The RYE School

The biggest issue with the RTE School at the moment is not enough rubbish! There is some rubbish on the beach, but not really enough.  It could get cleaned up in a couple of hours, which is not really enough of a time commitment.  I want the kids to work hard and really invest in their education.  A couple of hours is not enough.

So, there is a problem of what to get the kids to do? 

I think I will get them planting mangroves instead.  I am sure I could find more than enough mangroves for them to plant as part of their investment.  It will mean getting a lot of prep work done on both Project Mangrove and the RYE school before I can actually start teaching, but - hey - I am not here for a holiday!

Community clean up is another option.

I also managed to check out some potential sites for the land.  I should be able to get about 200 m² for about 60,000 pesos (~ $US 1,300), which is within the budget.  The school will probably be built in a barangay (village) called Sogud.  Sogud has two main advantages. 

• Sun
  This is a big advantage as the RYE School will be solar powered.  Romblon is a mountainous area so excessive sun is not always a given.  The sun comes up over this mountain and goes down over this mountain for a total of about 11 sunlight hours.
  
  
• Internet
  Good internet access is just soooo important for my plans.  Not only for maintaining and running the organisation, but also for the computer classes I will run.
  
  The Philippines has a cool product called Smart Bro.  It is a little gadget that plugs into your computer that will give you great Internet access wherever there is great cell phone access.
  
  A new cell phone tower has just been installed in Sogud, so the Internet access there should be excellent.  Not Korean excellent, but good enough.

And speaking of computer type things, I am going to invest in four ultra-light notebooks to get the computer classes started.  These weigh about 1.8kg and cost about $US400 each.  There power consumption is low (75W) and they can be easily taken off site for security reasons.  Hopefully when people see pictures of cute little kids using the laptops that will be inspired enough to buy more for us.

One problem I am going to have is that I want to start teaching children before I start building the school.  This should make it easier to do some fundraising as I will be able to take pictures of cute little kids using top quality English books and hacking away on little computers.  But, where to teach the kids in the meantime?

One of host families have a large open area in front of their house that is concreted.  We will erect a bamboo structure there covered with a large awning.  Basically a large tent.  This will serve as a temporary home for the RYE School.

Project Lifecycle

I had two interesting meeting on Romblon.  The first was with Father Nelson - the local priest.  I wanted to know the church's policy on the island with regards to family planning.  And - to no one's surprise - condoms, contraceptive pills and contraceptive injections are all big no-no's.

If a couple is to get married in the local church, the must attend a one hour seminar.  During the seminar they are taught - among other things - the rhythm method.  According to Father Nelson, the rhythm method is 95% effective on the island.  This would be surprising as it completely contradicts every piece of research out there.

I told him about Project Lifecycle and what we hope to achieve with it.  He was warm to the idea but was a little concerned because it wasn't the standard church approved method.  He suggested I met with the local Diocese and meet with the Bishop of Romblon and all the local priests in the area to present my ideas to them. 

Hopefully I can sell it to them.

The second group of people I met were some workers at the local health center.    They were great people are were very driven to assist with family planning on the island.

The said that they often get couples visiting them and saying, "We did what the church told us to do and we still got pregnant."

There is some contraceptives available at the center.  Condoms, contraceptives pills and  contraceptive injections.  All the things the church disapproves of in other words.  Here is the weird thing though: They are not allowed to offer them (the contraceptives), they are allowed to give them if they are asked but they are not allowed to sell them but instead must ask for a donation. 

I assume they go through this complicated ritual so as to not upset the church.

They do actually have a single lifecycle necklace that they were given at a conference (look closely at this picture), so they are at least familiar with the concept.

They also help coordinate a team of midwives.  Each midwife has three barangays (villages) assigned to them.  Both the midwives and the nurses at the health care centers will be (hopefully) our front line workers to get the Lifecycle Necklaces out there.

Project Mangrove

There is a mangrove program on the island, but - quite frankly - it is in disarray and not at all well managed.

I am hoping to change that. 

There is a famous Filipina mangrove expert called Dr. Primervera who lives quite close to Romblon.  I hope to meet with her and get some advice from her.

Interestingly, if you find walk along the beach, you will find many structures destroyed by Typhoon Frank - including this one, the day care center that Lorelei and I worked on - which do NOT have mangroves in front of then.  There are other flimsy structures that did survive Typhoon Frank and DID have mangroves in front of them.  Coincidence?  I think not!

I have a good understanding of how to approach both the RYE School and Project Lifecycle.  Project Mangrove is still a bit up in the air, which is why I need Dr. Primervera's help.

School Building and Maintenance

This project is easiest to get my head around.  CERV - an NGO I am partnering with, is already doing an excellent job of maintaining and repairing existing schools.  Check out this fantastic school mural for example.