.   Just like in the morning session, the workshop started with a self-assessment and a sharing of parenting styles and experiences.  Some candidly said what they needed to improve on to become better parents.

This was followed by group discussions and sharing on techniques to teach children good manners.  With the help of parent-facilitators, the parents also learned how “I” statements can be effective in disciplining children.  Teaching the children to love reading was the last activity for the afternoon, and we read the story “Love You Forever” by Robert Munsch, a story of unconditional love of a mother to her son.  Our parent-participants asserted that there is love forever between them and their children.  One mother said that even if his son is “pasaway,” her love remains.

In his concluding statement, Mr. Failaman thanked Synergeia and committed to continue the parenting seminars in his school, hoping that the other schools would do the same so that the whole district of Miagao East can have a strong core of parent leaders who can provide parents’ training in schools.  The dedication of our education partners on the ground is truly inspiring.

March 20, 2018 was a red-letter day for Panghulo Elementary School and everyone was abuzz with excitement.  It was the day of the groundbreaking for the construction of a 2-storey, 6-classroom building costing P8.27 million and to be funded by UniTeller.

At around summer last year,  UniTeller, a US-based international remittance company whose CSR program focuses on supporting the welfare of children by working with their barangays, schools and communities, did a site inspection of the elementary school and saw that the existing 1-storey 3-classroom building was one meter below the school ground level.  During heavy rains and high tides when the nearby Tullahan River became swollen, the classrooms became flooded and the teachers and children held classes with feet soaked in flood waters.  Immediately, UniTeller decided to prioritize the construction of a new school building.

The partnership agreement was concluded among UniTeller, Barangay Panghulo in Obando, Bulacan, the Panghulo Elementary School and Synergeia Foundation.  It is now coming to fruition.  Construction will be done in two phases – 3 classrooms on the first storey will be completed in time for the school opening in June, while the 3 other classrooms on the 2^nd storey will be constructed next year.  Principal Vilma de Ocampo, Barangay Captain Marc Louie Gonzales, Synergeia CEO Ma’am Nene and officials of UniTeller led by Mr. Oscar Moreno, Mr. Fernando Gutierrez and Mr. Felipe Roque were present to witness the groundbreaking.  We are hoping for more collaboration with UniTeller Filipino Inc.  in the future.