A Bright Tomorrow for Today's Children

By Amy Gilboy, US Peace Corps Group 253

s a US Peace Corps Volunteer living in Barangay Tingo, Olango Island and working for the Coastal Resource Management Project, one of the first activities I participated in was environmental education at the local high school. Two to three times a month, I would go to Tingo High School and facilitate short lessons about local environmental concerns such as dynamite fishing and waste management. Through these activities, I learned that the youth of Tingo needed more environmental education to enable them to take care of their surroundings.

Along with Vivien Taneo, the principal of Tingo Elementary School, and the teachers of Tingo, I hosted a two-day environmental youth camp on September 30-October 1, 2000. The camp was funded by AID/PASA and the City of Lapu-Lapu. Its goal was to increase the level of environmental awareness among the children, in particular, problems they face on their "home turf", through workshops, environmental games, and physical activities like snorkeling.

Day 1.

- Jeanne Brown, PC253, leads coastal resource discussion

After a brief opening ceremony and name introduction game, Jeanne Brown, Peace Corps 253, led a short discussion about coastal resources like seagrasses and coral reefs. Then, we walked to the Tingo shoreline to go snorkeling, after which the participants drew what they observed while swimming off Tingo.

Participants draw what they saw while snorkeling

The students drew broken and smashed coral, a few small fish, and some starfish and sea urchins. They didn't use too many colors to depict what they saw. We discussed why the area looked as it did, and the children pinpointed the major reason - that much dynamite had been used there.
Immediately after lunch, we played a game called "trash relay". On one end of the playing area there were four groups of five participants; on the other end was a pile of trash. The first person from the group had to run to the pile and pick up one piece of trash. This player had to carry the trash - without using his or her hands - to the group and hand it to the next team member. The second team member would then run to the other end with the first piece of trash, pick up a second piece, and run back to the other end, carrying both pieces of trash while still not using his or her hands. This continued until the first group finished. Winners received a small prize for their effort.

The trash relay led us into a discussion about waste management. We explained what the words "biodegradable," "non-biodegradable," "compost," and "reduce, reuse, and recycle" mean, and showed the children examples of each type of trash.

Snack time also proved to be a good time to learn more about the environment. Today, we showed "The Lorax", a brief cartoon movie based on the environmental story by Dr. Seuss. A short discussion about the movie followed, showing how well the children learned from the video.

-- Cookie activity

Then came the Cookie Activity. Each participant was given one cookie and one toothpick and instructed to pick out the chips as best he or she could without the cookie falling apart. After about ten minutes, the cookie crumbled! The lesson: when you try to take out too many pieces of a whole, the entire thing could fall apart!!

At 5:00 p.m., we called it a day - a fun, exciting, but exhausting, day!

Day 2.

As planned, I arrived at Tingo High School at 7:00a.m. Surprise - some of the children were there before me! Everyone was extremely excited to go to the Gilutongan Marine Sanctuary later that afternoon.

But, first, a few more lessons about the environment through games and some discussions. We led the children through a "tree discussion," asking them why trees are important. They knew all the answers!

Participants planting trees on the grounds of Tingo Elementary School

We then distributed seedlings that the school had already and each participant was able to plant at least two trees on the grounds of the Tingo Elementary School.

Pera o Bayong!

The rest of the morning was spent playing a series of environmental games, among them "Pera o Bayong", which is based on the popular Filipino TV show of the same name. In this game, the players are given a series of multiple-choice questions, which may be answered with a, b, c or d, and asked to stand behind the letter they thought was the correct answer. When the correct response is revealed, players standing behind the actual answer continue playing until only one person is left. That person is then asked to choose between "pera" (money) and "bayong" (bag).

For our version of "Pera o Bayong", we used environmentally based questions. We played to games. The winner of the first game chose the money (Php50), and that of the second game automatically won the bag, which contained a variety of prizes such as notebooks, erasers and pencils.
The teachers' participation in this game was invaluable. They directed each round, read the questions, and acted just like they were the real hosts. It was hilarious! The children really appreciated that their teachers were having as much fun as they were.

After such noise and ruckus, we gave the children some quiet time, asking them to write letters to their parents about the camp, what they did, and what they had learned so far. In this way, the parents were also made to take part in the camp and, by their child's suggestions, may change (we hope!) one or two of their habits.

On the boat to Gilutongan

We ate an early lunch and, finally, the moment everyone had been waiting for! At the Gilutongan Marine Sanctuary, we were met by Mr. Timoteo Menguito, DENR director of the marine sanctuary (and Gilutongan Island resident), who led a brief discussion about the sanctuary. We then entered the water in small groups and snorkeled for an hour, all the while quizzing the children about how many fish they saw, whether or not the fish were big or small, what were the colors of the corals, etc. The children could not believe their eyes! I overheard such comments as "There are so many big fish!" and "Look at all the colors!"

Mr. Timoteo Menguito talks about the sanctuary

At Gilutongan

When we arrived back at Tingo Elementary School, we asked the children to make drawings of the things they saw at the sanctuary. Their drawings had many colors, an abundance of corals, and big and small fishes! We then compared these drawings from those they made from Tingo, pointing out the differences. The children were quick to grasp the issue - that because dynamite and cyanide are continually being used off the shores of Olango Island, the corals there have been destroyed!

Vivien Taneo, principal of Tingo Elementary School, uses the students' drawings while giving the "wrap-up" talk

At the end of the day, Vivien gave the children an inspiring "wrap-up" talk in the local dialect (the better for the children to understand the significance of their camp experience). She told them how important they are in the preservation of the environment in the Philippines, how they could become catalysts for environmental protection, and that they must share what they learned with the rest of the school.

We then gave out certificates and surprised the children by letting them keep the goggles they used at Gilutongan. The teachers and utility workers also received certificates for their invaluable services. We had dinner, and the camp was complete! Everyone was exhausted and I'm sure had many sweet dreams that night.

Still smiling at the end of two action-packed days!

All told, 21 fifth and sixth graders participated, 13 teachers helped facilitate activities, 11 utility workers prepared all of the meals, and 4 American facilitators helped with the camp in general (Jeanne Brown, Peace Corps Group 253; Hilary Prager, Peace Corps Group 256; Risa Oram, a visiting graduate student from the University of Washington; and myself). On the sidelines were about 20 other local children who observed the entire camp and learned at least as much as the "registered" participants.

The participants had a fantastic time, but more importantly, they learned much about the environment where they live and shared the information they acquired with the rest of the student body by displaying their posters on the school grounds.

Vivien told me that the children had such a great time they asked her if they could hold an environmental youth camp every weekend!
Oh, if I only had the energy…

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