Category: Acts29 Events

PART 3: ACTS29 Scholars’ Day Out 2016 (Philippines)

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Been pouring for two straight days but the rains stopped for our UP campus tour – ambait ni God!

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The rains just went away!

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The Academic Oval, the main and the largest road in UP Diliman, surrounding by major college buildings of the university

 

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The UP Carillion.  When this tower starts to play those 46 bells, the sound can be heard from all four corners of the campus!

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Two of our scholars with KAPITAS volunteers by the steps of Palma Hall, commonly known as AS building as this used to be the Arts and Sciences building

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The UP Diliman Administration Building , doing the Oblation’s open arms

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The Oblation.  This concrete sculpture is a depiction of a man facing the sky with arms wide open, signifying selfless offering of oneself to his country

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The UP Lagoon, the only body of water (not captured in this photo, though) inside the UP Diliman campus

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Lovely trees line up by the walking paths next to the UP Lagoon!

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With the last group of our scholars in our campus tour at the UP Lagoon

It must take an enormous amount of efforts for a child to keep his eyes and mind glued to his studies if he comes from such an environment as the Payatas dumpsite; we can only imagine.  From what we gather, most of the kids there just go with their parents to collect from the garbage instead of attending school.  Sadly, Payatas dumpsite and Erap City resettlement site are two places in the Philippines where having the opportunity to attend school is more of the exception than the rule.

We Googled and the map says Payatas dumpsite is just 22 minutes away from UP Diliman!

Payatas to UP Diliman Map

My parents were just regular salaried employees back then but they were able to send me to this university.  It is state-owned and managed so the tuition costs cannot be as expensive as those of the major universities in Manila.

While the tour of the UP Diliman campus may be a small gesture for our 50 scholars, it’s our sincere hope that it was able to open their eyes that one need not come from a rich family to be able to attend this university and earn a college degree, land a stable job, and give their families a better life – and eventually leave the Payatas dumpsite.  Nobody deserves to be trapped in there making a living out of picking from a landfill, risking their lives scavenging the dump in order to put food on the table to survive.

 

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” ― Nelson Mandela

PART 2: ACTS29 Scholars’ Day Out 2016 (Philippines)

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Volunteers showed up early despite the rains!  We started at 8 in the morning and our scholars arrived just in time!  Our KAPITAS volunteers came well prepared!

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Thank you, UP KAPITAS for preparing this map for our campus tour!

KAPITAS volunteers gathered their respective teams of scholars to brief them on the campus tour.  Here are photos of our scholars getting ready for our tour of UP Diliman campus!  Thank you, KAPITAS for sharing these photos!

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“Smile at each other. Smile at your wife, smile at your husband, smile at your children, smile at each other- it doesn’t matter who it is- and that will help to grow up in greater love for each other.” ― Mother Teresa

 

ACTS29 Scholars’ Day Out 2016 – How Can We Help?

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There are families in the Philippines that earn their keep by collecting goods from garbage sites.  The largest open dumpsite in the Philippines to date is in Payatas with over 2,000 scavengers living in this community.  With no decent homes and no access to clean air and safe drinking water, they face massive health problems, particularly tuberculosis (TB) and it’s the children that suffer the most.

We are very fortunate to have met ACTS29, a Singapore-based charity group that offers medical support (TB screening and medication) and educational projects (scholarship programme and formation homes) to help underprivileged children and their families escape from their reliance on trash-picking as their livelihood.

With constant tuition and monitoring, deserving children get sent to school through the generosity of our ACTS29 benefactors.

On 9 July 2016 (Saturday), we are having the ACTS29 Scholars’ Day Out 2016, a charity event for our 50 scholars of ACTS29 in collaboration with UP KAPITAS.  Each scholar will receive a school kit (bag plus supplies they need for school) during the event.  We kick off with a tour of the UP Diliman campus and culminate with film viewing in Palma Hall.

HOW CAN WE HELP?

  • SPONSOR A SCHOOL KIT for the scholars.  Each scholar will get 1 school kit that contains 1 school bag, notebooks, pencils, pens, art brush set, baby powder, soap, toothbrush, and face towel.   Photo below is for reference only.  Drop us a note here: charity.ivyd@gmail.com

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  • BE A SCHOLAR’S BUDDY for a day as kuyas and ates during the campus tour and the film showing.  Volunteers are to buddy up with our scholars so if they have questions, they will have a friend to turn to.  With help from their buddies, we will close our activities with having the scholars share their thoughts about the campus tour and the short film. Interested? Email us here: charity.ivyd@gmail.com
  • SUPPORT A SCHOLAR’S EDUCATION in primary, secondary, and college levels. We currently have out-of-school children on wait list with the hope that sponsors will signify and help send them to school.  Write to us here: charity.ivyd@gmail.com

THEY NEED OUR HELP.  Please join us in bringing hope and encouragement to our ACTS29 scholars and in showering them with prayers.  Let’s help them change their future into a much brighter one.

 

“That’s what I consider true generosity: You give your all, and yet you always feel as if it costs you nothing.” ― Simone de Beauvoir