By Marjorie Gorospe

SCAVENGING might be the last resort for most people. But for those who live near the Smoky Mountain, it is their only choice for living.

Dave Bajado, 18, never knew how to define a peaceful life. Recalling his childhood, all he can remember is her mother selling his sibling for P500. He has many siblings but all have different fathers.

When he was 12 years old, Bajado experience moving from one home to another. He admitted taking drugs mainly because of his peers’ influence. Along with his peers, they worked for an illegal recruiter who sent them to a bar in a province.

Bajado had no father figure to guide him. She also lost her mother soon after selling her child.

He was also taken in for rehabilitation after was caught using illegal drugs.

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WHAT would a Civil Engineering Licensure Examination (CELE) board topnotcher construct?

A home for the squatters was the answer of topnotcher Maricel Aquino who garnered a score of 99.1 percent in the November 2008 CELE.

“Ayaw ko kasi ng may palaboy laboy. Nung nagtrabaho ako dito sa Manila, nakita ko ang gulo. May mga squatters. Gusto kong magconstruct ng matitirhan nila [I don’t want to see people loitering in the streets. When I started working here in Manila, I saw chaos. There were many squatters. I want to construct a home for them.],” said Aquino.

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By Anna Valmero

A habit of reading opens up opportunities to access information and widen learning.

Students under the Bright Minds Read (BMR) program showed improvement in the Regional Achievement Test especially in Filipino, under which the program is implemented.

BMR Grade 1 and Grade 2 students from Region 5 scored the highest points in mean performance level (MPL), compared to Grades 3 to 6 of non-BMR students, said Zonito Torrevillas, executive director of Ronald McDonald House Charities Philippines (RMHC).

MPL ratings are as follows: Grade 1 pupils got 73.19; Grade 2, 75.77; Grade 3, 63.32; Grade 4, 64.54 Grade 5, 583.74 and Grade 6, 66.10.

The reading program aims to instill in elementary students that reading is enjoyable, develops comprehension and critical thinking. The program also hopes to improve grammar skills of these young students, said Kenneth Yang, RMHC president.

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Marjorie Gorospe
INQUIRER.net

ALTERNATIVE education is the flagship program of Educational Research and Development Assistance (ERDA) Foundation, Inc. It is a response to the growing number of out-of-school youth in the country.

Fr. Pierre Tritz, founder of ERDA Foundation, saw the need to take action on the need to get these young people back to school. Thus he gave up his foreign nationality and acquired Filipino citizenship to continue his mission in the country.

ERDA has started various programs for these young people, including those found scavenging, wondering the streets and indigenous children who disregarded by society.

Seeing that the key to a better future is education, hence, ERDA put up the Tuklas, Kalinga, Laruan, Aralan at Sanayan (TuKLASan) Center for street children in San Juan, Metro Manila and the Sanayan ng mga Batang Nanambakan (SaBaNa) Center for young scavengers in Tondo, Manila.

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By Izah Morales
INQUIRER.net

YOU often see crocheted bags made of threads and yarn. But have you seen one using plastic?

The Invisible Institute, a non-government organization (NGO), is now using plastics as material for their homegrown crocheted bags.

“As we all know, we have many poor women who really need more income generating activities because they have so many people depending on them. What we’ve done is to take those people whom I call ‘invisible’ or ‘unseen’ and put them together with invisible waste, which I consider factory waste,” Invisible Institute founder and artist Ann Wizer said.

The group uses “clean trash and garbage bags” as materials to teach poor women to crochet.

“It’s a very simple skill. And we’re also teaching any men who are willing,” said Wizer.

Crochet is a French term that literally means “hook.” It describes a “series of interlocking loops onto a chain using a slender rod with a hook at the end,” according to CrochetDoilies website.

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By Marjorie Gorospe
INQUIRER.net

TAGUIG CITY, Philippines – A group composed of children of Filipino war veterans continue to fight for the benefits due them.

Joining the celebration of Veteran’s Day at American Cemetery, the Philippine Veterans Legion (Sons and Daughters) (PLV) Laguna Chapter said they will persist on helping beneficiaries of the veterans during the World War II.

The group was established in the 1980s but was only formally recognized last January 30, 2008.

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By Izah Morales
INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines –When you’re single and a college graduate, would you rather be a mother of 11 kids who have come from different places and backgrounds?

For 20 years now, Erlinda Lubi has been a foster parent in the SOS Children’s Village Manila, where 32 homeless kids are currently housed.

Lubi, who is fondly called “Mama Erlin,” is now taking care of 11 kids from different age groups.

Lubi shares her unforgettable experiences as a foster in this video interview taken by multimedia reporter Morales.

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By TJ Burgonio
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines–In the eyes of fellow environmentalists, Von Hernandez is the kind who walks his talk, and gets the job done.

It’s no surprise then that Hernandez has been named by Time magazine as among this year’s “Heroes of the Environment,” along with Al Gore, Mikhail Gorbachev and Prince Charles and other personalities.

The Greenpeace campaign director was cited for his relentless campaign against trading in waste and highly polluting waste incinerators that led the Philippines to ban waste incineration in 1999, the first country to do so.

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By Associated Press

MANILA, Philippines–Thousands of Filipinos joined an international campaign to end global poverty Wednesday by standing up and making a symbolic pledge in the world’s most populous region, where more than 640 million live on less than $1 a day.

The pledge in part rejects excuses that allow 50,000 people to die every day because of extreme poverty and the growing gap between rich and poor. It urges government leaders to save the lives of the poorest citizens, tackle inequality, govern fairly, fight corruption, and fulfill human rights.

The “Stand Up, Speak Out” pledge is part of the UN campaign to promote the Millennium Development Goals that include eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, and ensuring a sustainable environment by 2015.

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