Speeches and Synergy (Day 3)

I started the day thinking our pace would be a little slower, since today marks the beginning of Pam's speeches, but it turns out we met just as many amazing people and feel even more inspired.

 

Today Pam spoke to an audience of 120 bishops, archbishops, priests and nuns at the Catholic Education Association of the Philippines annual conference, hosted by the Vibal Foundation. These men and women make up the superintendency of the largest private school network in the Philippines. Many of them work in the most remote areas of the Philippines, deep in the forests of the north, or on tiny, hard to reach islands of the south. One sister we met traveled 11 hours by bus to attend the conference. 

 

The topic of the conference was education in the 21st century, and they all had the same question: how do I teach digital natives using technology? Pam gave an excellent speech, and told many amazing stories and made the audience laugh, think and connect. Afterwards many participants came to us and asked about LitWorld's work, and how they might connect it to what they do in their schools.

Tomorrow Pam speaks to their delegation of over 2000 teachers on universalizing the Common Core standards. Amazingly, the Philippines is in the midst of switching from a grades 1-10 school model to a K-12 model, largely based on the US education paradigm. We are witnessing an education revolution and entering the Philippines during a time when LitWorld can make the largest impact. The system is changing from passive to active, compartmentalized to interdisciplinary, local to global. After talking with the educators today all i can think of is, how can we help? What can we do? Can't wait to get back to NYC and share all our thoughts!

 

After the lecture we went to the Vibal Foundation offices. The foundation is the charitable arm of the Vibal publishing house which was started by Gus Vibal's mother in the 50s during the "golden era" of the Philippines. She is now 90 and still comes to work every day. Sir Gus (as they call him) gave us a tour of his office, including his 50,000 book collection which he expands by 300 books every weekend!!! Gus said his goal in life is to make paper obsolete through the Vibe tablet, a multimedia learning tool that teachers and students can use regardless of internet connectivity. No internet? Use a server. Some internet? Use a server until nighttime when upload speeds are faster and your data can sync to a cloud.

We met a lot of people from Vibal today, and each of them was generous, passionate about the work and incredibly supportive of LitWorld. Every idea we had they were like, let's do it, we'll fund that, we can make that happen. There is so much synergy that I can barely handle it! We also got to tour the manufacturing section of the publishing house. Have you ever SEEN a book being published? Holy cow.

 

All in all another amazing day! More proof of the thoughtfulness of the people doing good work here, from grassroots feeding programs to huge foundations, everyone is thinking and doing in ways that are highly innovative and much needed.

-Yaya

Open Water and Open Hearts (Day 2)

 

Today we went to an island community called Zamboanga to visit the Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation. This community is a huddle of stilt-houses hidden by mangroves in the middle of the ocean. Their main livelihood is the growing and harvesting of a certain type of seaweed that cosmetics companies use to emulsify their beauty products.

 

Two years ago a politician running for office noticed that there were kids swimming to school on Zamboanga. Jay Jaboneta, the co-founder of Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation, heard about this and started the foundation which now works in more than 20 communities throughout the Philippines to provide supplies to build their own boats so that children no longer have to swim to school. Amazing considering many of these children swam nearly a mile one way to get to school with their uniforms and books in one hand while they paddled with the other. We rode a yellow boat through the open ocean with many Yellow Boat volunteers to get to the community in Layag Layag. We proposed the idea of running a litcamp there and recruited a beautiful group of girls for their first litclub!

 

The foundation also works to provide health care to the children and communities where they are located including eye care, cerebral palsy therapy, nutrition education, and much more. We were hosted by the other founder of Yellow Boat, Anton Lim. Together Yellow Boat and Anton's other foundation, Tzu Chi, fund several grassroots efforts to bring education to children in remote locations throughout the Philippines.

