Rotaractor Charlene Canlas
South Ville 3 project is a national project under the National Housing Authority during the term of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo together with former Vice president Noli De Castro and Congressman Ruffy Biazon. The people who were relocated to the area lived next to the railroad where PNR is located therefore, people from South Ville 3 are often described as the “poorest of the poor” in Muntinlupa City. Since BuCor is a national office, there is a clear and precise agreement between them and the South Ville 3 project that the residents will have access to the land property of BuCor since it is the easiest route to go to Poblacion Bayan. But on March 20, 2021, BuCor suddenly built a wall along the insular reformatory road where residents of South Ville 3 pass by and they did not even give a warning to the people living there. With that being said, the Poblacion Elementary School and Poblacion National High School struggled in terms of providing and traveling all the school necessities for the opening of the school year 2021-2022. Lack of volunteers for Brigada Eskwela is also a problem for both schools.
September 27, 2021, the Rotaract Club of RCDM Scholars and the Rotary Club of Downtown Manila, launched TUPAD: Tugon-Edukasyon Para sa mga kabataan tungo sa iisang Damayan- project year 2 together with their pioneered sustainable project, “Little Libraries” which fall under the Rotary 7 Areas of Focus; Education and Basic Literacy and Economic and Community Development. The project organizers prepared 200 packs of school supplies with the following contents: pencil, ballpen, crayons, sharpener, Abakada book, pad paper, bond paper, activity sheets, sleeveless undershirt for kids, and toys for elementary students. Aside from school supplies, the clubs also donated 21 hygiene kits, 4 gallons of alcohol, 4 gallons of bleach for cleaning, and 10 boxes of face masks to help the teachers and staff practice more safety precautions in the middle of the pandemic. For the Little Libraries, the club donated 6 huge sacks and 3 boxes of books.
Aside from donating to two Public schools, the Rotaractors also donated to the community by giving school supplies to children who are roaming in the streets and those in their homes. They witnessed the willingness of these children to continue studying but are hampered by poverty and the pandemic.
Aside from the Life-Changing President Darwin Andrey and the Rotaractors, TUPAD project and Little Libraries were also accompanied by the Southern Police District led by PSs Reynold S. Aguirre CAS, I.O. Muntinlupa CPS together with 10 other policemen who guided and secured the whole project. The Kabataan Kontra Droga at Terrorismo and War Kings South Ville also volunteered on-site. They devoted their time and effort to help the main organizers launched the project inside the South Ville 3 community. It is one-of-a-kind experience because aside from the new friendship and ties between the host clubs and partner organizations, the act of giving and collaborating did not fail to paint smiles on the children’s and teachers’ faces. The project also gave hope to the student and teachers to continue providing quality education amidst the new normal. In addition, the club believes that the Little Libraries will be a sustainable project to fight illiteracy with the help of the teacher volunteers from the beneficiary schools and club volunteers from South Ville 3.
The project launching is indeed a wonderful example of Rotary’s motto “Service Above Self” and Rotaract’s motto “Fellowship Through Service”. The Rotaract Club of RCDM Scholars and the Rotary Club of Downtown Manila promises to continue launching projects that will give hope and lighten the lives of the less fortunate Filipinos for a better future.