a journey of readiness stories from the frontline part 1

FROM H OME TO SCHOOL: A JOURNEY OF READINESS Documentation of ECCD Early Learning Models, Innovations and Good practices for UNICEF Philippines

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A documentation of ECCD Early Learning Models, Innovations and Good practices

UNICEF shares the emerging story of 3-5-year-old Filipino children in ready families, schools, and communities as they transition from home care to primary education as an enabling environment is built for the landmark

Philippine Policy: Early Years Act of 2013

2016-2017


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Philippines has engaged Intem Philippines to document

Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD)-Early Learning

Models Innovations/Good Practices in the Government of the

Philippines-United Nations Children’s Fund Country Programme for

Children (GOP-UNICEF CPC) for dissemination, replication and going

to scale. The replication of documented good practices is expected

to contribute to increasing the access of 3-4-year-old children to

quality pre-school especially for those in remote and far-flung areas

and those belonging to indigenous communities, as well as to the

transition of pre-school completers to kinder, and later to formal

schooling (primary education).

the documentation period which spanned the first

visit in March to April, 2016 and the second fielding in

November to December 2016 covering one city (metro

Davao) and 5 municipalities, the documentation team met the local

ECCD champions: mayors, administrators, municipal social service and

welfare development officers,

barangay council officers and

the child development workers

(CDWs) -- more commonly

referred to as day care workers

(DCWs).

Their stories are inspiring and ground us on the practical realities and challenges that they face every day. They provide insight as to how policy gets into practice at the local context. This part of the report shares the stories of the people on the frontlines doing their best trying to increase access and quality across the 5 municipalities and 1 city covered, based on the personal impressions of the documentation team. From Davao City, Kalamansig (Sultan Kudarat), Upi (Maguindanao) Bobon (Northern Samar), Milagros (Masbate) and Mercedez (Camarines Norte) are the collective stories of the Filipino people’s journey of readiness.


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n typical literature, what has been described to the documentation team as the “link” actually refers to

“school readiness” which over the years have been evolving. Children's School Readiness is affected by

the early care and learning experiences they receive. The research in brain development emphasizes that

early learning (especially from birth to five) directly influences a child's ability to learn and succeed in school.

These studies have contributed to a growing awareness of the importance of quality early education and

prekindergarten experiences.1

The two earlier constructs of “readiness”–ready to learn and ready for school–differ greatly. The former

applies to students of all ages, the latter primarily to young children before or at the kindergarten level. In

the former, readiness is nurtured; in the latter, it is expected. A third construct, maturational readiness,

evolves from these two. It accepts the metric of school readiness–i.e. to expect children to achieve a

specified standard prior to school entry. It also accepts the metric of children’s individual time clocks, more

closely associated with developmental theory. Maturational readiness says that because all children do not

develop at the same pace and because the content of schooling is fixed, not all children are ready for school

at the same chronological age. More recently, however, these understandings of readiness have been

challenged, and development is no longer considered a prerequisite for learning, instead, revisionists

suggest that learning and development are intertwined. Constructivists like Vygotsky notes, children are

ever-ready learners and grow into the intellectual life around them, so that development is stimulated by

learning and is not a prerequisite for it. Readiness is understood as the match between the readiness

of the child and the readiness of the environments that serve

young children. Thus, the contemporary understanding of

readiness acknowledges that the sources of readiness are not

only the child’s emotional, cognitive, linguistic, and social

abilities, but also the contexts in which children live and

interact with adults, teachers, and other community

members. In order to affect a child’s school readiness,

1 Research indicates that preschoolers who attend high quality programs: Enter kindergarten with skills necessary for school success.; Show greater understanding of verbal and numerical concepts; Are more socially competent; Show ability to stay with an activity longer; Are more likely to make typical progress through the primary grades; Are less often placed in special education classes; Are less likely to be retained in kindergarten.-- https://sites.google.com/a/acsd.k12.ca.us/early-childhood-education/home/what-is-school-readiness

I

To help clarify more terms:

• Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD)– the entire system of care and education services provided to young children prior to school entry. • Preschool programs– programs for three- and four-year-old children, regardless of source of funds (public or private); includes both DCCs, SNPs and local private service providers of nursery programs. • Pre-kindergarten (pre-K)– state-funded preschool programs for three-and four year-old children. In the Philippines this are the Day-care Centers and the SNP/home-based modes.


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multiple contexts including families, schools, neighbourhoods, and early childhood settings must be

involved.2

The UNICEF model of “school readiness” is illustrated below as having the 3 basic elements of Ready families,

Ready Children and Ready Schools.

