Nourishing the future of many Filipinos

“It is an eternal obligation towards human beings not to let them suffer from hunger when one has a chance of coming to his assistance.” - Simon Weil, a French Philosopher.

Tibag High School is one of the selected recipients of the Rise and founder and CEO, Raymond Goodson with other board of directors for the partnership. This will sustain the School-Based Feeding Program for 120 days to 52 undernourished students ages 13-16 years old.

Child malnutrition all over the globe is primarily caused by poverty, the World Bank confirmed. This refers to health infections might result from it. In the Philippines, poverty rate alarmingly increased by 18.1% as cited from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) which was reported on August 20, 2022. Looking back on November 2013, the typhoon Haiyan devastated many lives in the Philippines. Hence, the Rise and Rebuild International Foundation and malnourished Filipinos. The Adopt-a-School Program (ASP) implemented by the Department of Education (DepEd) gave an opportunity to RRIF to help young Filipinos who suffer malnutrition. Through the efforts of Dr. Juvelyn L. Esteban, THS Principal, Ma’am Evangeline V. Espiritu, the TLE Head Teacher, and Ma’am Kenzie M. Ancheta, the School Nutrition Leader, stakeholders were tapped for the application process, and in return, THS is one of the selected school-recipients of the international foundation, Rise and Rebuild. Experts proved that malnutrition affects the learning ability of a student. It appears that students who are malnourished have the tendency to lack focus, which contributes to poor learning. The reason is very simple —food affects how our brain works, with that being said, a healthy meal is needed to help the brain function well. Thus, the RRIF willingly feeds more than 60,000 children daily from food harvested on their acquired lands in Cebu (15 acres), Leyte (16 acres), and Tarlac (14 acres).

As mandated in the signed Memorandum of Agreement, to successfully exhibit the feeding vegetables, fruits, source of protein (when available), and desserts will come from the foundation which are supplied every Monday. Recipients are also encouraged to “go green” by giving them seedlings that they can plant at home while the feeding program is ongoing so that when the feeding program is over, they can have a source of nutrients ready to be harvested.

Meanwhile, Some of the projects of the RRIF are employment to many Filipinos, Restrooms, Nutrition Centers, vegetable farmlands and food supplies for undernourished. RRIF is indeed a private organization whose volunteerism and dedication to provide better quality learning for Filipinos are worth applauding. Various programs were being implemented by Tibag High School to ensure students’ wellbeing. Its School-based Feeding Program is only a glimpse of many outstanding solutions to assess quality learning. It is happy to see that both public and private sectors are working hand in hand to improve education for the Filipino children whose hands hold the future of our country.