What is the best way to teach students the value of education? High school teacher Celine Calado found a unique and noble way to make her students appreciate learning even more.
Her students in Muntinlupa Science High School sent six children to school as part of their class project, which they fulfilled through World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization.
When Teacher Celine, 39, had first introduced her “adopt a scholar” project, she knew it was a daunting task. But the seemingly impossible idea of “children helping children” kindled waves of excitement among her students.
To raise funds, her class looked for creative means such as math tutorials and cleaning services. The project ran for almost a decade.
Through the project, her students learned to value education—and perhaps more importantly, compassion and shared responsibility.
“Sending a poor kid to school is our biggest achievement,” shares Jamie Macasinag, one of the many students who took part in the project.
It all began when Teacher Celine discovered World Vision in a book titled “12 Little Things Every Filipino Can Do for the Country.” Among the 12 acts mentioned in the book, one stood out: “Adopt a poor child or adopt a scholar.”
The child sponsorship program of World Vision allowed her students to be linked directly to the children from a small village in Palawan whom they supported.
For only P750 a month, their sponsored children attended school and received healthcare.
As soon as they signed up for World Vision’s program, the young sponsors were given pictures and basic information of their sponsored children.
World Vision is a child-focused organization advocating children’s holistic development. It believes that the best way to help a child overcome poverty is to help communities become better places to grow up in.
Like in other countries, World Vision works with communities in the Philippines. To select the children who will become scholars, the organization partners with local staff and families.
By pooling together all sponsorship donations, selected children and their communities acquire access to education.
World Vision believes that the child sponsorship program facilitates overall growth and development in the community, and secures a better future for them through empowerment, education, and self-sufficiency.
To ensure that the sponsor’s contribution reaches the child, World Vision gives the opportunity for both of them to have correspondences. The sponsor receives a photo of the child upon the grant of the first donation. Annual progress reports of the child are also sent through mail. It contains the child’s latest photo, average grade, community updates, and message from the child.
The sponsorship may last several years depending on the sponsor. The sponsorship may end for various reasons, but the newfound friendship between the sponsor and the beneficiary will last for a lifetime. In case the sponsor misses his pledge, World Vision starts looking for another sponsor.
The organization was founded in 1950 by Rev. Robert Pierce, an American Baptist minister and relief worker, as a service group to meet the emergency needs of Christian missionaries. In 1975, development work was added to World Vision’s objectives.
For more information, visit https://www.worldvision.org.ph.
