June 30, 2015 – “Gusto naku mahimug piloto!”(I want to be a pilot) Johan gleefully answered when asked what he wants to be when he grows up.

Like the five-year old Johan, children oftentimes will tell you their ambitions without any hesitation whenever asked. But how are they going to realize these dreams when even the basic educational facilities are not provided for them.

Every day, Johan and 30 more pre-schoolers have to put up with an age-old, makeshift classroom that might come crashing down anytime, especially during rainy season. Richard Patero, a school teacher grieves that for the past several years, the children have endured, but thankfully survived this plight.

“Pirting inita. Makita naku ang mga bata tanan mag sakripisyo. Ang bungbung namu di kaapas sa hangin, manglupad kung kusug ang hain, ang uwan. Pirting luuya sa mga bata. Ang uban lagyu pa ang mga panimalay, ga-hike ra ang uban.” (It was very hot. We saw the children suffer. The roofs were blown away by high winds. We really pitied the students. Others come from far villages, even others just walk.)

The situation in barangay San Jose in Kalawit, Zamboanga del Norte is such a discomfort to the children. Education is not the only matter at risk – even the safety of the pupils is compromised. One of the parents expressed their anxiety whenever they leave their children in school as they also have to look for a living during daytime.

“Mabalaka lang mi pirmi sa mga bata kay basin ang atup ilupad, ana ba. Wala gyud siguridad ang maga bata.” (We always worry about our children. They weren’t safe at all.) One of the parents shared.

The construction of pre-school classroom has been the clamor of the residents. The parents, the community, and the municipality could not provide this very basic need because of still another persisting problem – poverty.

“As much as we want to give the children a comfortable place to learn, the LGU only had limited resources. That’s why we tried channeling our requests through the government agencies. Maswerte mi kay naa gyud na luuy!” Mayor Eugenio Baliling, Sr. quipped.

The KALAHI-CIDSS Project began operating in the municipality in 2009. Kalahi is a DSWD-implemented community-driven program that gathers residents forming assemblies and volunteer groups. These volunteers, chosen by the communities, were to be development workers. They were tasked to identify, implement, and afterwards manage the operation and maintenance of the constructed projects.

At that time, the residents didn’t have any idea where the project will lead them. They were doubtful of the possibility of getting a project from Kalahi-CIDSS. But eventually, the drive to give the children a bright future had prevailed. A former Barangay Sub-project Management Committee Chair now San Jose’s Village Chairman disclosed how they were convinced to volunteer in Kalahi-CIDSS in 2009 despite the uncertainty.

“Katung niabut ang Kalahi hadluk pa mi mag-apil-apil, kay di man gud mi kabalu unsa himuun. Pero katung nianhi na ang mga taga DSWD, gipasabut mi, na-lipay mi. Huna-huna namu kay basig kini na gyud ang solusyon sa among mga bata.” (When Kalahi came, we were so afraid and hesitant to join and participate because we didn’t know what to do. But when somebody from DSWD explained to us what the program is all about, we were so happy. We thought that maybe this could really solve our problem.)

Together with Ramon, his co-volunteers started attending barangay assemblies where community members are allowed to voice out their opinions, problems that need to be addressed urgently. Aside from these, they were asked to attend trainings and other capacity-building activities that will equip them for them to perform their assigned tasks.

“Lahi ra jud ang proseso sa Kalahi kompara anang among ginapangayu sa ubang institusyon. Dinhi namu naedukar ang among kaugalingun. Per syempre, tungod sa training, daku nga responsibilidad pud ang gihatag kanamu. Sa pag-budget, sa pag-canvass. Pero nig-sakripisyo mi kay among gi-bati kini na ang makahatag sa amu nga proyekto.” (The process in kalahi is very different compared to the others. It is through kalahi that we were able to educate ourselves. But of course, in exchange of all the trainings that we have attended, huge responsibilities were given to us. In budgeting, canvassing. But we made sacrifices because we knew that it’s going to give us a project.)

However, those high hopes were like suddenly crushed when their proposed project didn’t make it to the prioritized list that will be funded by Kalahi-CIDSS.