2 Kagan, S. L. (1992). “Readiness, Past, Present, and Future: Shaping the Agenda.” Young Children, 48(1): 48-53; Love, J. M., J. L. Aber, and J. Brooks-Gunn. (1994). Strategies for Assessing Community Progress Toward Achieving the First National Education Goal. Princeton, NJ: Mathmatica Policy Research


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If children are ready for school, the educational experience is more positive and learning outcomes more

readily achieved and the result should be children who grow ready for a positive, productive adult life.

Children become ready with the care and guidance of ready families, where parents ensure a nurturing

environment through proper nutrition, intellectual and social stimulation, and providing early childhood

education either through home-based, supervised neighbourhood playgroups or center-based such as from

a public or private day care center. Now the day care center and primary school should also be ready for

the children with quality learning experiences with competent service providers, proper learning facilities

and materials and partnerships such that the transition from ECD to primary school and later years is smooth

and easy. It can be argued that more school

readiness equals more participation, more

successful transitions, more graduates and less

dropouts, less delays.

In the Philippines, the following model of

readiness is being called “the Link” by

proponents as it puts emphasis on mechanisms

enabling the 3-4 year olds to successfully

transition to Kindergarten and on to the first

three primary grades and so on (linking ECCD to

K+12 by linking all four dimensions: family,

children school and community).

It purposely centers around the child and mobilizes the community, the school, the parents/family to

prepare this child not just for school but for real life, and in the process makes sure the community itself,

the school and the entire family is prepared with affirmative values and enabling conditions for the children’s

whole development. It thus needs ready involvement-mechanisms or partnerships to work and local

champions to drive these engagements effectively.

More than just the “turning-over of the ECCD checklist by the DCW to the Kindergarten teacher”, the “Interlinked dimensions of Readiness” must be fully appreciated by all stakeholder groups in its entirety.


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IT IS “READINESS” that is the ultimate goal for expanding access via all practical modalities, increasing

quality, enhancing governance and building a model/sequence of events we can call the “change pathway”

to operationalize a national strategy for children. Thus, it necessitates a policy environment and full

collaboration or convergence program involving the right national government agencies working with the

local government units who have full ownership of ECCD programs for its own children and therefore

effectively mobilizes the local stakeholders towards this outcome.

Since we establish, that readiness is the target outcome or goal and “linked dimensions (community,

family, school, children)” are the key result areas (KRAs) where we can measure levels of readiness (or the

impact of interventions): it is proposed, for clarity and focus, strategic communications should stay with

the term “readiness” as main handle, instead of the “links” as the latter did not achieve resonance at the

field level and created too many assumptions of meaning. Dimensions do not need to be “interlinked” as

by their nature, practically and literally, each dimension is already an intrinsic part of a specific

concept/idea such as readiness. To “matter” means to have mass and occupy space (dimensions such as

length, width, height), in this case, to have any volume or area of relevance, readiness should have clear

aspects where stakeholders can measure their own progress. There is no real community without basic

institutions such as families and local leadership structures, the same way schools cannot exist apart from

a community or without children and parents from that community. There cannot also be government

where there are none to be governed or to govern (both of whom come into existence through a family).

So we simply say “dimension of readiness” or the “readiness loop”. Not just semantics but to

communicate clearly, the most important point or target outcome for all of these: readiness.

With this strategic appreciation, Intem thus re-visualized the readiness model of UNICEF’s CPC7 below:

Ready families, ready children and ready schools stand on the platform or the synergy of a ready

community.


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n the Philippines, the phrase “it takes a village to raise a child” takes on various aspects. The local

village or barangay community is where convergences are designed to secure the care and protection

of children. With multiple social relationships in a predominantly Christian tradition, it is common for

extended family and neighbors to look after the children such as the Ninongs/Ninangs (godparents);

Kumpadre/Kumadre (your kids are my godchildren and you are godparents to mine) not just at

christening/baptisms but at weddings and Kumpil (confirmation) events as well as many other occasions

to become “related” in a relationship-centric society. This is a culture where all older persons are

addressed as “kuya” (big brother), “ate” (big sister) or “tito/tita” (uncle/auntie) even if they were ever

vaguely related and for these people to also address any child as “anak” (my child). When it comes to the

welfare of child or children, it is not so difficult to galvanize and mobilize a whole community where that

child belongs. And while people will keep a respectful distance to one’s personal family affairs or “usapang

pamilya”, people do not hesitate to intervene or make “pakialam” once a child is in harm’s way. When

“awat-away” (pacify the quarrelers) fails, there is always the “sumbong kay kapitan/ipa-barangay” (tell

the village chief/file a barangay complaint) option.


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At the schools, it is common to see kagawads (councilmen) and tanods (barangay safety/security officers)

overseeing children crossing, queueing, and making sure they stay in school. One barangay observed, had

the tanods ferrying children to and from the DCC and Primary School.