 

From boats to school houses to women's health centers made of bottle bricks for mothers who cannot travel the distances to their local health unit to give birth, these projects inspired and showed us the power of an individual with the passion to create change. One man, Jason, literally travels deep within Philippine rebel territory to bring books and school supplies to the children there in an effort to keep them from dropping out to join the rebels who teach them to use guns and make bombs. Can you imagine? 

 

The productivity of each community we have visited continues to amaze me. They sustain themselves through whatever industry is available to them. The work of Yellow Boat again fits so perfectly into the needs of the communities in which they work. I feel so much gratitude towards Ruby Veridiano, the LitWorld Ambassador who made such amazing connections and partners while she was living here for so many months. There is so much to be thankful for.

-Yaya

Pam and Yaya Arrive in the Philippines (Day 1)

We have arrived! We landed here in Manila late on Friday night and got going first thing Saturday morning. We spent Saturday morning and early afternoon with Project PEARLS. Their site is located in a small squatter community in a neighborhood of Manila called Ulingan. The community is literally located in a garbage dump on the shore of the ocean and the main source of income for most families is coal. They make the coal themselves by collecting scrapwood and burning it in homemade furnaces. The men collect and burn the wood, the women bag it, and the children go through the ashes for nails that they can then sell by the kilogram. needless to say, they lead lives of great hardship.

The children rarely have shoes that fit properly, or any shoes at all. Their food source is mainly scraps of bones from the garbage dump that they boil down to create soups and their homes are regularly flooded during heavy rains. PEARLS runs a feeding program for the children as well as a scholarship program. The litclub serves the older girls in the program. Pam and i got to observe the club which is run by a group of four young volunteers who are fun, excited and passionate about our work.

I was personally shocked by the amount of garbage, mud and intense coal fumes in the community, but Pam said it is actually very similar to Kibera in its look minus the fumes. Something we both noticed is how much people work in this community. Everyone is doing something productive, there were very few people just sitting.

After the program we went to a local fast food chain to celebrate the August birthdays. The kids LOVED it. They got to play, eat and be children. Melissa, the director of PEARLS, said that often the kids can't come to program because they are working, so it was a joy to see them actually have time to just play dance and sing. At the same time, they are all so mature. They helped clean all the tables voluntarily, and they all brought some food home for their families in doggy bags as many of these young children are the sole caretakers of younger siblings. 

In the afternoon, we visited another site where we host clubs called Real Life. They run programs out of a community center associated with a neighboring church. They run a feeding program for children in a nearby squatter community as well as a scholarship program. Our litclubs serve as a bridge between the feeding program for the young ones and the scholar program for kids getting ready for college. Pam and I met with their core group of LitClub volunteers, all of whom are dedicated, passionate and love their work. We passed on the new curriculum, planned an upcoming training, and told them about Stand Up for Girls. They have wonderful insights about our program, and share many of LitWorld's beliefs in the importance of story, foundational values in the 7 strengths and the power of play and creativity to transform lives.  

 

The people of the Philippines are generous, kind, light-hearted and believe in the power of good work. The work of PEARLS and Real Life is incredibly thoughtful, and it shows in every detail of their programming, which fits so perfectly in to the needs of the communities in which they are located.

-Yaya

Mad Scientists Take Over the LitCamp! (Week 2)

 

The second week of LitCamp was Mad Scientist week, and everyone embraced the theme wholeheartedly. During our Tuesday morning meeting, each bunk – a group of five children and their LitCamp leader – created a Curious Commercial. The commercials advertised an original invention based on pictures of random items, which in all honesty, didn’t appear to have any practical use or purpose. Of course, the creative LitCampers eagerly tackled the challenge!

My group advertised Don't Touch Me Hands, for those times when you have to be polite and shake hands but the other person isn't your favorite (Lokie and Ironman from the Avengers show how useful this invention would be). Salpi's group had a genius idea, and made the Zipchine, which monitors the oil levels and heart functioning of the mechanical Venacafians, who inhabit the country they created during International Week. Eric's group introduced something I definitely need: a voice-activated key holder. The "O Key C" can give you the key to whatever you must unlock, for just $19.95! Finally, Lizzie and her group showed us the Magic Doorknob that can take you anywhere – oh the possibilities! All the campers did an amazing job, committing to their performance and chasing their curiosity.

