| NGO to serve breakfast to students in conflict areas |
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| by MindaNews | |
| Sunday, 06 July 2008 09:03 | |
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KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews/5 July) – A non-government organization has come up with an innovative idea to help students in conflict areas finish school -- providing breakfast in the classroom. The “School Breakfast Program,” being initiated by the Davao-based Mindanao Land Foundation, Inc. (MinLand) “aims to help increase motivation of students in conflict affected areas to finish high school, provide nourishment and energy to respond to the everyday physical and mental challenges in school, and help improve school participation.” In North Cotabato, the program will be launched on July 8 at the Datu Ambel Memorial High School in Kilada village in the municipality of Matalam, site of recent skirmishes between government troops and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels, said Sherwin Desierto of MinLand. The school will serve as the pilot area. School records show that for this school year, 105 of the enrollees come from poor families in conflict-affected villages. Desierto said these students have thus experienced all the hardships associated with conflict -- tension, harassment, hunger, illnesses, evacuation, homelessness, disruption of schooling, separation and death of family members and friends. “Aside from going to school hungry most of the time, students of Datu Ambel Memorial High School take a long walk to and from school and some even cross a river on foot,” said Desierto. “These are blunt and real reasons why students’ motivation to attend school is very low,” he added. Representatives from the Department of Education, municipal officials, teachers and parents are expected to witness the launching of the program, which is undertaken jointly by MinLand and the Move On Philippines International, an organization of Filipino migrants in Florida, United States. The MinLand is also encouraging others to donate for the program, at a cost of P15 per student for one breakfast, or P390 for a month. (MindaNews) Share this story through the following Social Media sites:            |
