Breaking the Barriers

05 December 2005
metrica, manila

About a year ago, the town was in total shambles. Calamities came one after the other, seemingly never-ending, wreaking havoc to the once pristine and placid town of Dingalan. Loss of lives, as well as loss of properties was beyond compare, making the already beleaguered people hopeless and helpless to go on living. For them, life would never be the same again.

After a year, Dingalan is now on its way to full recovery. Reconstruction and rehabilitation are being carried through to bring back the glory of the town. With sheer determination, the people have come together to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives. Through this unity and collective action, the town is now inching towards progress.

Brgy Butas na Bato, like any to other place in Dingalan, bore witness to the nature’s wrath. Indeed, it was one of the most devastated. And, akin to the other communities, from the remnants and vestiges of the aftermath, it is now in the process of restoration.

Brgy Butas na Bato lies at the outskirts of the town proper. A depressed area, it has a significant number of people who are mostly making their ends meet through fishing and farming. Majority of them are living below the poverty level. With the very limited resources, their quest for a better life is still elusive as their development is still at the minimum pace.

For the inhabitants of Brgy Butas na Bato, patching up the irreparable damage caused by the tragedy is not attained overnight; it takes years to do so. Hence, for the entire community to move on and to improve its miserable living condition, a comprehensive and wide-ranging plan for a long time solution is a mission to fulfill.

The course to secure their future is indeed a long and winding road. Every step must be done systematically, in a highly organized manner, with utmost care. Otherwise, their initial bold steps that are now taking place would be in vain.

In order to ward off the impediments that may crop up along the way to their goal, a strong, solid and stable foundation should be firmly built, as it is their best defense to any tragedy that may furiously strike them again. So, the most crucial and critical undertaking is to put up the most resistant and resilient pillar, the decent education of their children.

But their dismal situation slows down the establishment and stability of this underpinning. Chief of the huge problems is the glaring lack of conducive learning atmosphere.

There is no school within this thickly populated community. The nearest school is located at the town proper, which is two kilometers away from this place. This requires the children, whose ages range from 6-12, an hour and half walk, enduring the scorching heat of the sun and the heavy drenching of the rain. Since the daily P40 tricycle fare is too much to afford for their families, they have no choice.

During the rainy season, the sight of these children going to classes is even more depressing. Oftentimes, they arrive at their classes soaking wet and even mud-spattered. And since the flood already washed away the bridge that was once the link between their place and the town proper, they brave crisscrossing the rising and rushing water of a huge river just to make it to the school. Before their classes end, most of them are ill and unwell.

This concrete condition deters these children to carry on their education. In fact, there is an annual downward trend of the enrolment of students in the area as the number of dropouts continues to shoot up. This deprives these children of their right to an accessible and decent education.

Unless this problem is worked out, the future of Brgy Butas na Bato is in the state of ambiguity.

It is in this situation that the people of Brgy Butas na Bato are once again soliciting for our help to make their dreams come true. Their request is simple and modest: to assist them in providing a good education to their children by putting up a primary school within the bounds of their community.

The establishment of a primary school will not only be a vital contribution to the restoration of the place but will also be a great leap forward to the fulfillment of people’s vision. This will encourage their children to acquire better learning, making them ready in assuming important role for their bright future.

The people of Brgy Butas na Bato have pinned their hope to us. As a first bold step, let us not deny them of their request and provide concrete conditions that will pave the way to the fulfillment of their pursuit for a better life.