SYSTEMATIC. These informal social systems need to be strengthened and set into a formal system of

governance and sector-specific development programs that are properly resourced, implemented,

monitored and evaluated. Standards are established in order for all to enjoy a minimum level of

experience and inclusion, and for the communities to receive consistent and sustained support.

NATIONWIDE. These are all reinforced by the landmark national policy: The Early Years Act which guides

communities on the crucial early years that can spell successful or delayed development of children.

Furthermore, at the national level, the National ECCD Council, the DepEd, DSWD, DILG, DOH, Nutrition

Council also complement each other. With the ECCD Checklist, more people have a clearer idea of what

children should be able to do in each domain at a particular age so that if there are delays, these can be

collaboratively addressed. The Child Friendly City/Municipality awards is an annual recognition system

that brings the children’s care and development agenda to the fore. Meantime, at the Regional and

Municipal levels, day care workers have federations through which trainings and other capacity building

programs are coursed with the help of UNICEF and other development partners. This helps ensure a

minimum level of quality of instructional/learning experience for the children whether center-based or

home-based delivery, and public or privately funded. Between DepEd, DSWD and DOH is a referral

network for children with delays, disabilities or for those needing special protection.

READY COMMUNITY. Ideally, this community is led at the municipal level with an active and functional

Municipal Council for Protection of Children (MCPC) and matched at the village level with an equally active

Barangay Council for Protection of Children (BCPC).3 These councils help make sure that mechanisms are in

place including local policies; ordinances and resolutions by the Sangguniang Bayan (Municipal Council) and

Sangguniang Barangay (Barangay Council) which mobilizes resources and leverages these towards

increasing both access to and quality of early childhood care and development (ECCD). This also includes

programs like regular mapping of 0-8 year olds in the barangay to check participation rates for ECCD (via

3 (Local Councils for the Protection of Children or LCPCs are under the guidance of the DILG).


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Daycare Centers or Supervised Neighborhood Playgroups), Kindergarten and Elementary/Primary Grades

and to see if they are successfully transitioning up through the education levels. Budgets for training (not

just for DCWs but for parents too via the parent effectiveness seminars as well) and facility improvements

like WASH are care of the LGU through the advocacy of the councils, as are the allowances or honoraria of

the daycare workers.

Local Champions. Also part of the community’s contributions towards increasing access and quality of

ECCD services is a professional social services officer (MSWDO) at MLGU directly implementing the

DSWD’s supplemental feeding programs and the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program also known as 4Ps

(conditional cash transfers) and the investments in infrastructure like roads, daycare centers and health

stations are. It was observed that at the MLGU level, the passion and pro-active management skills of the

MSWDOs have been very instrumental to effective ECCD services delivery. It is important that this position

be filled up fulltime and by professional social workers and not just officers-in-charge.


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In summary, “ready communities” refer to the national community, the provincial and municipal

community and the barangay down to the Purok or Sitio (sub-barangay) community. It also refers to the

“helping communities” such as UNICEF, NGOs, the Religious communities and civil society in general. The

Families, the Children, the School—all belong to and help up make up the community.

READY FAMILIES. Through the community leaders, “ready families” are facilitated by parent effectiveness

seminars sponsored by the barangay. This is reinforced through the Parents and Teachers association, the

regular feedback with teachers as well as the Brigada Eskwela, a national program for

cooperation/collaboration between the community leaders, schools and parents to prepare the school

before opening. The Brigada assembles an army of volunteers to repair and prepare classrooms in time

for the opening of classes. The success of its implementation lies in the collaborative effort of school heads,

private partners, local government units, and the community members, including parents and students.

It has high recall. It is understood at the community level and increases demand to access basic education

services.

Thus, “ready schools” can be seen as child seeking (through the participatory mapping with BLGUs and

home visits by teachers/DCWs); partnering with the BLGU particularly with the Barangay Health Worker


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(BHW), Barangay Nutrition Scholar (BNS) for data on children’s health and nutritional status as well as

making sure these children’s birth are registered in official records.

Daycare centers or even impermanent structures where SNPs are held, are considered by the community

as schools and the DCWs as ‘teachers’ or ‘maestra’. Considering that they are not ‘yaya’s or simple child-

minders, everything that they do (teach, keep records, deliver curriculum, manage activities, coordinate

with LGU and participate in the federation of DCWs as well as being resource speakers for parent

seminars) deserve rightful recognition as professionals. They are indeed, for all intents and purposes, early

childhood educators/learning facilitators or technically Children’s Development Workers, and while they

are under the guidance of the DSWD and not by DepEd, they are nevertheless teachers, trained and just

as passionate as their counterparts in Elementary education. Their readiness is core to “ready schools”

that can accept the child, whatever state of “school-readiness” they arrive on the first day of learning

sessions. Of the many factors that affect quality, it is the level of readiness of the schools (ECCD-K+12:

from facilities to teacher-competence and available instructional materials) that matter most in the

learner’s success or failure in moving up across the education ladder. Again, the family, the children and

the school belong to a community or village which in turn belong to a bigger community at city or

municipal level. This is the point of engagement where UNICEF sought to enhance practices in governance

that in turn increase access to quality ECCD services that result in more successful transitions.


