Three new teachers to join our Capinahan School.

Three new teachers to join our Capinahan School.

We are delighted to announce that due to a huge rise in enrolment figures from 20 to 80 children, at our newly refurbished Capinahan School, we have secured an additional 3 teachers with the Department of Education.

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Amy and the GSF team met with Celisa Beriong – OIC Division Chief Superintendant who oversees all 900 Iloilo Junior schools and 115 Secondary Schools, Gilbert Solidum – Division Head for School Governance and Operations and Juan Tamano – Supervisor in School Operations. They discussed the needs of GSF village and Capinahan Barangay in general in respect of the school and agreed that more than one teacher was now needed.  Both GSF and the Department of Education will enter into a partnership to improve the school in the future. Norma Palmejar (on behalf of GSF) will sit on the school council to ensure input and will have an oversight on the school governance. 

This is such a fantastic step in the right direction for the children. The longer they are able to stay in full time education the better and having 3 extra teachers will now ensure this happens.  Thank you to the Department of Education for your time and helping us give the children the best start in life. 

We must finally say a huge thank you to Gabriella Tilbury who kindly donated her birthday money towards the tables and chairs in the school.   heart

If you would like to help the future of the GSF children by donating please do. Every bit helps. Thank you. 

The Turn-over ceremony of Capinahan Primary School.

The Turn-over ceremony of Capinahan Primary School.

After several months of hard work refurbishing the two classrooms at Capinahan Primary School, we are pleased to announce that the work is complete. 

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Amy Leverson-Gower who is on the Board of Directors at GSF, flew out from the UK to officially hand over the school, and joined DR Sanico, a representative from the Division office of Department of Education and the Barangay chairman-elect of Capinahan. 

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There are 82 children from the village enrolled in the Capinahan School from Kindergarten up to year 4 which is 10 years old, and they all attended the ceremony where school bags and supplies were handed out to them after the speeches. 

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In the short time that Amy had in the village she certainly packed a lot into one day!  Having left Iloilo City at 6am she drove to the the GSF Village and started off by visiting the Talipapa market for a much needed cup of native coffee. From there she had a little wander around the village and was amazed at how much everything had grown in six months; runner beans, tomatoes, aubergine and papaya were all looking fantastic. 

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She then had a quick cuddle with baby Greg who was born in February, a lesson on Moringa planting, learnt how to do hydroponics and mushroom cultivation,  and then on to the school! 

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Amy did mention that the one thing she really noticed was that there was a real sense of community and happiness in the village. It is great to hear that our beneficiaries are doing well. 

After a long day, the GSF team then returned back to Iloilo with Amy, where they all treated to  a “Happy Birthday DR” and “Team Building” dinner. Well done to the GSF team for all your hard work. 

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Thank you “Shiplake College”.

Thank you “Shiplake College”.

The week before half term, Josh Hamer’s school, Shiplake College, held a cake sale, fundraising for the children that Josh met in the Greg Secker Foundation Village when he visited in January. 

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Josh made some close friends in a short time in the village and wanted to help in some way when he returned to the UK. 

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After seeing Josh’s video from his time in the village, and listening to him talk about his time there, his school decided to support him and arranged for the cake sale to take place. The Shiplake boys brought in delicious home made cakes from home, and then sold them to the teachers and other pupils over three days. A fantastic amount was made and the money has gone towards buying the GSF children their new school book bags, books and pens. The children had their first day back at school today so already they are being put to good use!

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The children in the village were so excited that a school in the UK had arranged a cake sale to help them and that Josh was a part of this. He was known as the piped piper in the village with the children following him around all day.

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On behalf of everyone at the Greg Secker Foundation and the children in the village, thank you Shiplake College for all your support and kind donation. heart

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The next exciting fundraiser that Josh and his friends will be doing is the Muddy Mayhem Run on Sunday 7th October 2018.  Money raised from this event will go towards a playground for the children. 

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“Brigade Eskwela” at Capinahan Primary School.

“Brigade Eskwela” at Capinahan Primary School.

Monday June 4th, and, another school year begins!

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Summer holidays in the Philippines are over, and today our children in the Greg Secker Foundation Village go back to school.  

