Our new school supplies!

This year, the children from Montalban returned to school at the start of the new academic year with a basic set of school supplies with our Back to School project. On 17 July, 135 children turned up with eager faces for our Children Ministry sessions, clutching the precious vouchers that enabled them to claim their set. Thanks to a group of teachers from Singapore who sponsored the school supplies, we were able to run this project for the second consecutive year. For a small contribution of Php 10, each child received a set of stationery for school. Each pack contained basic school needs like notebooks, papers, folders, art papers, pens and other writing materials. As they received the packs with bright smiles, the children lifted up a prayer of thanksgiving for the sponsors and for God's provision through their generosity.

Our school supplies waiting to be distributed

Our vouchers to claim the school pack

Each pack contains the following...

Finally.. our start up packs!

We thank God for our generous sponsors and our volunteers who helped us pack and distribute the school supplies with us!

Start up Pack for A New Academic Year!

As the academic year began for the children in the Philippines, 105 children from elementary to high school who regularly attend our Children Ministry in Montalban, were assisted with a start up pack for school. For a miniscule amount of Php20, each child received a school bag filled with stationery and other basic needs to begin school. As the children queued excitedly for their packs, we saw the joy in their faces especially for those who were entering the elementary school for the first time. Look at my new bag!!" exclaimed a proud Arnold Ryan, age 6 who was entering the elementary school in Grade 1 that Monday. We saw him cling onto his new red bag and show it to his happy mother who accompanied him.

We would like to thank our generous sponsors who helped a child start another school year with their school stationery and supplies! God bless you for your support and generosity!

FUN STORY TIME ~ learning English the fun way!

“I wiggle like that, I jiggle like that, I wiggle like that, my tummy is fat!” sang 23 children with gusto as they pretended to be the caterpillar from Eric Carle’s much loved book “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”. The children listened wide eyed as the story unfolded with each page bursting with colours. Once they understood the story, they took turns to name the items and sequence the different objects from the story. Each child then made a caterpillar and watched as their caterpillars were stuffed into a bag representing a cocoon. From the cocoon, a butterfly was pulled out and the children were then taught the different stages of metamorphosis from of the caterpillar from egg to butterfly. Various body actions corresponding to each stage of development helped reinforce the concepts.
When it all had to finally end, we were thrilled to see the children leave whilst humming their caterpillar song and clutching their caterpillars. We certainly had fun wiggling and jiggling together. We pray that through this session, the spark of interest in learning English will be enkindled in their hearts.

Fun Story Time began as an initiative under the Children Educational Sponsorship ministry, which aims to empower children through education. Apart from providing financial assistance for their educational needs, the ministry also runs programmes to help children improve their academic skills through English tutorials and Fun Story Time.

We are on the lookout for a permanent place for our English Tutorial Sessions!

Contributed by: Joan Foo

So far, we’ve had most of our sessions for the two tutorial groups at the local tutorial centre in Montalban. It is a room that leaks even with the slightest drizzle. When it rains heavily, the children shout above the unremitting din of rain hitting the zinc roof just to hear one another. On dry days, it is littered with cat droppings. However much of a cleaning and refurbishment it needed, the room was our temporary venue until mid July, when it was taken up again by the original group of volunteers running tutorial sessions.

Since then, we’ve had some sessions outdoors, under a tree, surrounded by the cluster of neighbours and other inquisitive children. It is a lovely place when the cool breeze blows but terribly inconvenient when it rains and when we accidentally invade the space of the resident red ant colony!

One day, when it rained with the fierceness of the local monsoon rain, a member of our Balikatan ministry (our ministry to adults in Montalban) welcomed us in her house. It was amazing how 10 strapping teenagers squeezed into the 4 by 4 metre house! Even in the house, rain was coming through the windows and leaking at the corner. Halfway through the session, our electricity supply was cut off and our kind host provided us with candles. In spite of the inconvenience, the children participated fully right till then end.

Although every session yields its own unforeseen adventure, it is still the children’s undaunted joy and enthusiasm in learning that more than makes up for the various unconventional and unanticipated challenges. They prove that where the will is, there are no barriers to learning and growing!

We ask for your prayers as we are still looking for a suitable location for our Saturday tutorial sessions. We are currently seeking permission to use a local child care centre for the sessions for our teenage group.

Children Educational Sponsorship – empowering children and youth through education!

Contributed by : Joan Foo

We are learning English!!!

The Educational Skills Development programme is our latest effort to empower children and youth through education in Montalban. After two years of providing financial assistance for the children to attend school, we found some children lacking behind academically due to various deficits in their basic educational skills with English as a major difficulty for most.