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THE DAVAO STORY The Davao leg of the documentation was one of the more interesting parts. The first visit in March 2016 was the ramp up time for the electoral campaign period and the team wanted to see how the local systems were working even with the chief executive in the thick of sorties. This was a very good time to see a “house-in-order” and indeed, the team saw a very well-coordinated system working without any breaks in the stride. The 2nd visit in November 2016 showed the consistency of the sustained efforts for children in Davao City. The main goal of the documentation team was to observe how the readiness loop was being implemented. For ready communities, we wanted to see the governance mechanisms in place and whether this in turn is resulting into increased access to and quality of ECCD services. With its highly organized and professionally led, City Social Services Development Office (CSSDO), and a division specifically for preschoolers and a focused ECCD unit, it was not surprising to see how the city has been awarded as one of the most child-friendly cities for years in a row. We also wanted to find some emerging best practices that could be replicated or mainstreamed as standard for all ready communities. Among these we found the following: Birth Certificates. “Sa Paaralan Ko Puwede Magrehistro” Project (2013) /mobile Registration Team of the City Civil

Registrar’s Office (CCRO) and the DepEd for facilitating NSO copies of birth certificates for enrollment/graduation/ scholarships and participation in sports events4; Before the ordinances on birthing clinics, children were home-birthed and it was common to just rely on the midwife or “hilot” (local healer) to hopefully not forget to register the birth at the munisipyo. More often than not though, due to distance and other more urgent matters, this task was neglected and became a very inconvenient problem for children needing to enroll in elementary schools. Thus the city government brought this service to its rural areas so that parents can register their children at the nearest elementary school. The City Civil Registrar’s Office (CCRO) in collaboration with BLGUs and Schools has launched the program to document and register residents of Davao City especially the children in order to facilitate school registration and to be able to access other social services.

ECCD Mobile. Starting in 2008 from 2 multicabs donated by UNICEF, the ECCD Mobile, filled with books and instructional

materials has been conducting ECCD sessions in areas where neither DCCs nor SNPs are available. It is an entry point of putting up a structure in the area where parents experience and appreciate the presence of ECCD program and then later demand such services. A volunteer is chosen from the community to handle the session and evolve into an SNP or even a DCC. The ECCD mobile then moves out to another area.

4 http://www.davaocity.gov.ph/davao/unesco.aspx


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BY Nida Delos Reyes, Mobile ECCD

These ECCD vans from UNICEF service at least 8 barangays as a precursor for SNPs and eventual formal DCCs as volunteer parents are identified, organized with the Barangay Early Childhood Care and Development Coordinating Committee (BECCDCC) and trained.

“The first areas we visited were Brgy 11 in Poblacion A.; Brgy 17;

Brgy 21 at 22—4 barangays per mobile van. After surveying these

areas, we talked to the Chairman and the Council and of course the

BHW as we wanted to gather data on children 5.11 and below which

has now since changed to 4.11 and below. Yes, we take them in as

early as 2 years old. So what we do is conduct 3-hour sessions. One

in the morning in an area and then in the afternoon, in the next

barangay. We do this M-W-F. It’s really, literally under a tree where

we just spread out a mat on the pavement. We made an agreement

with the Chairman to do the sessions 8 to 11 am. So before 8 the

children are gathered there. When they see our mobile ECCD van they know and come running. We have everything in the van, storybooks,

carpentry toys, ragdolls, program materials like art paper, poster paints, scissors—all of these from UNICEF actually. We had lots of trainings,

mostly from UNICEF, like how to prepare the curriculum, how to handle kids, EPES (which has now become MPES). We started with very shy

kids. But when they saw the toys…Now they eagerly await us. The parents are really happy especially that the nearest DCC is really far away

through a paddy field and here we come bringing the school to them.

“Usually on the 2nd meeting when they’re more familiar and comfortable we make the assessments using the ECCD checklist. We use the

Visayan version. The parents are there during the assessments and are happy to note their kids’ progress. We give them the booklets during

the moving up in March in case they proceed to a center or next level.” The barangays are very supportive sometimes with the program

materials, also with supplemental feedings with the parents. “Sana ‘yung ibang lungsod, gayahin din nila laluna sa mga lugar na walang

daycare center o masyadong malayo para sa mga maliliit na bata--‘yung sasakyan na mismo at titser ang pupunta.” (we hope the other cities

do replicate the ECCD mobile. Especially for areas where it is difficult for the small ones to access a day care center, it is better that the vehicle

and teacher goes to them.)


