MANILA, Philippines – Aeta schoolchildren in Naga, Cebu are getting new pairs of shoes and school supplies as Christmas gifts.
Susan Ople, head of the Blas Ople Policy Center, a non-government organization, said the Aeta children who are studying in a makeshift school in Naga town have been chosen as beneficiaries of the “Ople Shoes” program.
Ople said she was inspired by the desire of the Aeta children to study and learn under the Alternative Learning System program of the Department of Education (DepEd).
“I visited the Aeta community in South Poblacion with DepEd district superintendent Dr. Caridad Labe and was impressed by the children’s determination to learn from their volunteer teachers,” she said.
Ople said she has asked the local Aeta chief and DepEd volunteers to provide her with the sizes of the schoolchildren’s feet so they could avail themselves of the “Ople Shoes” program.
“Ople Shoes” provides free school shoes to indigent schoolchildren who despite overwhelming poverty have exhibited enormous potential as learners.
The program was based on the life of the late Senator Blas Ople, a product of a public school who even had to borrow a pair of shoes from a rich uncle so he could deliver his valedictory speech as a young child.
“Ople Shoes” has reached different parts of the country, benefiting landslide victims in St. Bernard, Guinsaugon, Leyte, flood victims in Marikina, and former child workers in Bulacan.
The Aeta community in Naga town will be the first recipient of the program in Cebu.
“We would like to provide the Aeta tribe in South Poblacion a Christmas that they won’t easily forget, by making sure that their school kids have new shoes on Christmas Day as well as books and notebooks for them to study with,” Ople said.