Kinatarcan Island School Program
The Back to School (B2S) in Kinatarcan is a ten-year program that aims to assist poor but deserving students, selected from levels Grade 1 through High School. We started with a core group of 20 students whose parent/s’ occupation are either net fishing or tending to someone else’s land for a fee. Some of these students have only one parent and living together with their half-siblings, sharing the little provision that the stepparent can put on the table.
Other than tending to the children’s needs, the mothers help their husbands in any way they could- by providing services to other households such as house cleaning, laundry, selling fish and some gather rocks for other people’s home construction. Those with infants are stuck at home.
The island’s only mode of transportation is a single motorcycle, except for a couple people with side car and one person who owns a multicab (we used this to carry the school supplies and gifts we gave to the children).
The five high school scholars have to either take the motorcycle to the other “barangay” to attend school or walk. To date, there is only one high school in the whole island of Kinatarcan and unfortunately, it is located in the other “barangay” ( Kinatarcan is divided into three main groups called Barangay).
While we assist them in their school needs, students make sure to have zero failure in any subject at the end of the school year. Otherwise, the slot will be given to another poor student in the waitlist.
With this core group, we intend to alleviate poverty in Kinatarcan by providing education to those who are willing and have the drive to succeed. Their counterpart in the program is a commitment to help their families and to pay forward to two children who are not their relatives nor friends, at any point in the future.
Submitted by Steven Jones
Rotary Club of Acton