The Freeman Foundation’s Balik Eskwela 2008: Giving hope to Tangub

In every community there is work to be done. In every nation there are wounds to heal. In every heart there is the power to do it. – Marianne Williamson

It was a school in the middle of nowhere, seemingly forgotten by time, left behind by technology, neglected by the powers that be.

Tangub Elementary School in Barangay Tangub, Pinamungajan town, midwest of Cebu province, was at the bottom rung of the performance ladder in the Department of Education’s National Achievement Test for Central Visayas.

As well it should be. Teachers shy away from this place, daunted by the distance of the school from the city, accessible only by habal-habal (motorcycles for hire). The school had to resort to combination classes, the three teachers juggling different grades among them. On some days though, students can be seen struggling through their lessons on their own.

Upon learning their predicament, The Freeman Foundation volunteers set out last April 5 to survey the area. It took several hours of travel from the city, with 12 kilometers of rough road. It was a merciless ride indeed. It seemed like a narrow one-lane trip to the end of the earth. The survey team wavered on their decision to pursue this assignment when they didn’t see houses or any sign of civilization for several kilometers.

But Melandro “Sir Bhoy” Mendoza, the force behind the foundation, told the group that if they would think like the bureaucrats in government, then the school would really be forsaken. So the team gritted their teeth and pushed on.

The team saw ugly, termite-infested buildings, a sharp contrast to the beauty of lush greenery, of ferns, wildflowers and mountain spring. What was supposed to be the fourth year of the foundation’s usual doleout of school supplies, books and fun day for the schoolchildren turned out to be something more special.

Sir Bhoy wanted to build a community library in the middle of a mountain.

With admirable fortitude, he set the wheels in motion for the foundation’s most ambitious project yet. He told the core group volunteers, “Pikit mata, isusulong ko na ito.” When the foundation’s fund ran low, he sought the help of Operation Damayan of The Philippine STAR, Pilipino Star Ngayon and PangMasa. They responded without hesitation.

July 11 saw 16 foundation volunteers charge into the mountains of Pinamungajan armed with books, bags, school supplies, toys, tables, chairs, toilet facilities, and the equipment necessary to clean and beautify the classrooms and furnish the community library. All to fulfill their promise of aid, all for the sake of the schoolchildren of Tangub.

The next day the volunteers were up and ready at the crack of dawn for the fun day. The children arrived to find their school transformed into a barrio fiesta. They played Pinoy games like hampas palayok and pabitin, enjoyed breakfast, lunch and all-you-can-eat cotton candies, danced, and sang songs. They all cheered when they were each given backpacks full of school supplies.

The whole community likewise turned up to witness the children’s fun day as well as the inauguration, blessing and turnover ceremony for the community library building. There was also the signing of the memorandum of agreement between the Freeman Foundation, represented by its administrator, Dr. Remy Bacasmas, and Mendoza, The Freeman general manager, and barangay and Tangub Elementary School officials over the donation and operation of the library building. 

The children went home ecstatic, their arms laden with gifts, but the volunteers felt they were the ones blessed.

(The author is a volunteer of The Freeman Foundation.)