In May 2009, we started our English Tutorial with 2 groups of children currently receiving educational sponsorship. Held once a week, the tutorial focuses on improving oral English and reading comprehension- two key elements of the language in which the children fare poorly. The children are encouraged to practice their oral English through a variety of activities, games and story telling sessions. Our hope is that through the tutorial, education, the children will receive the basic foundations necessary to fulfill the heights of their ambitions.

Introducing the Foot Socks..

What is it? A pair of socks with an elastic band around the edges that you put on to cover the OUTSIDE of your shoes.

Who wears them? Children attending public school in the Philippines
What is it for? To protect the floors from getting dirty and muddy.

In the Philippines, public schools provide free education for children but the schools themselves bear the cost of school maintenance and the hiring of personnel to clean the school compound. Usually, each child contributes to cover these additional costs. In the lower income neighbourhoods, the contributions are oftentimes insufficient, placing the onus of school cleaning and maintenance on each child.

Therefore, under the Children Educational Sponsorship Ministry, we assist the children in their school contributions like janitorial fees, classroom fees to buy a fan for the class and school items like floor wax (to clean the classroom floors) and footsocks! These footsocks come in one standard size and they are placed over each side of the school shoes to help the students keep the school grounds clean thus avoiding the need for extra janitorial services and help.

Lately they are appearing in multi-colours and fancy designs. What a treat!

Joshua’s Diary - part 2

“I am happy now!” declared an elated Joshua when he found out that he could finally enroll in school. What was even more indescribable was the joy that radiated from him as he received his new school bag, start up Braille set and radio at the Philippines Resources for the Blind on 25 June 2009.

We ended our last blog entry with an entreaty to our Lord to open a new way for Joshua to go to school in view of his visual impairment. Since then, our Lord has continued to take us on a miraculous faith journey, revealing His mighty hand in the doors that have sprung open for Joshua.

Right after the need arose for special education for Joshua, the Lord sent us a volunteer to help to research on the different service providers for the visually impaired in Manila. Through her help, we finally located and visited the Philipines Resources for the Blind (RBI), a non profit Christian organization who provides educational intervention and support for inclusion of visually impaired children in the mainstream schools. To our amazement, they informed us that they had just trained a teacher for the visually impaired at the very neighbourhood school where Joshua lives! All Joshua needed to do was to enroll in the school to receive the services free of charge. As he had never before received formal education, he would begin with individualized classes and, at a later date, be included in the mainstream class, while continuing his specialized education. He would not only learn academic subjects, but other necessary skills like Braille, self help skills and social skills to prepare him for an independent living. Best of all, Joshua would be able to attend school with his siblings in his community!

What providence of our Heavenly Father indeed!

At the RBI, Joshua had a free consultation with the optometrist who specializes in children with low vision. With the results, staff of RBI would liaise closely with Joshua’s special education teacher to meet his individualized educational needs. On that same day, Joshua’s parents were linked up with other parents of children with visual impairment for support and networking. Come 1st August, Joshua will receive a free white cane as it marks the “White Cane Safety Day” in the Philippines. Talk about a conspiracy of events and timing! We believe it is the generous provision of our Father who cares for every detail and need.

Today, Joshua attends special education sessions three times a week in school and he is, in his own words, very happy now.

Joshua's diary

Here's the story of Joshua.

“ I want to go to school!”

This was Joshua’s immediate reply when asked what he would like to do if he could see. Joshua, age 11, was diagnosed with congenital cataract at the age of 5. Due to financial constrains, he could not afford the recommended surgery for cataract removal, and thus could not attend school.



Joshua’s plight was highlighted when he joined the ICPE Mission’s Children Ministry in Montalban. Through the efforts of our Korean partners in mission, sufficient funds were raised to cover his medical costs for the recommended surgery.

Thus, since January 2009, I had the privilege of accompanying Joshua for his series of medical tests and consultations at the University of East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Centre (UERM-MMC). Each hospital visit was long and wearying as it involved repeated consultations and oftentimes hours of waiting while standing in queue. In those moments, a restless Joshua would reiterate his dream in his raspy low voice, “Ate Joan, gusto kong nag-aaral!” (“Joan, I want to go to school!” in Tagalog).





Thus it was a shock for all of us when his recent test revealed a defect in his visual pathway. The doctors concluded that the surgical removal of the cataract would yield a minimal improvement of sight. At most, Joshua’s current vision of blurred shapes would be brighter after the surgery. Joshua would need to enroll in a school for the visually impaired.

As we walked out of the consultation room in silence, Joshua finally spoke up and said, “Ate Joan, gusto kong nag-aaral.” My heart went out to the little boy because for the first time, I heard the anxiety in his voice. That day, we prayed that Jesus, the Lord of all hopes would open a new way for Joshua’s dream to be fulfilled as we search for a suitable school for him.