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Last week, the parents, community, non-government organisations and other stakeholders were all involved in “Brigada Eskwela” which is a programme organised by the Department of Education whereby everyone comes together to prepare the school campus for the opening of classes.

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Brigada Eskwela, also known as the “Bayanihan Para sa Paaralan (Working Together for Schools)”, added a new meaning to the Filipino concept of unity. From the image of barrio men bearing together the weight of a bahay kubo (nipa hut) on their shoulders to the image of volunteers braving storms and floods to help calamity-stricken communities, Brigada Eskwela brings to us a picture of people from different sectors of society repainting walls and blackboards, cleaning windows and doors, repairing fences and tidying the school grounds.

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Capinahan Primary School has many children from our village attending so parents joined the local community and had a great day in helping tidy up, planting new plants and clearing away any old foliage.   The children made the most of playing in the play area too.

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It is great to see the whole community come together like this to get the children’s school ready for the first day of term.  Even the primary teacher himself got stuck in and helped tidy up!

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The “Champions” of the Summer Olympics are announced.

The “Champions” of the Summer Olympics are announced.

On Monday May 7th, the Barangay officials, lead by Barangay Captain Reynaldo Sanico attended the award ceremony of the Summer Olympics in the GSF Village.  
 
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It has been three weeks of competition time between the Basketball Teams, the Volleyball Teams and for those that preferred a more sedentary game, there was a Chess Tournament too.  
 
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Jake Teller Costoy receiving his Chess Tournament Trophy.
 
Everyone from the village seemed to be involved in one way or another – there was a poster making competition which was won by Trixie Lazare, and a Logo contest which was won by Yeshien Kate Cordero. 
 
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Trixie and her winning poster. 
 
The GSF Summer Olympics has really brought the teams together, and developed their camaraderie, unity and harmonious relationships with each other. As with any sporting match, there has to be a bit of competitiveness amongst the teams which added to the atmosphere on the days of matches! 
 
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The Volley Ball Champions: ” Team Spikers”
 
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The Basketball Champions: “Hot Babes Team”
 
The winners are as follows:
 
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Overall Champion:    Hot Babes Team  
First:                              Sky Lovers Team
Second:                         Builders Team 
 
“Volleyball Winners”
 
Overall Champion:    Spikers Team 
First:                              Lady Warriors Team
Second:                         Hot Warriors Team
 
“Chess Tournament”
 
Overall Champion:     Jake Teller Costoy 
First:                               Juifran Toga 
 
Poster Making Competition:  Trixie Marie 
Logo Contest:    Yeshien Kate Cordero 
 
Best Banner:                Team Fighters 
 
 
Well done to all the teams who took part, and thank you to everyone that helped make the GSF Summer Olympics run so well.  
Vacation Bible School Week in the GSF Village.

Vacation Bible School Week in the GSF Village.

Last week was a very special week for the children in the village.  It was “VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL WEEK”, with the theme, “SPACE STATION 2018” and the mission, “EXPLORING OUR AWESOME GOD”.
 
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The Bible School Week was a week long, half day activity, that focused on Christian Values and Spiritual enhancement. A team of volunteers from Lemery Fundamental Baptist Church spent the week with the children in the village. 
 
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130 children were divided into small groups according to their ages, and every day the children were taught some bible lessons and christian values, which they would encounter in every day life.
 
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At the end of the week there was a closing ceremony held in the social hall, with all the parents joining in too.  A certificate of completion was handed out to the children and special ribbons pinned to those who did their best and participated well.
 
 
April’s Newsletter

April’s Newsletter

Read all about what has been happening in the GSF Village.

https://issuu.com/gregseckerfoundation/docs/gsf-nl-april2018
The Children’s Day Camp was a huge success

The Children’s Day Camp was a huge success

The day was finally here, the day that many of the older children had been waiting for…. it was Camp Day. 

The day camp was held on the land adjacent to the village, on a plot of land owned by a teacher called Norma and her husband. They kindly took the children out for the day, to experience some fun activities in the jungle.

