Reading is undeniably a good habit to form”•not only does it educate the mind, but also helps build one’s character and develop social values.
ICCP Group Foundation Inc. recognizes this significance and has made reading and other programs related to the education part of its mission to implement sustainable corporate social responsibility activities to benefit the surrounding communities where the ICCP Group operates.
To support the value of reading and education, IGFI partnered with the Adarna Group Foundation, Inc., the CSR arm of Adarna Publishing House, to implement the “Unang Aklat” project.
Together with the municipal local government of Hermosa, Bataan, the project aims to educate mothers with children up to four years of age on the importance of early literacy.
Unang Aklat with IGFI covers Barangays Palihan, Bacong, and Pandatung—host communities of the Hermosa Ecozone Industrial Park, a 162-hectare industrial estate managed by the ICCP Group’s Science Park of the Philippines, Inc.
To date, 11 workshops have been conducted and 115 books have been given to each of the 56 mothers and children who directly benefitted from the project.
The titles cover topics on the Importance of Early Literacy, Developmental Milestones, Selecting Age Appropriate Books, Read-Aloud, Home: A Child’s First School, and Ready for School.
“Reading at this early age is an important form of stimulation,” said SPPI president and CEO Richard Albert I. Osmond. “Studies suggest that teaching your child to read early has multiple benefits and is the key to your child’s academic future, especially since reading is at the heart of all formal education.”
The three-year project started with Early Literacy Training for the Rural Health Unit workers and the 12 barangay health workers together with community mothers from the host communities to prepare them with the needed skills and knowledge, being the prime bearers of information about the importance of early literacy.
The Early Literacy Training has already been replicated in the host communities of the Light Industry and Science Park III and IV in Sto. Tomas and Malvar, Batangas as part of the preparation for the implementation of Unang Aklat Project in both IGFI areas.
Experienced practitioners in the fields of education, child development, and medicine facilitate quarterly sessions conducted for both the BHWs and mothers, with activities aimed at encouraging parents to value and promote early literacy of their children at home.
“We are getting positive feedback from the parents, the community, as well as from the BHWs,” shared Osmond. “We hope they continue to show appreciation on the importance of early literacy, which will benefit their children and their community in the long-run.”