New York-based Pinay Rolls Out Philippines Dictionary Project in Roxas City, Capiz!

8/16/2009 | Ayala Foundation USA

It was almost forty years ago when a precocious toddler by the name of Nina Patawaran left Roxas City where she studied preschool. Having lived in places such as Tokyo, Paris and New York, Nina returns to this provincial city armed with illustrated children's dictionaries donated by generous individuals and companies for her Philippines Dictionary Project. With the support of the provincial government of Capiz headed by Gov. Victor A. Tanco, Ayala Foundation USA and Filamer Christian College, the Philippines Dictionary Project can now reach students in 27 public elementary schools in the province of Capiz.

"It never crossed my mind that I would one day return to the place I left some 40 years ago," Nina remarks. Nina, a former banker based in New York, went back to the Philippines inspired by a newly found mission: to champion children's literacy in the Philippines, one dictionary at a time. The Philippines Dictionary Project aims to provide public elementary school students with brand-new child-friendly dictionaries; for English dictionaries, the project distributes Scholastic First Dictionary (Revised Edition) which is hard-bound, filled with pictures and suitable for grades 1-6 public school students. Some donors of her project turned out to be her parents'  long-lost friends who remember Nina as a pudgy prankster. Other donors were friends of Nina in New York where she still resides, and who were convinced of the power of a simple dictionary to open up worlds of information to underprivileged children. Jollibee Foods Corporation, which heard of the project from a 3rd party, liked the concept and donated 100 dictionaries.

The Philippines Dictionary Project works through a web of stakeholders composed of a lender, a borrower, donors and a guarantor - banking principles which Nina applied to ensure the project's transparency and accountability. The lender in this case is Filamer Christian College, which has agreed to house the dictionaries and, in due course, conduct teacher training sessions for free. Borrowers are partner elementary schools which will get to borrow a total of 50 dictionaries for the whole school year for a minimal rental fee of P500. At the end of the school year, Filamer carries the task of collecting, auditing and, if necessary, repairing the books. In cases where the books are damaged or lost, the head of the Provincial Government of Capiz, Gov. Tanco, has agreed to personally shoulder all expenses to repair or replace them. The system of making public schools accountable to the highest provincial government official is part of an ingenious strategy aimed at ensuring that the books will be properly cared for by the schools.

The Capiz launch of the project was held last July 3rd at the gymnasium of Filamer Christian College itself. As part of the project, the teachers and representatives of the chosen public elementary schools also underwent a training module with training manuals on reading instruction (free from the U.S. Department of Education). Supplemental learning materials such as a copy of the child-friendly Scholastic Children's Thesaurus and a copy of The Best of Bato Balani (a compilation of articles from Bato Balani's flagship science publication) were also provided to each school by BPI Foundation and Bato Balani Foundation, Inc., respectively.

Currently, Nina is looking to spread her advocacy to other provinces of the Philippines. She has already brought the project to the province of Negros Oriental (where 30 schools currently participate) and has now engaged First Asia Institute of Technology and Humanities (FAITH) and Central Philippine University (CPU) to act as the partner (dictionary) lenders for the Calabarzon Region and the province of Iloilo, respectively. From having lived in far-flung places such as Tokyo, Paris and New York, this citizen of the world went back to her roots so others, through the magic of books, can also experience the possibilities this big, bright world has to offer.