The RYE School initiative in Romblon has taken it up another couple of notches with the addition of eighty new students in the villages of Carmen and Cawayan. The students are studying the English Land One and English Land Three series of books.
Camilla - a Meaningful Volunteer - bravely travels by motorcycle everyday up the side of a mountain to teach the children in Cawayan. Classes are canceled when it rains - it is just too dangerous to travel on the roads. The children themselves face an arduous journey just to get to school. They must navigate the treacherous paths up and down the mountain. Once again, when it rains the path becomes treacherous and too dangerous for the kids to get to school safely.
The kids are very excited to attend the RYE School program. Joshua - for example - attended his first RYE School classdespite being sick and having to walk an hour to school.
Cawayan was chosen by Meaningful Volunteer because its pretty much ignored by everyone else. It's ignored because its hard to get to. The school buildings are run down; the roads pot-holed at best and downright dangerous at worst; the houses are generally nepia huts; the health care center operates from the same building as the daycare center and lacks many basic health supplies; and the kids are malnourished and lack a local high school.
We try to emphasize a quality over quantity with our programs and our class sizes are capped at ten. The need for Cawayan is still great though as is shown by the numerous kids who peer into the class.
Brave souls like Camilla - teamed up with Meaningful Volunteer programs - are starting to make a difference.
Stay tuned to see the progress of the new classes and life in Cawayan