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PTOP ECCD: Parents Teaching Other Parents

Peer-to-peer ECCD in Davao City means the PTOP (Parents Teaching Other Parents) was originally aimed

for families who could not send their children to DCC nor the HB-SNP for either economic reasons or

distance. It was really bringing ECCD services home to the child through his/her own mother/father as

first teacher. Docu-Team observed how this was quickly evolving during the first meeting after the training

of the pilot batch. If DCCs had a minimum class size of 25 and HB/SNP had a minimum of 15, the parent

trainees were already exploring the possibilities for a “micro SNP” class of even 5 children led by a trained

parent (I teach my own child and I can take in 4 more). The contextualization ideas were noted such as

using life-skill modelling skills as take-off for any of the 7 target domains. For example: mother-child

bonding time doing the laundry where skills such as sorting by colors are taught. During meal preparations

with colored ingredients and varying sizes of fruits for example (big vs small, many versus few etc.) The

idea was for the “lessons” to be play or natural events, subtle and seemingly spontaneous or un-

structured. The ECCD checklist is still to be used and perhaps assessment can be done by the nearest DCC.

This initiative is an implementation model of Section 2 of the Early Years Act.

It is hereby declared the policy of the

State to promote the rights of children to survival,

development and special protection with full

recognition of the nature of childhood and as well as the

need to provide developmentally

appropriate experiences to address their needs;

Early Years Act (EYA) of 2013


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PTOP Pilot Batch discuss the opportunities opened to them to increase access to ECCD Services.

DCC and Kindergarten are both ECCD (pre-primary). Ms. Janete B. Esteban, DepEd Kindergarten Coordinator for Davao City, clarifies that both daycare classes and kindergarten are categorized as ECCD or pre-primary. “These are both play based in approach and are expected to be in sequence, providing readiness for the elementary grade levels based on age-appropriate competencies.”

To underscore the sequence and complementation, the documentation team visualizes the flow between curricular themes and competencies from ECCD to grade 1 below based on the ECCD Checklist and the K to 12 Kindergarten Curriculum Guide (December 2013, DepEd). Notice the consistency in nurturing the 7 domains of competency. Ms. Esteban relates that the real challenge to teachers now is for children who are not “bisaya” in a place where the local mother tongue is “bisaya”, mentioning that Muslims for example prefer Tagalog since they don’t understand bisaya well. Wikipedia does mention that Aside from Davaoeño Cebuano, Tagalog, Davaoeño Chavacano and Mindanao tribal languages such as Tagabawa-Bagobo, Manobo-Bagobo and Mandaya are also spoken. Hiligaynon is spoken by residents who mainly came from the provinces of Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and South Cotabato provinces of Soccsksargen, as well as from the provinces of Iloilo and Guimaras of Western Visayas and Negros Occidental in Negros Island Region.


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Davao City is a pioneer in implementing programs for the tri-people (Christians, Muslims and Lumads). Programs specifically targeting IP children are enabled by regular workers with plantilla positions doing regular supervision. Areas of indigent families especially Indigenous Peoples communities include: Talomo, City Poblacion, Agdao, Bunawan, Buhangin, Paquibato, Marilog, Baguio, Toril, Tugbok, and Calinan areas where the CSSDO institutionalized the conduct of Enhanced Parent Effectiveness Service and Empowerment Reaffirmation of Paternal Abilities Training (ERPAT) and the ENHANCED PARENTS EFFECTIVENESS SERVICE (EPES)5 – Showcase barangay for the documentation period is Datu Salumay of Marilog district, where an IP Dormitory was put up by the barangay downhill (near the catchment Elementary School) while uphill, the community of Matigsalogs built their own SNP/Day Care Center. The locals call their SNP a “DCC” because to their heart and mind, it is a loved structure that has become a center of village life. It is also slowly evolving into a permanent one with the improvements they themselves are making. “For our IPs, we have our primer and orthography in their own languages, which guides our teachers on which words to use since we have been implementing the IP education from kinder up. We have 5 tribes,

5 Provides and expands knowledge and skills of parents and caregivers on parenting to be able to respond to parental duties and responsibilities in the areas of early childhood development; husband and wife relationships; prevention of child abuse; healthcare, and other challenges of parents. It assists parents and parent-substitutes so they can assume the major educational role in the growth and development of children.


