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Discovery of St.John Elementary School

A year ago, specifically last May 2012 right after our

KFC general meeting at Sir Litos house, we met

several Bajao children asking money from us. We gocurious where these kids are from and if they have a

house in CDO or just sleeping by the street. One of

them was very talkative. We asked her questions and

just she told us that they live nearby Ororama in

Lapasan but not exactly where their house is situated

She also told us a bit about their ethnic tribe and how

they came here in CDO. It was such an interesting

conversation which made us want to get to know

them more. We asked the girl if we could visit them the next day but she refused. It seems like shes afraid ofus knowing where they live. Instead, she told us shell go to Davao with her family tomorrow to make a living

there. It was actually our first time to talk to them as a group and her answers made us pursue our willingness

to discover more about their tribe. For the past months weve been doing activities for typhoon Sendong

survivors. During our meeting that night, we discussed possibilities of Kuya Fish Campaign to move into

poverty alleviation once Typhoon Sendong operation is over. It was a lucky coincidence meeting those Bajao

children after our meeting. It could be a sign given to us as we go on with our future projects as a group.

After 3 days, we walked from Divisoria to Agora trying

our luck to discover their place. Since we had no idea

where exactly the Bajao live, we asked some people we

met along the way. A tricycle driver instructed us how to

get to the place of Bajao. We were very much surprised

to see the area. We never thought such condition exist

somewhere in CDO. People there live in dirty waters,

houses were made of recycled items put together, and

children were swimming in dirty water and kind of

chaotic in a sense. Weve heard from previous news

that the area is not safe due to high crime rate few

years ago. Hearing those made us a little scared but

after we explored the area and mingled with some

people, its unbelievable to think this place has high crime rate. Despite their life condition, people seem to be

happy and contented. They kept on smiling at us and some even wanted to have their photos taken. They love

camera so much. It actually made us realized that we usually complain about things that we have and we

always wanted to have something more but these people has nothing and yet they can still smile as if they

dont have problems. We easily cried and got mad when faced with difficult daily problems which actually aint

that of a big deal compared to the problems these people have every day. A kilo of fish can make them happy

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as long as they can have something to eat in a day. One resident said that if they have no money to buy food,

they drink a lot of water just to fill their empty stomach. A single grain of rice is very important to these people.

It broke our heart thinking that sometimes we waste food.

Near the Badjao area, there is a small school called St.John Elementary School. Its unbelievable that a

school was built there. From outside, no one would ever think that there is a school in that area. The school is

surrounded with houses and unfortunately it is not quite a conducive learning environment. Not everyone in

Cagayan de Oro City know this school, maybe only those living near the area are aware of it. From then, weve

been thinking of ways on how to help the school. We

were informed that some Badjao children are going to

school there which indeed increased our willingness to

render some help. Aside from exploring the area and

Badjao, our interest on World War II started to bloom last

May. We also tried to look for old people that have

knowledge about World War II around the area. Luckily,

we were able to interview an old lady. She shared some

of her experience during the War to us. She couldnt

speak clearly due to age. We heard interesting stories

from her but at that time we were not yet super serious

about World War 2 information so we werent able to film

nor took much note of the interview.

Six months later, we went back to same area along with three Japanese girls. They were also surprised and

touched by the lifestyle of the people. They played happily with the children and were able to explore the place.

They also saw the school and would like to extend some help once theyre back in Japan. Few months later,

another visitor from USA came. She also felt the same way as others did. During her visit, we talked to theprincipal of St.John and asked him several questions. From him, we found out the needs of the school and

type of students studying there.

Finally, we presented the area and school to Ricoppine (a

volunteer group from Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto). We gave

them options on how to help the school based from our

observation and interview with the principal; fortunately they

decided to do something for the school. We from Kuya Fish

Campaign made all arrangement necessary with the schoo

principal and barangay officials. They were surprised on how we

found the school and very happy to receive help from Japanese

student volunteers.

Kuya Fish Campaign is now continuing its effort in helping St. John Elementary School through series of

projects and creating linkages to other local/international organization.

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