 

We also ran some great classes during the week. We had the usual favorites like newspaper and pool (this time called "H₂O" to keep with the Mad Science theme). Additionally, we had some new options like Animal Behavior, Space and Disasters, Edible Experiments, Mad Arts and Crafts, and Brainiacs Attack. Nina, a great friend of LitWorld, even led a forensics class!

A major highlight of the week was our trip to the Museum of Natural History. We got to see some really cool exhibits. The bioluminescence exhibit was a crowd favorite! We got to see all kinds of plants and animals glow, from fireflies to jellyfish. We also learned a lot about space, and how the universe has changed and will continue to change. We stood around a massive round screen to watch a video on the Big Bang Theory which really made you feel like you were moving through space. After, we had so much fun wandering among skeletons of a Brontosaurus, T-rex, and other huge dinosaurs.

 

Overall, the second week was a smash! Everyone got a taste of what it would be like to be a mad scientist. Everyone had a chance to learn something new, whether we were making fingerprints, constructing a volcano, or eating an edible cell. Mad Scientist Week was a wacky, wonderful success! 

- Aimee, LitWorld Intern

Coming Together in Crafts, Conversation and Cooperation at the LitCamp (Week 1)

 

One of the most fantastic moments that I have had all summer, as an intern at LitWorld and as a LitCamp counselor, happened during our first week. The international theme (a shout-out to the upcoming Olympics) gave me the privilege of teaching International Craft Shop during to a wonderful group of enthusiastic campers, and with the help of a fantastic teen leader. 

I started my lesson on origami with a story about a Japanese Zen cat, followed by a discussion about creativity, and what it means to be creative. LitCampers Raj, Natanya, Mahamadou, Abdul, and Safi all had very insightful comments, and we decided that creativity applies to more of life than just what we call “art.” Creativity is essential in anything one does during the day, including making your boring chores more fun, tackling small challenges, and thinking of ways to spice up everyday tasks.

Then it was time for the real crafting: origami! Everything was going swimmingly, the children were chatting and having fun as they folded their paper... until I realized that I had left out a step and didn’t know how to finish the box! I sat on the picnic table and told the faces looking up at me, “Guys. I messed up.” I didn’t know how to help them fix their boxes, and the plan I had crafted in such detail would go to waste. 

Mahamadou was my saving grace in that moment. “No, it’s fine!” he told us, and proceeded to take over my lesson. It turned out that he knew how to fold the box better than I did, and was kind and generous enough to help each person make the last, difficult fold of the box. As we opened them up and the campers marched back to Broadway Housing, I couldn’t help dwelling on how well they had all worked together, in crafts, conversation, and cooperation. Moments like this came up many times throughout the week, especially during the classes run by our wonderful counselors which included: Global Gourmet, Power Poets, Interactive History, World Music and Dance, International Sports, and more. 

On the first day of LitCamp, we grouped the children into “bunks” that consist of five campers, one or two teen leaders, and one counselor. Each bunk created a new country in honor of International Week. The countries that make up the World of LitCamp are named: Lucky Land, LIME, Vena Caf, and Ghanadancelandia. Each has their own national anthem which we heard performed during our Olympic Ceremony. 

When it was time for the Olympic Oath, we decided that the real Olympic Oath didn’t really fit with our values for the LitCamp. Our own Oath, signed and subscribed by everyone at the LitCamp, now hangs on the wall in Broadway Housing: 

“In the name of LitCamp, we promise to be friends, to be loyal, to have respect, to have fun, to learn new things, and to have the best summer ever!”

We are well on our way to completing the last task and the LitCamp has only just begun! 

-Salpi, LitWorld Intern