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and we have primer for each: Sinugbwanon binisaya is for the bisayas and we prepared our ortograpiya and primer in 5 languages: Bagobo, Matigsalog, Ata, Hubo-Manobo. “quipped Ms. Esteban. “There 2 kinds of Bagobo -- Bagobo-Tagabawa and Bagobo-Klata. Each ethnic group has its own culture and indigenous knowledge systems and practices. We did this way back in 2004 pa yan—and sustained it until the DepEd Order 62 arrived calling for such an implementation. As far as the indigenous peoples education in the whole Philippines we were quite ahead here in Davao City. We had materials which we were already using in areas with 100% IP communities. These were prepared with the elders of each tribe. “We started from their alphabet in their own mother tongue, enabling them to take-on bisaya as their 2nd language so theirs will not die. Even the big books in our kindergarten are in vernacular, prepared by their teachers Pero note this… the Badjao group was not included in the NCIP but they were included by our Superintendent as this is her vision to have them graduate and no longer just in the streets but in school.”

“Tri-people kasi kami sir, Muslim, Christian and the Lumads.” Ms. Esteban reiterates.

“Well-supported din kami ng City in terms sa festivals for the lumad. The funding is from the local school board though may fund ang central office

pero konti lang ang central office, so di sya kasya, so ang ginawa ko is hingi ako sa local school board, approve agad kasi kailangan ng lumad ‘yun eh, so para naman maexpose sila, para hindi sila mahiya, so we exposed them to festivals sa buong region.”


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THE CENTER OF THE TRIBE Tribal Village DCC is located in the remote part of Brgy. Datu Salumay. The center is small with few toys inside, chairs and tables. Mr. Eduardo, the DCW, said they don’t use the chairs and table because it is not enough for all children in the DCC. During sessions, they would form a circle and sit on the mat. Tribal Village is a purely Matigsalog indigenous people’s community about 5 kilometers up the trail from the national highway, with minimal basic services support to its people. In the village, there are around 15-20 houses, and a purok. Transportation going to and from the village is quite challenging. Fare is expensive, no regular transportation, and mode of transportation is risky. The transportation cost from the village to the barangay hall at the foot of the hill is at least 60 pesos while the cost going to City Hall from there would be an additional 200 pesos at day time. Transportation cost at night time is much higher. It was a remote village, approximately. Tribal DCC currently has less than 20 Matigsalog children enrolled.


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(L) Mothers in colorful Matigsalog garbs happily assist their children in their “DCC” (an SNP for which they built their own hut).

( R ) Ma’am Elena Gabaton of the CSSDO-ECCD Division converses with one of the young mothers on proper nourishment of her child, also reminding the other to have her new baby regularly checked at the BHC.

(Matigsalog Mothers express their happiness on having their own SNP/Daycare Center in their own Sitio, saving their little ones from having more than 5 km walk downhill to the nearest DCC. Photos by Intem Philippines) At the right side of the door, before entering the DCC room is the handwashing area. It has limited water, and collection of water is challenging especially this El Nino season. The DCC has electricity but Mr. Eduardo assumed the payment of the bill since the parents could not afford it. The villagers were so grateful of the DCC in the village. They said without the DCC, children will not be able to read and write, and properly socialize. The DCC is the only government structure and the only educational facility in the village. In the DCC, aside from conducting several activities to prepare children for kinder, Mr. Eduardo also monitors the development of the children through the use of ECCD Checklist.


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This year, 3 children were monitored for having delays in their development. These delays would not have been monitored and addressed without the DCC due to parents’ difficulty in accessing services and lack of information on how to detect and address developmental delays. Most of Matigsalog elders did not have the chance to go to school due to lack of access. But the situation has changed now that the DCC was established in Tribal village. Matigsalog elders are thankful to the local government for the assistance because their children will now have the education and the chance to have a brighter future. According to the DCW “yung iba no read no write so kaya binabawi nila sa mga bata nila, kahit walang pagkain pinipilit nila na makapag-aral. Yan na ang priority nila: ang makapag-aral ang mga bata.” (many members of the tribe cannot read nor write and so are determined for their children to have better lives and even if there was no food, they really do their best so the kids can have an education).

(Above) Matigsalog mom and daughter sing a thankful song entitled “Eskwela Ki” (below) water source for the community


