On Monday June 4, a fantastic fun group of international Volunteers from Singapore completed their “Balik Eskwela 2018/19” mission to deliver school supplies to our pupils and teachers. 300 pupils, 12 teachers, 10 Volunteers, 3 schools in 1 day. Student Packs, school uniforms, multivitamins, whiteboards, TV’s, classroom resources were all delivered to Kindergarten at Sac Sac Elementary School, all Grades at Obo Elementary School, and carried up the mountain off-road to Cancabalong Elementary School. A huge heartfelt thanks to the Volunteers and all those who donated and shared their generosity so that our pupils could have a positive start to the new school year. You can witness the joy in our photo albums of the day. Without your support this would not be possible each year! Daghang Salamat / Thank you so much from all the pupils, teaching force and parents to all of You!

First stop was Sac Sac Elementary School where the Volunteers visited Ma’am Pearl’s Kindergarten Class who were having their first day at school. There was a lot of excitement among the parents and children as Student Packs, hygiene kits and school uniforms were distributed. We were delighted to present Ma’am Pearl with teaching materials and a flat screen TV for educational DVD’s which will be very useful.

Next stop was Obo Elementary School where the repeat Volunteers were reunited with the familiar faces of the teaching force and the children who were really excited to breet the visitors from Singapore. The Student Packs, hygiene kits, and teaching supplies were distributed grade by grade with photographs taken. Last year we started a Vitamin supplement program for Kindergarten and Grade 1 and we were delighted to continue it this year thanks to sponsorship from Sole Searchin Travel Inc. Rain coats were also distributed to Kinder and Grade 1 to help keep the children dry on their way to/from school over the coming monsoon months.

The third stop for the day was Cancabalong Elementary School which can only be reached on foot, a 40mins trek upwards through the forest from the main road to Mantalongon. We were assisted some of the children and porters to carry the school supplies. Upon reaching the school the Volunteers were greeted by the shy but very excited 50 children and 3 teachers. Student Packs, health kits, school uniforms, raincoats, and teaching supplies were distributed. We were fortunate to be able to present the teachers with flat screen TV’s and white boards this year thanks for some very generous sponsors. After spending time with the children and taking photos it was time to return to Cebu City after a job very well done!

We would like to express a huge thanks to the wonderful Volunteers who raised money and gave up their time to travel to Cebu for this years’s Balik Eskwela. We hope to see you back again in 2019!