Day 5: Push for Change

Our first night in Cavite was a somewhat of a shock after three glorious nights in the Bayleaf Hotel. No skydeck, employees opening the door for us when we arrived home, or running water. For most of us this is the first time we have lived out our first world comforts. We never knew that what we consider basic necessities are a privilege to many of our host families, or how disconcerting seeing giant cockroaches at 1:00 am can be. However, looking past all the discomforts this has been a very rewarding experience.

We all woke up at 5:00 am and were greeted by the smiling faces of our host family members (and their roosters) and a wonderful breakfast. Some common dishes that many of us ate this morning included fried rice, fried fish, and salted eggs.  After breakfast, we all met for orientation with the Dynamic Teen Company, and headed out to our first adventure in Cavite. With the guidance Kuya Ef and the DTC volunteers, we handed out school supplies to the children of the pushcart classrooms, and taught them a song with an accompanying dance.

We then headed over to Jollibee, the Filipino version of McDonald's. There we were able to interact and get to know better the volunteers of DTC. We had a chance to here about their involvement in the pushcart classrooms, which they refer to as the Kariton Classroms. They have put in a lot of effort to this program and are very committed to helping the children gain a proper education. From lunch we went back to DTC headquarters and prepared for our journey with the push cart classrooms. Although the carts were not that heavy, with the scorching heat beating down our backs, the long walk was exhausting. That, however, was only the beginning of our trip. Once we got to our final destination on the streets of Cavite we met the students, ranging in age from 5 to 12, and assisted the volunteers in teaching the students. Olivia and I had a chance to assist with a little "color experiment." We taught the children how to mix different colors using red, yellow, blue, and white. It was surprising how much these kids already know. One little boy was able to read large paragraphs in English with very little assistance from us. This is a testament to how much progress the DTC has made. So many children are able to secure a better future through education with their help. There are fewer children in the streets, and more in the classrooms, and it is all thanks to the efforts of Kuya Ef and the volunteers if the DTC. After the pushcart classrooms, we headed back to the DTC headquarters for our daily reflections.

Our first full day in Cavite was exhausting, but seeing the smiling faces of the children as they received our gifts and sat through our lessons, made this entire experience worthwhile.

-Olivia and Binhan :)