“Ang pag-abot sang Kalahi-CIDSS ang umpisa para kanamon kang legasiya nga i-duhol namon sa amon mga kabataan kag nanda sa iba pa nga masunod kananda.” (The coming of the Kalahi-CIDSS is the start of a legacy for us, to our children, and to all the generations that will come after them.)
Mylene Canatoy, daycare worker of Barangay Igpaho, Tubungan, Iloilo recalls the time when their children didn’t have to go to daycare as preparatory to primary education since they did not know about it in the first place. Daycare was just a word they can hear from people visiting Igpaho.
“Kang una, wara gid kami namal-an sa kung ano ang daycare. Kauna bay tana ga diretso lang dayun sa Grade 1 (We did not know about daycare. In the past, children are just sent directly to 1st Grade without any preparatory levels or daycare in that sense),” says Mylene.
It was only in the year 2000’s that daycare had set a familiar pace in Igpaho and children finally got to go through a preparatory level before proceeding to primary education.
“Medyo budlay gid man ang sitwasyon kauna kung ikumpara tulad nga naga daycare ron ang mga bata. Kay nakaagi ron sanda daycare, indi ron sanda budlay tudluan mag Grade 1 bisan ka mga basic lang (The situation back then was actually hard when compared to what the children are experiencing today. Going through preparatory daycare equipped them with enough knowledge which makes them ready to step up to first grade),” adds Mylene.
Being a daycare worker, it was an achievement for Mylene when Igpaho finally catered the need for a daycare preparatory education. For Mylene, along with the parents, giving importance to the children’s learning foundation is as much as significant as providing them food and shelter. For them, education can be the answer to life’s hard up situation.
Although grateful enough to being introduced to preparatory daycare, the real challenge came when they began to feel the discomfort of the children for not having a permanent daycare center.
Later, the discomfort grew into discontentment because for more than a decade and for multiple times, they were leaping places just so the children’s classes would be accommodated.
Once, children had to squat at the Alternative Learning System (ALS) center which, however, also held its own classes. Children can only roam around freely, as if it is their own classroom, when there are no scheduled classes for ALS.
The ALS center was made of only light materials, mostly with bamboo and cheap pressed wood. The center also lacked chairs and tables for the students so most of the time, children had to sit outside with their parents just to attend classes.
“Sa daan namon nga ginagamit nga center, budlay gid kay tama ka gutok kag indi gid kahulag-hulag ang mga bata (Because the old center we used then was very small, it was hard for us especially for the children because the small space hinders them to do most of our activities),” recalls Mylene.
Despite the challenging situation, the daycare worker and the parents endured everything because educating the children at an early age is the most important for them until they were told to transfer their classes because the schedules always conflicted. Often times, it would be the daycare classes that would be compromised since they are the ones who were only sharing with the space. Hence, they decided to hold the classes in the Barangay chapel.
The barangay chapel was nothing but old and creaky. It was dangerous for the children especially on bad weathers but they didn’t really have any choice. They would always choose having the classes resumed over compromising the future of their children only because of some challenging conditions surrounding them.
For a long time, the people of Igpaho were contented of the situation they had but never stopped dreaming and hoping for a proper daycare center for their children. It was the coming of Kalahi-CIDSS that their dream, the legacy they so wanted to start, was given an opportunity.
Bechayda Ellama, community volunteer of the barangay, was one of the few who insisted on putting up a daycare center as a Kalahi project but at some point, the Barangay somehow discouraged the area as it would be very hard for the material to be transported, given the hard paths and proximity of their location.
“Kauna, nag hingyo kami nga daycare lang i-patindog garing hindi sanda kay budlay kuno para kanamon nga maobra ang center. Wara man nagsugot si Kap kay basi hindi namon kayanon (We insisted on having a daycare center but the Barangay officials won’t let I happen because they doubted whether we could make it or not),” recalls Bechayda.
The barangay actually wanted to prioritize a road project but because of the concerned party’s persistence and after long discussions, everyone agreed to build the daycare center.
Despite the expected challenge on transport, the project was supported by Honorable Vicente T. Gargaritano Jr., mayor of Tubungan, considering that Igpaho is the farthest Barangay and it would be very difficult for the residents to send their children to school at the municipality proper.
Traversing the path to Igpaho s indeed a difficult task since the road was jotted by harsh pebbles and some rocks. Residents needed to walk for an hour or more just to reach Sitio Magui which have paths passable for jeepneys and motorcycles.
Transporting the material to Igpaho was a very challenging part of the implementation.
“Kinahanglan pa na namon pulawan gid ang pag pang hakot ka materyales paadto sa Igpaho kay ang makaya ka sarakyan asta lang sa Igtuble.Rayu man gawa nga hakutay. Mayad lang kis-a kung may karbaw gaguyod,” Bechayda stated. (Most of the time, we needed to work overtime even staying up late at night just to transfer the materials to Igpaho since vehicles can only reach for as far as Igtuble which is several distances away from us. The work usually was easier because of the carabaos pulling the materials for us.)
The cooperation and eagerness of the people of Igpaho was the reason that the project succeeded. With the help of Kalahi CIDSS, they completed a semi-concrete daycare center beside the Elementary school. The dream of the parents for their children to have a better future finally came true.
“Matawhay ron ang amon pag-klase sa mga kabataan. Kapungko ron sanda ti sakto, name kag lapaad ron and room, kag asadyahan sanda kay pagusto ron kami ka decorate ka gusto nanda para sa room,” gratifies Mylene. (We can now properly conduct classes to the children. They can finally sit properly for the room is spacious. They are having so much fun putting personal touches in decorating the room.)
Parents are now happy to see that their children can safely and conveniently learn and play in a space they can call their own. All the challenges and hardships were nothing compared to the chance of their children having a bright future. Most importantly, for the residents of Igpaho, the center wasn’t just a building that is an instrument for educational attainment but a structure that holds the symbol of Igpaho’s legacy for their children and to all the generations that will come after them.#dswd/kalahi-cidss).