Can One Person Make A Difference? I Think So...

Can One Person Make A Difference? I Think So...

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My sister in law is the teacher of a fourth grade class, in Cagayan de Oro Philippines. She makes about $300 a month and has three children of her own. Yet she finds a way to make her class as child inviting as possible at her own expense. You Have to admire that!!

She has 50 students in a very small classroom with one small fan. You can imagine how hard it is to learn on days without a breeze. The average daytime temperature here in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines is 88 degrees with relative humidity running between 60% and 100%. Rainy season starts in June and lasts for about 4 months. During that time they will receive approx. 8 feet of rainfall. The rest of the year is hot and dry.

Most of her kids come to school barefooted. The lucky ones have flip flops or worn out shoes. Their parents mostly make a living digging through the local garbage dump. On Mondays school attendance is less than half since parents take their barefooted kids to the dump to help.

Very few children have the required uniforms...but the school would be close to empty if they enforced that rule. Toothbrushes and basic hygiene items are not considered as necessities since survival is more important. A visit to the dentist is unheard of. Starting this year they will receive reference books, toothbrushes, toothpaste, used shoes, fans. All either bought by me or donated by friends of mine. We will have a Christmas party for them too. I am thrilled to be a part of this program and cannot tell you what a difference it will make in 50 lives.

For those few who are helping I will always be grateful and more importantly the kids will too. Every single penny that I have extra is spent on the kids. And the blessings are incredible.

Report on our first school visit-

Well our first visit went very well. Kids all got new toothbrushes, tooth paste. Snack time they had orange juice and biscuits. As soon as they got the toothbrushes they all wrote there names on the packages... then they remembered they would have to open the package to use them LOL. So some left them closed and some opened them and wrote their name on the handle of the toothbrush. They kill me LOL. They were very happy indeed and it was all I could do to keep my emotions in check. They gobbled down their snacks and drinks with wide eyed joy. Most had a look that suggested this was a new experience for them. Someone who cared. Rose (my Wife) had a ball passing things out with her sister and I snapped photos. Rose talked to the kids and found out NONE had EVER had a toothbrush. The teacher will hold a class on brushing teeth and check everyday to make sure they do. I gave the essay challenge to the kids. They will write on why learning English is important to them. 100 word minimum to be turned in on the 23rd. 1st prize is 500 php.(php= philippine pesos) 2nd is 250 php. 3rd is 100 php. Cash is a big incentive to them. They may take it home or spend it?? Who knows. But next month we will have other prizes like a 10 kilo sack of rice, Uniforms etc. The classroom was in poor condition. Actually it and 3 others are condemned. But the government has no budget to replace them so they use them. Fifty-three kids in this class. One small working fan. One small working fluorescent light. No bathroom. No water. Only two subjects have textbooks, English and Filipino. The books are shared by 2-3 kids for each book. No government budget again.The room has no ceiling also, only an exposed roof. What it does have is plenty of mosquitoes. I was only there an hr and can't count the bites. Most kids wore flip flops, but once again.....they were all smiles....go figure.

Dan Connor cdocano
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Hello My name is Mike Jansen. Not that who I am matters in the slightest. I write of this situation because not enough people are even aware that such things exist. This group on Yahoo groups is a cross section of people from all over. Many are ex military as Dan is. The kind that still live the old fashioned ways that our parents lived. Where when they say they will do something they do it. I will go over there and join them in trying to help this country of people that don't have a feeling of entitlement. Any act of kindness brings gratitude and a big smile. The kids and their families don't ask for help from anyone, they just accept their life as it is. I fell in love with this country and its people 2 years ago when I went there to meet a pen pal. I have not been sheltered from the realities of the world like so many Americans. I am a Desert shield/storm Army veteran. All I can say is even the homeless people here in America have more resources available to them than the poor of the Philippines.

sincerely Mike Jansen

About the Author:
Mike Jansen and Dan Connor write today about a ministry that deserves some attention and publicity.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/onelife_changed/
You can reach me at OnQuest@gmail.com if you have any comments or questions.



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


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