“Kaming mga volunteers, pag-uli namu dili pud jud namu mapugngan nga dili mahiubus kay wala nasulod ang amoang proyekto kay dili na kaya sa kantidad.” (When we went home, we couldn’t help but to feel bad because our project was not prioritized.)

The emotions were high among the volunteers. Some of them expressed their disheartenment over the MIBF results. The only thing Ramon could do that time was to calm them down and instead think of other ways on how they can still help the children.

“Nilabay mga pila ka-adlaw, ni-okay ra gihapun. Nagtandem mi sa akung abtik kaayu nga Barangay Captain. So ang amung gihimu, naghimu mi ug extension room (makeshift classroom) sa eskwelahan, dayun gipagamit ang maong (makeshift) classroom sa mga daku-daku nga mga estudyante ug ang mga pre-school children didtu sa classroom nga maayo.” (Days passed, everything went right again. We were in tandem with our very active barangay Captain. So what we did was we built a makeshift classroom, that’s where we placed our elementary students. Then the pre-schoolers were transferred to the elementary classrooms.) Ramon related.

The situation remained that way until 2011 when Kalawit became a recipient of Makamasang Tugon. During the MT cycle, residents of San Jose proposed the construction of Elementary Classroom Building instead as the pre-schoolers were already transferred to the classroom where the elementary pupils were supposed to stay. Eventually, the elementary classroom was built in no time. It was occupied by 30 students who used to share one classroom with 30 others.

A few years had passed, the hope of getting a pre-school classroom for the children had slowly diminished, and ironically that was when something else came up.

In 2013, the municipality of Kalawit received a share from the Australian Agency for International Development’s (AusAID). Barangay San Jose in particular was given Php690,275.

“Katung ni-abut na ang AusAid, daghan pang gipanglihuk nga mga dokumento. Kay kinahanglan man counterpart, human katung time na tu ang budget naka-program na sya sa laing mga proyekto. Ang among gipanghimu, gi-reprogram na pud namu ang kwarta para lang gyud maka-counterpart.” (When AusAid came, we processed a lot of documents. Because we were told that we had to provide for the counterpart. That time, our budget was already programmed in other projects. So what we did was we re-programmed the budget just so we can produce the counterpart.) Ramon explained.

52 children rejoiced over the completion of their pre-school building. 22 of them are pantawid beneficiaries.

“Dili na mi mag-pas-an ug maghakut ug kawayan ug sah-sah para sa classroom ug komportable na pud ang mga bata sa pagtuun, human 100% na gyud ang attendance para sa pantawid.” (We no longer need to collect bamboos and dried coconut leaves for the classroom. The students are now very comfortable to learn.) shared a pantawid grantee and a mother of one of the pre-schoolers.

“Lipay mi sa project tungod kay, nahatag na gyud ang solusyon. Luha gyud ni sa kalipay. Lain da gyud ang project sa kalahi. Diri na namu nakita ani diay ang proseso sa gobyerno. Kung ing ani tanan nga programa, walay mausik nga cantidad kay very transparent.” (We are very happy about the project because it solved our problem. These are tears of joy. Kalahi-CIDSS is really different because it showed and taught us the processes in the government. If all programs are implemented this way, no amount of money will be wasted.) Ramon said in tears.

Meanwhile, his co-volunteer had other reasons to feel happy about after the construction of the classroom. “Ug wala pa mi nahimong volunteer, dili pa mi kabalu sa mga materials. Karun kahibalo name ug pwede na naming ma-apply sa amung panimalay.” (If it wasn’t for Kalahi, we wouldn’t learn about the construction materials that we can apply in our home.)

After years of waiting, Barangay San Jose now has a new classroom which was just recently inaugurated last June 19, 2015 complete with chairs, tables and restroom, ready for use.

“Nagpasalamat kog daku kay tungod ni ining Australian Aid nga nahimu mi nga recipient. Ug salamat sa sa tanan nga mitabang ug nagpaagas sa ilang singut para marealize ang kini nga project. Dili namu ni pasagdan nga proyekto, kinahanglan mamentenar gyud ang kahusay, kalimpyu ug kabag-o sa kini nga proyekto.” (We thank the AusAid for granting us a project. Also thank you to those helped us realize this project. We will take good care of this and we will make sure that it is always clean.) Teacher Richard promised.