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JULY 7 , 2000 VOL. 29 NO. 26 | SEARCH ASIAWEEK The Throwaway Libraries How discarded books are filling young minds By RICARDO SALUDO They are called DDU schools deprived, depressed and underserved. There are thousands of them all over the Philippines, in places where appalling poverty, dismal transport and battering by the elements snuff out children's hopes even before they learn their ABCs. One of those DDUs was Emilio Aguinaldo Integrated Elementary School, a four-story affair with about 2,000 students next to decrepit tenement housing in Manila's Santa Ana district. Most of its sixth-graders used to fail the National Educational Achievement Test taken in the last elementary year, the second-worst results among 65 public schools in the city. NEAT's English portion, says a longtime teacher, was "the Waterloo of the kids." It's easy to see why. In DDU schools, all the students have to read are worn-out books and mimeographed materials, with hardly any pictures or color. The library is a single, dilapidated shelf in a poorly lit room, and the several dozen books in it are under lock and key. Full-color science and math books and even dictionaries are as rare as money on trees. Many local textbooks are riddled with errors of grammar, spelling and fact. No wonder a third of public-school pupils drop out in the first couple of grades, and another 30% never reach high school. That's the dismal situation San Francisco-based Books for the Barrios and its Philippine partner, Books for the Barangay, have been tirelessly working to remedy. Since 1981, when pilot Dan Harrington and his wife Nancy began its work, Books for the Barrios has provided thousands of mostly DDU schools with high-quality books from America some 4 million of them, at the last count as well as computers and teacher training in recent years. The two entities have also singled out 30 schools for their Models of Excellence (MOE) program to lift their standards to among the best in the country. In the mid-1990s, Aguinaldo Integrated joined the MOE program. Its library got an encyclopedia, glossy National Geographic and other science books, and many other colorful publications (but no history books, to avoid nationalist objections). Students were encouraged to borrow for home reading and school work. The two NGOs also prodded city and education authorities to refurbish the buildings a condition for their materials donation and MOE programs. In recent years came computers (used but still usable), and Aguinaldo teachers joined a seminar organized by Books for the Barrios for some 2,000 educators every year. The results have been astounding. In the NEAT the school jumped to No. 27 among 65 Manila public schools, and every one of its students passed. In a quiz competition among 10 schools, including those for exceptional students, Aguinaldo came in fourth. There are similar results elsewhere. A rural school on Negros island, central Philippines, saw its NEAT pass rate leap from 10% to 100% in just a year. "Books are an equalizer if you are diligent and bright, you can learn," says Books for the Barangay treasurer Michael Cheng. He works part-time without pay for the NGO based in suburban San Juan. Cheng and his friend and fellow businessman Michael Fernandez, the group's president, got roped into the volunteer work in 1996, after meeting Nancy Harrington at a dinner. Now in their 50s, she and her husband are zealous promoters of the mission they began in 1981. Nancy is willing to be pushy with inertia-prone officials. "Every Filipino child has the right to education," says Dan, who supervises book shipments when he isn't flying. Platoons of American schoolchildren help pack the materials, which may include games and puzzles. They go to some pretty forlorn places, including one in the south that is partly submerged every day. When they started, Dan was navyman in the old Subic base, west of Manila. For the first seven years the couple got the U.S. Navy and Philippine Airlines to move the books, which were either unsold copies from publishers or discarded textbooks (American public schools replace them every four years). These days, shipment costs are partly covered by sponsors like AT&T, National Geographic, Madrigal Wan Hai shipping and LBC air cargo. Individuals pitch in; San Francisco tycoon Charles Mosser funded a hilltop school in his wife's native Negros. City and provincial officials also help raise the $10,000 needed for each shipment. At Aguinaldo Integrated, the books are stirring minds and hearts. Fourth-grader Chatty loves reading about plants and animals and wants to study biology. Her classmate Christine is thinking of a writing career. Edinel devours math books, while Ronel fancies helping injured animals like those he sees in science books. Thanks to Books for the Barrios and its laudable supporters, what might have become landfill is spawning young Filipino dreams. Write to Asiaweek at mail@web.asiaweek.com Quick Scroll: More stories from Asiaweek, TIME and CNN |
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