All five of the girls currently in our care are behind in their schooling. The girl's ages range from 15 years old to 18 years old, however, their education levels are anywhere from grade 1 to "first year" high school. Which means that the girls are somewhere in the range of two years behind in their education to 10 years behind.
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| Diligently working on the math lesson |
When we assessed our program last year, we noticed this gap in education and made plans to address it wholeheartedly when we re-opened our new facility. We've hired two full time staff whose main focus is providing education. Also, two education volunteers have also agreed to come visit a couple of times a week. Together, the four of them comprise our educational team. They work hand in hand with the Department of Education (DepEd) to provide daily tutorial sessions so that the girls can make up for the time that has been stolen from them. And they are so excited to learn; they keep asking for more homework, and would rather study math than play games!.
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| Grading completed math problems |
We also found that part of the reason why they may have not been able to excel in school (other than family trauma and lack of financial resources) is that a couple of them desperately needed eyeglasses. Thankfully, a good friend and supporter of MRH in Cebu, Dr. de Guzman, graciously agreed to come out to our facility and give free eye exams to all of our girls. She also donated the lenses to the two girls who needed them!
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| Thanks Dr. de Guzman! |