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HE CAME BACK FOR THEM

Mr. Eduardo Cabaling is one of the few men who were given the opportunity to serve as Day Care Worker (DCW). He is 43 years old, single, and a Commerce graduate in Davao City. He started his career as Day Care Worker in 1999. Though being a DCW seems unrelated to his educational background he accepted the work because it was the available opportunity at that time. He said it was difficult at first, but the trainings he got and his effort to learn the tribe’s dialect helped him to make his work lighter. Mr. Eduardo said “nagsimula talga ako ng mother tongue nila, inistadihan ko talaga kung paano magpronounce sa dialect nila, then natutunan ko talaga… para lang maka-connect ako at maibigay ko yung dapat para sa kanila (I started by learning their mother tongue carefully noting their pronunciations and doing my best to make the connection in order to give the service that they deserve.) Mr. Eduardo learned to love his work, he taught for five years in the village. He was able to manage the challenges in the DCC but in 2004, he quit from his DCW job due to some family problem. The resignation of Mr. Eduardo brought sadness to children and parents. Almost every day, parents would visit him in his house requesting him to go back to the DCC. Mr. Eduardo noticed that the parents, the children, and the new worker in the DCC were having difficult adjustments. So, in 2014, despite having a monthly honorarium of only 2,000 pesos from the LGU, Mr. Eduardo decided to teach again in Tribal Village DCC. His concern for the education of Matigsalog children made him go back to DCC. He said “ kasi pag makita ko yung mga bata para bang maano talaga ako na dapat gawin ko ang dapat para sa kanila, kung ano yung dapat ituro ko sa kanila.” (Seeing the children like this, how can I ignore my duty to help them learn? I need to do what I can for them.)


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THE FUTURE TEACHER WHO ALMOST DROWNED

LIZA ANDACAO, 37 years old is the mother of Rico Andacao Jr. enrolled at Tribal Village Day Care Center, Datu Salumay, Davao City. She is a housewife while her husband is a farm laborer. The family earns about Php 1,500.00 per month.

Liza’s family originally came from neighboring village, Gumitan. The family decided to transfer to Tribal village after the drowning incident which almost took the life of Rico’s sister, Donna Rose.

It was the rainy season that time and the water of Davao river was rising. Despite the risk, Donna Rose and her father decided to go to Gumitan

DCC. Donna Rose was excited and she did not want to miss DCC session. Along the way, Donna Rose fell in the river. Fortunately, the father was able to save Donna Rose. She is now in grade 6 and wants to become a teacher someday. According to Liza, “kana akong anak Ma’am na si Donna rose, gusto sya nga, ang panganduy nya maging teacher kay sa mga lumad way maestra. (Donna Rose wants to be a teacher since we have no teacher yet from the tribe.”

Liza did not finish her studies. She reached 2nd year high school but at the age of 18, she got married and then stopped going to school. For Liza, seeing her children finish their studies someday is like a fulfillment of her own dream, to become a professional. Liza also added “pangarap naku sa akong mga anak Ma’am na muabot ang panahon na dili sila mahirapan… sa ilang pag-eskwela, para dili maparehas sa ako na imbes akong panganduy unta kanang makakuha ko ug maayu na trabaho… mao ra gyud pangarap naku sa akong mga anak na dili sila maglisud sa umabot na panahon, ma-professional sila.” (my dream for my my children is that the day will come when they no longer live in poverty—that they finish their studies and unlike me, find jobs and become professionals.)


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RICO, DEFENDER OF THE TRIBE

We found Rico Andacao, 4 years old, among the children, attentively listening to the Day Care Worker. Rico has been attending the DCC for three school years now. He started at the age of 2. In the beginning of school, Rico was not interested, and his attendance was understandably intermittent.

When Rico turned three years old, he enrolled again in the DCC. This time, Liza noticed that her son participates in DCC activities such as singing, drawing, and identification of letters. Now that Rico is 4 years old, mother

Liza shared that Rico wakes up early every day and is excited to go to DCC. Rico tells everyone that he wants to be a police officer someday and be the defender of his tribe.

Despite living in a remote area with limited access to information, Liza understands the significant role of DCC to children. She said without DCC experience, children will have difficulty when they enter grade one because they do not how to read, write, and mingle with classmates. Also, without the DCC in the village, children will have to walk at least 3.5 hours to reach the DCC near the Barangay Hall.

“kay basehan man gud naku kanang tua pa ug Gumitan nagpuyo Ma’am, kanang si Donna 3 years na sya nag DC sa Gumitan na-aa sya’y manghud, akong trabaho Ma’am tungud kay gusto ko gamay pa sya na-a sya matun-an ihatud babahun naku na si Donna unya si Bia ma-o akong kungusun padulong na sa school” (when we were in Gumitan, Donna was 3 years old that time and she has a younger sibling, Bia. What I did, because I really want them to learn at an early age, I bring both of them to school, I carry Donna on my back and I wrap Bia in my arms going to school).

After a little prodding, Rico overcomes his shyness and recites his rap about his name and his dream of being a policeman. Later as he ran out with his classmates, he tells the documenters he was ready to defend the tribe.


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IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME.

Meanwhile at the Marilog Barangay Hall, more than 5 km below the Tribal Sitio, Brgy. Chairman Marilyn Uayan is looking after the IP Children who have come to her Balay Pasilungan in order to access the Marilog Elementary School’s services.

