Nancy's big heart

Something happened to me two years ago that changed my whole perspective on life. Sometimes valuable lessons are learned the hard way but as long as we come out with our spirits intact, the bad experience becomes a learning process and turns us into better human beings. Because of this life-altering experience, I decided to give to charity more and to myself much less.

This Valentine’s Day, instead of getting myself another Louis Vuitton bag, I chose to support Books for the Barrios, an endeavor of Nancy Harrington, an American lady with a very big heart for poor children.

Nancy has been helping educate the poorest of the poor children of our barrios with fine quality educational books from the US.

It all started in 1981 when Nancy and her husband, Dan Harrington, a fighter pilot trainer, were stationed in Cubi Point, a naval air base at Subic Bay. They had two young sons who were troubled seeing “starving children on every street corner.”

While they traveled around the country, the Harringtons realized that the poor farmers and fishermen had one common desire: to send their children to school. But the schools in the barrios were very ill equipped, to say the least. The Harringtons were horrified to see six tattered books shared by 4,000 students during a visit to a public school. And so, Books for the Barrios was born.

The Harringtons collected everything — from boxes (as sleeping mats), pencils, crayons, pens, paper pads, and books — from the Americans in the base and got help from Philippine Airlines to distribute the goods. By the time the couple returned to the US in 1986, they had shipped half a million books to the Philippines.

When they returned to Hawaii in 1987, Dan Harrington retired from the military. His family decided to settle in Walnut Creek, California.

Dan and wife Nancy put all their energies into establishing Books for the Barrios to be able to educate underprivileged Filipino schoolchildren. Three years later, they filed for non-profit status and have tapped many sponsors for funding and services.

The couple has given more than books, toys, computers and classroom supplies. For four years they also sent volunteer teachers to the Philippines, where they trained 2,000 teachers each trip during the four two-day sessions. This training program is no longer active due to financial constraints but Nancy would like to revive it again, soon.

During a lunch hosted by Harringtons friends and supporters Anne and Rene Puno at the Azuthai Restaurant, we were appalled at the many stories Nancy shared with us.

The poverty that she and her husband encountered in the remotest barrios of never-heard-of places like Morong-Bagac, Borongan, Biliran, Apayao, etc., brought tears to our eyes.

It was heartwarming to hear Nancy say, “I have no fear of getting kidnapped in Jolo. I am considered a native there. I have been going there since the ’80s, bringing books and other goods to their public schools. The schoolchildren there love me. All the datus are my friends.”

‘Libro para sa barrio’

The majority of the books donated to Books for the Barrios comes from textbook publishers’ remainder stocks, and the discards of local school districts and libraries throughout the Western United States. Other target sources are bookstores, individual collections, and youth drives conducted by groups of US schoolchildren. Trucks transport the material to the Books for the Barrios stockroom in Concord, California. Trained personnel screen all the books and then sort and pack them into cases for shipment. American schoolchildren volunteer to do the work as a school field trip project.

Upon arrival in the Philippines, close coordination with the local departments of education is maintained at each step of distribution to ensure that local needs are specifically addressed. The most remote of the school sites classified as deprived, depressed, and underserved are chosen as recipients.

The present work plan is to ship a 20-ft. container van at three-week intervals. The books consist of elementary and secondary math, science, spelling, English language, world history, and literature. Also included will be encyclopedias, dictionaries, reading books, curriculum guides, and teachers’ professional materials.

Books for the Barrios seeks financial support from individuals and corporations so they can ship these books as planned. A single container sponsorship costs US$10,000. Donations of any amount are most appreciated.

The Harringtons’ goal is to “meet the urgent educational needs of the Philippines’ barrios by placing 250 tons of the finest educational resources in their schools each year. Over the entire service life of the books, a multiplier effect will guarantee millions of pupils a brighter educational opportunity.”

I am convinced that the driving force behind our country’s national economic recovery program is through empowerment of our nation’s youth, which can only be done by giving them education. If we wish to see our country’s poor rise from poverty, let us help educate them through the Harrington’s Books for the Barrios program. The benefits are not quantifiable.

For inquiries and donations, call 638-5132, e-mail libroparasabarrio@yahoo.com.ph and joinus@booksforthebarrios.com or visit www.booksforthebarrios.com.

You can deposit directly to any Metrobank branch. Account name is Books for the Barrios or Libro Para Sa Barrio Foundation Pilipinas. Inc.