A Life Changed: A Community discourage parents from sending their children to
Volunteer's Story daycares and she knows she is contributing to
Mona Mariano, Sponsorship Manager
Caloocan City, Philippines
August 21, 2014
Small steps are sometimes what take us to great
leaps. Coming home to a land already foreign to
her, Charity’s family had to return to the
Philippines after staying in Sabah, Malaysia since
she was little. Charity shied away from others as
she was unfamiliar to the language and the
people.
After two years since her return, there is now no
trace of that shy and uncertain woman. One
would see a confident and independent person
when observing Charity as she reads aloud to her
students and she interacts with their parents.
Every day, she plays her Save the Children
volunteer role and serves as a Literacy Boost and
Supervised Neighborhood Session Facilitator in
Caloocan City, Philippines. In Literacy Boost, she
implements a set of basic education activities
adapted according to local context which teaches
reading appreciation, letter knowledge, fluency,
and comprehension. On the other hand, the
Supervised Neighborhood Sessions is a
neighborhood-based alternative early learning
initiative that provides children with no access to
daycare centers with stimulating educational
activities and learning materials.
Charity says, “I usually hurry to the sessions right
after I take care of my two kids and do my
responsibilities at home, it is important for me to
be there to teach children reading and learning
skills. Being a volunteer is not about benefiting
from a program, but it’s about giving back what
you have learned. It is about helping people
around you.”
She started volunteering to expose herself to the
Tagalog language and because she was curious
about what Save the Children does. Charity says
she no longer views her undertakings as just
volunteer work wherein she learns from, but more
as an initiative that is very helpful to her
neighbors and community. It is a joy for her to
see the children grow and learn before her very
eyes. Aside from improving her self-esteem, she
says serving and being known as a community
volunteer is life-changing. Charity says she
understands that the financial problems usually
ease this problem. She mentions that she will
continue doing this for her community until she
can.
Charity knows that what she does not only makes
a difference in the community, but it changes her
family life as well. She has learned how to make
her kids love reading better and is now a promoter
of positive discipline at home. She says that
volunteer work sometimes seems daunting, but
she knows it accomplishes so much for those who
are involved in it.
Charity says, “I usually hurry to the sessions right
after I take care of my two kids and do my
responsibilities at home, it is important for me to
be there to teach children reading and learning
skills. Being a volunteer is not about benefiting
from a program, but it’s about giving back what
you have learned. It is about helping people
around you.”
She started volunteering to expose herself to the
Tagalog language and because she was curious
about what Save the Children does. Charity says
she no longer views her undertakings as just
volunteer work wherein she learns from, but more
as an initiative that is very helpful to her
neighbors and community. It is a joy for her to
see the children grow and learn before her very
eyes. Aside from improving her self-esteem, she
says serving and being known as a community
volunteer is life-changing. Charity says she
understands that the financial problems usually
discourage parents from sending their children to
daycares and she knows she is contributing to
ease this problem. She mentions that she will
continue doing this for her community until she
can.
Charity knows that what she does not only makes
a difference in the community, but it changes her
family life as well. She has learned how to make
her kids love reading better and is now a promoter
of positive discipline at home. She says that
volunteer work sometimes seems daunting, but
she knows it accomplishes so much for those who
are involved in it.
A Life Changed: A Community
Volunteer's Story
Mona Mariano, Sponsorship Manager
Caloocan City, Philippines
August 21, 2014
Small steps are sometimes what take us to great
leaps. Coming home to a land already foreign to
her, Charity’s family had to return to the
Philippines after staying in Sabah, Malaysia since
she was little. Charity shied away from others as
she was unfamiliar to the language and the
people.
After two years since her return, there is now no
trace of that shy and uncertain woman. One
would see a confident and independent person
when observing Charity as she reads aloud to her
students and she interacts with their parents.
Every day, she plays her Save the Children
volunteer role and serves as a Literacy Boost and
Supervised Neighborhood Session Facilitator in
Caloocan City, Philippines. In Literacy Boost, she
implements a set of basic education activities
adapted according to local context which teaches
reading appreciation, letter knowledge, fluency,
and comprehension. On the other hand, the
Supervised Neighborhood Sessions is a
neighborhood-based alternative early learning
initiative that provides children with no access to
daycare centers with stimulating educational
activities and learning materials.