My father passed away in 2002 and I was always looking for a way to memorialize him. Whatever initiative this was going to be, I knew it would have to do with education. I learned at the age of 14 that my father never attended school full time. Instead, he went to work, and on the side peddled in the streets to ensure that he provided for his family and to be able to give his children a better education than he received. I distinctly remember my mother trying to bribe book salesmen to visit our home and bring us books. Mom made reading a huge priority but books were hard to come by. We couldn’t afford television, but we entertained ourselves with books.
In February 2006, I donated 160 hardbound English dictionaries to Sagrada Elementary School, in Negros Oriental. Each book was stamped with "In memory of Walfrido R. Patawaran," my father. That was the beginning of the Philippines Dictionary Project. I knew mailing a check to a school in the Philippines would have been one way to honor my family, but it would not have been as fulfilling.
My Friend Grief
Soon the Philippines Dictionary Project will reach a total of 85 schools. This translates into approximately 30,000 underprivileged children benefiting from child-friendly dictionaries courtesy of the project. The emphasis on dictionaries purposely designed for children is important because young students have their own special needs: large fonts, a lot of pictures, generous use of color, foolproof phonetic pronunciation guides and definitions expressed in simple but full sentences. Dictionaries are very much needed by public elementary schools as limited vocabulary among the children prevents them from fully comprehending the passages that they read.
I find the donations, work with the local communities to figure out where the needs are greatest and ensure that the local schools distribute and account for the books. Accountability is vital. That time in 2006, I had a bad experience. When I went to follow up on the 160 donated books, I was told that some were missing. I was disappointed. Pilferage runs rampant in the public schools and without a checks-and-balance system, I knew the Philippines Dictionary project would not take off. Who would donate money if the books would end up being stolen and sold? So I came up with a plan.
For the protection of all donors, I established dictionary banks at reputable universities and colleges across the country. The local schools can borrow a set of 50 dictionaries from the local dictionary bank for a nominal rental fee of P500 (approximately $11) for the entire school year. The partner dictionary bank donates time, manpower and library know-how. Dictionary banks have begun conducting teacher-training workshops for the participating public schools, because 99.9 percent of the public schools do not have licensed librarians …
The Negros Oriental pilot rollout, despite the initial bump in the road, shared with me the overwhelmingly positive results of the project. All 28 schools that participated reported improvements in the children’s grades from 2007 to 2008. Some schools reported increases of 10 to 15% in their MPS (mean percentage score, i.e. average grade of the student body). Guihob Elementary School reported a jump of 26%, from 39% to 65%, after five months with a set of 50 dictionaries. Guihob is high up in the mountains, and it is a two-hour trip on unpaved roads from the nearest town center. When I went there last year to personally deliver the books, I slipped down a muddy slope before arriving at the school’s steps. The school is so remote that teachers arrive on Monday morning and don’t leave school until Friday afternoon. One of the teachers said to me, "Those dictionaries are so precious to us, that even if I have to dig into my own pocket to pay for the rental fee, I will do it."
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For now, the project distributes only English dictionaries — U.S.-published Scholastic First Dictionary, which retails for P495 in Manila or $11.55 on Amazon.com. Donors from all over the world give generously, and find the project to be a bargain, philanthropically speaking, as it takes only a one-time donation of $425 to sponsor an entire school. Furthermore, the possibility of their precious donations being wasted or stolen has been practically eliminated, thereby reassuring donors that their funds will go a long way. The project welcomes donations of one dictionary at a time (for only $8.50). Donors on a shoestring budget should not feel that their donation is less precious than that of a wealthy person or corporation. Every donation is given the respect and gratitude that it deserves; the project ensures that each dictionary bears the name of the relevant donor. Personalized inscriptions are encouraged. Donors are also welcome to supply logo labels or photo labels, making the dictionaries a good medium for marketing campaigns too.
My biggest dream is that the Philippines Dictionary Project is embraced and applied to other parts of the world.
