MY VOLUNTEER STORY

I first volunteered to be a part of Ateneo Kaingin because I believed in the value of a good education in uplifting the lives of people from poverty. Every year, hundreds and thousands of students drop out because of financial problems or lack of motivation. Whatever their reasons are, by dropping out and not finishing their education, they have basically limited their job opportunities to a few handful as most job positions nowadays require at least a high school or college diploma. However, staying in school does not necessarily guarantee a bright future. In fact, it was in Kaingin that I was able to see firsthand, the problems in our Philippine educational system. We have students in Grade 3 who still do not know the whole alphabet, students in High School who cannot read or write in English, classrooms filled to the brim with around 60-80 students with only 1 teacher, and so on. At first, I felt extremely surprised and disheartened. The problems just seemed to be so great. Yet, what really encouraged me to keep on volunteering and to keep on teaching was the realization that these children really wanted to learn. They continued to come every single Saturday in the hopes of learning something new, of bettering themselves. In the end, their hopes, their dreams, their resilience – they became my inspiration.

As a volunteer/member of Ateneo Kaingin, I go to the weekly area insertions in Kaingin Dos and Marikina Heights respectively every Saturday. I teach English to children ranging from 3 to 15 years old, depending on what grade level is assigned to me. Furthermore, community activities such as the Feeding Program, Positive Parenting Talk, and Parent Teacher Conferences are also held in the hopes of increasing the children’s motivation to study, as well as further involving the child’s parents in his/her education. Kaingin also holds several advocacy events within Ateneo with the goal of pushing our advocacy of social justice through education to the rest of the Loyola Schools community.

LESSONS LEARNED:

I’ve learned that these children don’t necessarily need a teaching expert. Sometimes, what they really need is simply someone who’ll always be there for them no matter what, someone who will visit them every single Saturday, who will cheer them on and tell them how much they believe in their capabilities; who will help them dream big and regain confidence in themselves. They don’t need a savior; sometimes all they need is a friend.

MY MESSAGE TO FUTURE VOLUNTEERS:

Never let yourself be discouraged. If you truly have the heart to serve, then don’t let anything stop you. No matter how young you are, there will always be ways for you to help others and for you to make change happen one person at a time.

Contibuted by: Goldielyn Suzanne Chua Limsiy

Ateneo de Manila University, BS Management Engineering