Report Card

Months ago I came across a documentary from GMA-7 titled: Report Card | Ang Antas ng Edukasyon sa Pilipinas, hosted by Dingdong Dantes and Mike Enriquez - originally shown on July 31, 2011. 

Over time, I have also seen other documentaries that focus on education here in the Philippines, and below are just some of the stories that captured my heart: 

: a teenage girl working as a fish hauler in the fish ports of Manila in the early hours of the morning, then goes to regular high school during the day

: a teenage boy in the province braving the raging currents of the river and crossing it using the inner tube of an old tire, just so he can attend school at the other side of the river

: children cutting and dividing pencils so that each kid will have his own

: children and teachers alike, walking for miles each day, rain or shine, just to reach the only school in the area

: children and teachers setting up a classroom under a tree, because the plywood that used to cover their classroom was used to create a coffin for a villager who died recently

: children and teachers alike, crossing a precarious rope bridge strung across a river, just to reach the school at the other side

But the story that struck me the most was about those students gathering banana and other large leaves to be used as paper, with charcoal as their pens. 

Here I was collecting metallic and other specialty pens - 

I never leave home without a Pilot G-Tec pen which costs php75 a piece - and yet there are children who had to scrounge around their stoves for leftover charcoal that they can use as pens.

Aside from collecting pens, I am also fond of collecting notebooks, especially journal types and those made with high-grade paper. Whenever I am stressed, I would go to National Bookstore or Uncle Bill or SM Office Supplies Section and just browse around and look at the pens, paper, pins, notebooks and office supplies, and my stress level would automatically go down. My office supply stash at home resembled that of a large office -- supplies that I have since shared with friends and relatives. 

Watching the Report Card documentary brought tears to my eyes and made me feel guilty for over/indulging my wants, but at the same time, made me want to take action to help out those kids who still strive to continue their education despite all the challenges surrounding them. 

But how?