“This started back in 2009 during my first term. I noticed that enrolment was low and I understood that many of the children lived in our distant sitios in the highlands and had to walk by themselves to come and study at the local elementary school. When it rained the trails were slippery and there are still some wild animals. We had a meeting at the school and the teachers confirmed the situation. The few kids I notice usually bring along kamote (sweet potato) when they come down from the mountains to go to school. Once this supply is gone they leave for their

home village so on average these children can attend 3 days of school. I learned they sleep at the outposts which are very small sheds for our village security officers. So I decided to invite all these kids from afar and made an extension of the old tanod post for their temporary shelter. Meanwhile, I asked assistance from the mayor (now President Duterte) to build a dormitory. I said we did not need cash but materials for construction as we had local trees felled by the DPWH when they were widening the road. We can use for lumber and we just paid for cutting into beams. Back then having no real idea of cost, I asked for P350,000 worth. He gave us P500,000 worth. He also helped us with the tools we needed and we provided for labor of carpenters and the rest. The lot is part of the school area. This whole area is ancestral domain so just needed permission form the tribe council, DENR and we explained what we were trying to do.

“Back then, people were saying, forget it, it won’t get done and there will be operational expenses to run it. I said, we’ll face these issues as they come, for now we just need to build it. Of course, this was all just a dream to us then. We just said, why not? For me, who would do this for the children? I went around the sitios on horseback and I saw how poor these people were. They only had kamote to eat. Their stomachs bulged and they had mucus running down their noses. This had to be done. If they will ever get out of poverty, these children must have education.


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“I asked the BHW and BNS6 to go around with me. There were so many malnourished children. I asked them to give me a report and there was this whole family—severely malnourished. I asked them to come down to the shelter we were building and said, feed them! The BNS and BHW helped them until they recovered. Now their kids are studying and they stay here in the dorm. “Every vacation, they go back up the mountains. Knowing how it was there, we worried how they get nourished unlike here, when their kamote runs out we have rice supplements. Since they were not here, we brought them food up there. We go around the sitios. We feed them, not just the kids, the families. What can be done during the hungry months? Now there are many programs for them like cacao growing, Falcata 7 trees, coffee on which they now receive training and seedlings to propagate. The CFAD foundation is also helping with water source for them.

A Matigsalog girl watches as their Balay Pasilungan gets more improvements for its WASH area. (INSET) Her village mate tries to drive away his lonesomeness with a treasured toy imagined to give him protection.

BELOW: wards of the Balay Pasilungan with varied ages pose for souvenirs as the Kapitana watches over them.

6 Barangay Health Worker and Barangay Nutrition Scholar 7 Falcata (Albizia) is a very fast grown Philippine plantation species which is mainly used for plywood core, and exported in quite big quantity for ply-board and packaging materials.


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“Anyway, not long after hearing about our dormitory, people started coming to help. We have a houseparent teaching them about personal hygiene because they are not used to simple brushing of teeth, washing, using the toilet, etc. —they need to be taught. The Alliance Church is helping with the houseparent’s allowance and 1 sack of rice. Assistance is also provided by Dignity of Seeds; Global Impact and hopefully more

will come when they read about us in your report. “We also have a small reading centre with titles donated by the NCCA- in coordination with the city library and some NGOs. The City Planning has also helped us with a proper plan and we are expanding to have a second floor. Who would have thought our little project would eventually grow like this?”


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“LIVING AMONG THE DEAD”

PUROK 7, BRGY. 8-A, DAVAO CITY

In a local cemetery, the families of grave diggers settled among the dead in a surreal scape of both open and closed concrete niches where their children and animals played in the dirt. Business was alive when folks were being buried but generally, the economy was slow and glum as the dying embers in their earthen stoves. There was no plumbing or even a regular source for water to drink and cook. What there was is a canal and their spots for open defecation. Children were sickly. Literally, it was a “depressed” area. MDG-FACES Pilot site. Purok 7, Brgy 8-A, Davao City increased access to ECCD services for children in slums with the help of City Government. Below is the entrance to the contained community within a cemetery compound where they built a Daycare Center and provided livelihood trainings.


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Above: Playing on their own. Instead of play dough, children use readily available dirt to mimic grown-up activities like cooking and selling and keeping house. These kids belong to the local families of sepultureros (grave diggers/niche masons) They are playing on their own as an extension of DCC activities. Below: Documentation team make their way through tomb complex to the daycare center.


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Because of the Daycare Center, the children no longer just loitered around playing among the tombs/niches while their parents/guardians gambled their measly earnings. A certain dignity began to

emerge as children began learning fast and adapting basic hygiene practices. The livelihood program helped provide the grown-ups with more economic opportunities (haircuts, manicure/pedicure, plumbing, candle making, etc) other than waiting to provide the usual burial services.