The children, aged between 8-12 years old all assembled outside the GSF office bright and early. After a brief talk from Norma about the rules – the do’s and the don’ts, they excitedly marched off to the camp. 

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The children were split up into four groups for the day; Yellow Team, Red Team, White Team and Blue Team. Then each group began their activities for the day. 

The first activity was, how to cook an egg in the jungle using the vegetation around you. They were shown how banana leaves can be used for this as they are big enough to hold an egg and will withstand the heat long enough to cook the egg but not burn the leaf too much.  

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The children all took turns in cooking their eggs and then eating them. What a great way to have breakfast!

The next activity was a bit trickier. The children had to put a barbecue stick through the egg, piercing the shell. There were a few mishaps but they finally cracked it… or not! (excuse the pun). They then held it over the fire until it was cooked. Delicious – one that we may have to try here next time the barbecue is lit! 

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Before lunch, the children had a team activity, putting together a puzzle in the fastest time. The pictures were of Greg so it didn’t take long too long to work out which way around it should be.  The children all adore him and proudly held their finished pictures up for a photo. 

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It was time for lunch, and whilst the fires were still hot, everyone was given hotdogs to grill. This was the first time many of the children had experienced anything like this and they were just loving it.  What I love is that every child was asked to bring their own lunch – just look at the pictures – not a fizzy drink or bag of crisps in site.  A much healthier packed lunch than many I have seen here!

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After lunch it was time for the Scavenger hunt – every team had to find the following items and whoever returned to base first with them all … won.

Items to find:

5 round stones, 2 earthworms, 1 feather, 3 spoons, 1 pair slippers, 1 hanky, 1 t-shirt, 1 headband, 1 backpack and 5 live ants.

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It didn’t take long for the Yellow Team to arrive back at base … the winners. Well done Yellows. 

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Next on the agenda was …. “Find your Footwear”.  What a great game – all the children were asked to take off their shoes and mix them up into one area. They then all took it in turns to find their own shoes – a lot of laughter as they grabbed each others shoes.

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Camp day was a hot day so what better excuse than to have a snack and a juice followed by….. the finale of the day – being soaked by ice cold water. The land that the camp is based has the main source of water on it, so what better way to cool down.  We have been told that before Norma and her husband owned the land, the site was sometimes used as a picnic area for locals. When the weather was hot, families came and spent the weekends here – camping and relaxing in this beautiful spot. 

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One thing is for sure, the children absolutely loved it.  Once they were cooled off and refreshed it was now time for the children to return back to the village. They were tired, but a very happy tired. 

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Thank you to Norma and her husband for allowing the children to spend the day with you, and treating them to such a wonderful experience.  heart

 

Saturday Class moves to a weekday …….

Saturday Class moves to a weekday …….

The children were up early when they heard that their Saturday classes were returning. Because of the school holidays, Central Philippine University have moved their lessons to the weekday.  Student teachers from the college make the journey every week from Iloilo to spend the day with the children and teach them a variety of subjects. 

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The children love their lessons where they get to learn Maths, English, Philippine History and Physical Education.  It’s fantastic that the children get this opportunity to learn in the holidays so when they go back to school in June they are up to speed.

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We love the t-shirt that one of the student teachers is wearing…..

WE GIVE YOU WINGS SO YOU CAN FLY

Thank you to CPU for helping our children achieve this. heart

The Children of the GSF Village receive their end of year school awards.

The Children of the GSF Village receive their end of year school awards.

On April 2, our Children of the village received their end of year awards from their school – Jose Alminana Memorial Elementary School. Many of our GSF village children attend this school in Lemery, which is about 15 minutes along the dirt road to the town. 

The proud parents attended with their children and watched as they went up to receive a variety of awards such as: Most Cheerful, Most Great Giver, Most Active, With Honours, Kindness Award, Journalist of the Year and Athlete of the year. 

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One special girl, Fatima, who as many of you know, didn’t attend school for many years due to her tumour. Here she is a couple of years into her education and receiving “Most Cheerful Award.”     

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Another special award was for Trixie, who received Journalist of the year award.

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It is so rewarding to see this generation of children doing well at school – with a secure home now back in the village, they can really concentrate on their education.ÂÂ