Reading advocacy pays it forward to children in remote communities

MANILA, Philippines - Doing good by helping neighbors and the community is part of the Pinoy’s cultural and moral DNA. Bayanihan, malasakit and pagtulong sa kapwa are just some ways of how Filipinos express in the vernacular this practice of sharing blessings and talents by paying it forward to others.

Some, like 30-year-old Rey Bufi, have taken a step forward by initiating activities and staying committed to their mission of making a difference in other people’s lives.

For the past year, Bufi has journeyed miles, trekked uphill lands and even crossed rivers to reach far-flung communities and the young school kids who are the intended beneficiaries of a program he calls The Storytelling Project (TSP).

“My mission is to help Filipino primary school children create a reading habit by conducting storytelling sessions and by giving them storybooks,” says Bufi. 

“At the end of The Storytelling Project, the children are expected to develop a learning habit that would help them become critical thinkers, increase their self-esteem and develop interpersonal skills, thus helping them be more active in their studies,” he adds.

The lead proponent of TSP admits that he was not much of a reader during his elementary and high school days. “My lack of reading habit made it difficult for me to understand lessons in college where I took up AB Philosophy and Human Resources Development. I remember reading philosophical articles four times just to understand our lessons in philosophy,” he recalls.

Things got better only after Bufi started reading novels of interest to him, thanks to the advice of a professor who told the class to “read, read, read and write, write, write and start with what interests you.”

Bufi’s own experience served as his inspiration. “I realized that if I had made reading a part of my childhood then my schooling would have been a lot easier and more fun. So I promised to make reading my personal advocacy.”

Advocacy in action

Last year, Bufi and partners Mary Grace Soriano, Mannie Vazquez and lawyer Chris Linag created TSP to set his advocacy in action.

To ensure that the objectives of TSP are realized, Bufi and his team involve the entire community in the project. Parents are asked to practice the storytelling routine at home. Beneficiary schools are tasked to monitor the progress of each learner. Corporate partners are requested to provide the funds or items for the implementation of the project. Other individuals are welcomed as volunteers and sponsors.

These days, Kuya Rey, as the kids fondly call him, is spearheading efforts to get young children from remote communities into the habit of reading by telling stories that impart values.

“At first, we observe that most kids are slow readers and some are even non-readers. Children are not excited to learn. They see reading merely as an activity in school, an academic requirement. They read because they need to and not because they want to,” says Bufi.

Through the intervention of TSP, kids showed marked improvement in their reading skills and even on their overall disposition.

Twelve-year-old John Paul of Sitio Inigan, San Rafael, Rodriguez, Rizal, was a shy fourth grader who was having difficulty in reading and catching up with his lessons. By the time he and 40 pupils from Inigan Elementary School and Casili Elementary School graduated from TSP, he was a changed boy.

“He used to be very quiet. He’s now more energetic and interacts with people. He is more playful and speaks more. And he now likes to read,” says his mother Marlyn in the vernacular.

TSP consists of three phases. Phase 1 is the 21-day storytelling program conducted for 21 straight days with each daily storytelling session lasting from one to one-and-a-half hours. 

“We read short Filipino stories which kids can relate to with topics about the self, family and community. We use Adarna books which are mostly written in English and Filipino,” says Bufi, the main storyteller.

The kids each receive a storybook after every storytelling session for them to share the story with their siblings and to continue reading at home.

A simple graduation ceremony, usually featuring a group performance by the children, is held upon the completion of the 21-day storytelling program.

3 TSP phases

TSP has completed Phase 1 in four communities: Sitio Pinalpal in Sison, Pangasinan; Sitio Pactil in Bauko Monamon Sur, Mt. Province; and Sitios Inigan and Casili in Rodriguez, Rizal.

Phase 2 is the library project for the community to have its own collection of books.

Phase 3 is the formation of a reading club in the community for which the TSP team trains elder kids to be reading mentors to the young ones.

“We involve some Grade 4 to 6 students or teenagers in the community to be part of our storytelling sessions. They usually assist us in facilitating our activities and we would want them to become ‘ates’ and ‘kuyas’ to the smaller kids,” says Bufi.

With all the work that has to be done, TSP demands a lot from Bufi and his team. But no one is complaining. “It is fulfilling to see the children truly enjoy our storytelling sessions, playing with the books, and sharing the stories to their siblings and parents. I know that those simple stories will be remembered forever and when they grow older, they would realize that those stories have changed their lives,” shares Bufi.

This is the reward he gets for all the sacrifices he has made, including giving up his job at Smart Communications Inc., where he was also a regular volunteer for its Read to Be Smart Program where employees visit schools to read stories to pupils and help struggling readers read better.

“Community service is like taking the priesthood. It is a calling and you cannot resist it when you are called upon. In TSP, we want to reach remote communities around the Philippines and this in itself is a full-time job,” says Bufi.

His efforts did not go unnoticed by his former employer. Smart is a corporate partner of TSP and links up Bufi and his team with school officials and parents from Smart partner-communities that can benefit from the advocacy.

“We salute and support people like Rey who offer their skills, time and efforts to help improve the lives of our countrymen,” says Darwin Flores, head of community partnerships for Smart’s Public Affairs Group. “What he does is a sample of what we call smart acts — little acts of good that each of us can do to help in creating a better future for our country.”

Smart ‘payITfwd’

To support other individuals and groups like Bufi and his TSP team, Smart has launched a new social development initiative that aims to enable the spread of social good acts or “smart acts” using technology.

Through payITfwd (www.smart.com.ph/payITfwd), Smart is looking for individuals or groups that are doing community-based projects that expand knowledge.

“The goal is to support, promote, expand, enhance, reward and enable social good efforts that foster learning through technology. With payITfwd, social good advocates can scale up and even encourage the public to support their cause,” says Ramon Isberto, head of Smart’s Public Affairs Group.

Entries must be submitted in a video format showing an overview of the project, its impact to the recipient community, and how technology can enable the project or further spread its benefits. Smart will “payITfwd” by giving away five tablets, Smart Bro load worth P3,000, Smart Bro Pocket Wi-Fi, and cash prize worth P50,000 to 20 teams with the best projects this year.

“If you have something good to share, then share it. I believe that it is our social responsibility to share what we know, what we have, and what we can do for other people. It does not matter how small or big it is, what matters most is that you sincerely share yourself with others because your story, your words, your actions, your donations, your small act of kindness may become someone’s inspiration and may change someone’s life completely,” Bufi says.

The committed storyteller adds: “Continue what you are doing and just like in that movie, don’t forget to tell that someone you helped not to pay it back but to pay it forward.”