They always find a way in the Philippines

[Jollygoodfellow]

I know we all at times complain as to how things are done here or if logic prevails but the Filipinos seem to have a way of their own to get things done.

Trolley school helps Filipino children keep studies on track

TAGKAWAYAN, Philippines — A brightly decorated wooden trolley rumbles down a little-used rail track in the southern Philippines carrying four young teachers, two on the front and two in the back pushing it along with their feet.

Kitted out with a whiteboard, colorful charts, and a stack of books, the tiny, mobile school slides along from village to village three times a week, bringing education to impoverished children near the city of Tagkawayan as the COVID-19 pandemic keeps schools shut in much of the Southeast Asian archipelago.

“It’s important that we do this, especially now that there is a pandemic and the children cannot do face-to-face learning,” Shaira Berdin, one of nine volunteers who operate the trolley, said in an interview as kids crouched in the grass by the railway track, thumbing through English books.

Tagkawayan is a town of about 54,000 people in Quezon province located nearly 176 km (110 miles) southeast of Manila.

Remote learners in the Philippines have been challenged by a lack of computers, phones and internet, along with uneven education quality. Some children have had to climb onto roofs to get data signals.

Pushing the trolley like a scooter, the volunteers teach math and reading to over 60 children as they go. They started their initiative in November and have collected learning materials from donations to use for their classes.

While stopped, the teachers lift the trolley off the tracks, allowing the use of the whiteboard for spelling lessons, and then move on to counting using flashcards. This also keeps the tracks free for other users.

“Most of these volunteers come from poor backgrounds. They’ve also experienced hardships in life, which is why they want to help children in need,” said 26-year-old teacher Samboy de Leon Niala.

The Philippines gradually started a phased reopening of schools in November after a 20-month closure disrupted the education of nearly 27 million children.

The country has recorded more than 3.6 million COVID-19 cases and nearly 55,000 deaths overall. It reopened to tourists in February after the daily case count fell from a peak in September of more than 33,000 to about 1,500.

https://interaksyon.philstar.com/trends-spotlights/2022/02/23/211336/trolley-school-helps-filipino-children-keep-studies-on-track/

[graham59]

I took this picture on the same line 30 years ago. These bigger passenger ones,  have the luxury of an engine.  Things move slowly in the Phils... 

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[Jollygoodfellow]

On 2/24/2022 at 8:25 PM, graham59 said:

I took this picture on the same line 30 years ago. These bigger passenger ones,  have the luxury of an engine.  Things move slowly in the Phils... 

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track looks a little better maintained then.

[Old55]

Heart warming story.

[Mike J]

1 hour ago, Old55 said:

Heart warming story.

So true, and they do this even though they can only reach 60 children.  "Only in Da Philippines" and this time it reflects the Filipino love for their children. 

[Old55]

8 minutes ago, Mike J said:

So true, and they do this even though they can only reach 60 children.  "Only in Da Philippines" and this time it reflects the Filipino love for their children. 

So often we (including me) hear and repeat sad or violent stories seems good deeds go unnoticed.  

[graham59]

8 hours ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

track looks a little better maintained then.

There were actually trains running (very slowly) on the line then, too . Two each day. 

p175 fare,  Manila to Naga City. Only 17 hours for the overnight train. 

[manofthecoldland]

The sugar cane field railways do connect small settlements with roadways in some places still. On Negros Island.... the sugar basket of the nation producing 50%+ of its cane sugar.... the asawa and I went to see a cane processing plant north of Bacolod near Silay. Enroute we came to a place on the highway where an unused track was now being used to service the area's scattered people needs. This was 15 years ago and at the time I still strongly resisted 'foreigner price' situations, but with humor and bargaining we avoided a "special trip" price and rode with the locals down the rails where it ended at a small settlement on the banks of a river where a suspended pedestrian bridge went across to other homes. 

Many people rode the small platform rail cart. It had a bench down the middle, and at one end was a bicycle frame that pedal-chain powered one of the two axles. With 8-12 paying customers aboard, we trolleyed long across the fields, stopping at houses, and to occasionally get off to lift it off the rails when we met another on-coming cart. I don't know their system for who had to  give way and get off track momentarily, but it was no big deal. We all helped lift it off track a few times. 

It was terribly hot and humid and I kept thinking that we should have brought umbrellas for shade. 

The rail run was only a few kilometers. Asawa says we paid P50 @ for the round trip. Despite securing a reasonable price, I did tip at the end after realizing the hardships and local living conditions.

Maybe 4-10 guys made a living transporting people this way. The bicycle chain drive set-up was pretty sketchy with the chain jumping off once or twice I think, but it worked.

The only reason I knew it existed was due to my guidebook. I don't know it its tourist knowledge these days.

[graham59]

Yes, even on that Manila-Naga PNR track, the rather heavy passenger-carrying, motor-driven (7hp pump boat engine...so I was informed) 'skates' were manhandled off the single track...a rapid judgement having been made as to which head-on approaching 'vehicle' was the most heavily laden of the two. Journeys could be up to 20+ miles, and those contraptions could easily top 30mph on the twisted track.  

There would also be veritable 'trains' of them sometimes, carrying loads of Coca Cola or San Mig'...hurtling along at 25mph or more.  The lesser ones definitely gave way to those. lol 

[Gas]

9 hours ago, graham59 said:

There were actually trains running (very slowly) on the line then, too . Two each day. 

p175 fare,  Manila to Naga City. Only 17 hours for the overnight train. 

You have a good memory, as i took the same train a couple of times in the late 80's and early 90's and can only remember the speed and the amount of times it ground to a halt. 

Still remember the name 'Bicol Express'