Child Friendly Spaces in the Bagong Tuluyan Center :)

After the buying of the materials for the Child Friendly Spaces in the Bagong Tuluyan Center, we dressed up the room and installed the materials for the playroom/mini library. As we were designing the playroom, there were children who just came in from the streets and were roaming around the center. They were watching us design the playroom, and somehow, you can see in their faces that they are curious and at the same time excited as to what we were doing in the playroom.

At first, the playroom was bare and it looked a little empty and without life. But now, we are able to see the difference in terms of the layout and design of the place. We made it very much child-friendly to fulfill our objective of making these children feel that they can still play, learn to read and write despite their situation. Some of them were looking at us, asking us what we were doing. Upon seeing these curious looks and faces from the children, I felt happy that what we were doing was something for the children. Some were tailing us and it seemed that they want to play. We started arranging the mats first, then assembled the table and chairs. Then, while Gela and Aira were arranging the stuffed toys, Robert was fixing the posters to be mounted on the wall and arranging the donated books for the mini library and JB and I were cleaning the donated toys and putting them in the tray. Upon finishing the area, we asked Ate Jo to check the area and upon seeing this Child Friendly space for the children, she was happy and contented, thanking us for the help we have extended to them through donation of books, toys and other materials for the Child Friendly spaces.

Before the installation in the playroom

Before the installation in the playroom

The materials

With Ate Jo

Fixing the toys while children are peering from outside

Me and Jb cleaning the toys

Children of the street families

With COSORES Groupmates 

With Aira while cleaning the toys

New playroom! :)

After the installation, I felt fulfilled, knowing that this is something I know is useful for the children of the street families. It also made me feel happy that somehow, in my own little way, I was able to help these children have a conducive and child-friendly learning environment

Buying of Materials for the Child Friendly Spaces Project :)

            It was a Wednesday morning when the group decided to canvass and purchase the materials needed for the Child Friendly Spaces in the Bagong Tuluyan Center. We went to several stores to canvass for the computer tables for the computer room, and tables and chairs for the children in the daycare area. As we were canvassing for the tables I realized how important it is to maximize the resources available at hand. We had a limited budget for the project, and so it was a little difficult for us to be purchasing the materials because the costs of the materials to be used were pretty high.  We went to various stores and canvassing for the materials to spend the least amount of cost without compromising the quality. 

            Through this experience, my eyes were opened to the reality that there are things that are very limited in this world—such as money. While we were canvassing, it was like we didn’t want to spend it because we felt that we can use the money on a more valuable thing or material. It was because we were limited with the current resources we had for the day. This experience taught me how to value money—that it is not easy to earn and that it is not simply being picked up from the streets.  It also taught me how to budget and allot my money well. This helped me stay on track on things, as well as learn how to prioritize, most especially with deciding which things we needed to buy for the Bagong Tuluyan Center. Eventually, we were able to get all the materials for the Bagong Tuluyan Center, without going beyond our allotted budget for the project.

    

Counting our budget

Matt Flooring for the Play Area :)

Is this the right matt? 

Which chair to choose? Should we buy or not?

Electric fans--which one to choose?

Is our budget still enough??

        Here is a list of the materials we were able to buy for the Bagong Tuluyan Center:

1)   One small electric fan for the play room

2)   One set of small tables and chairs (for the play room)

3)   Mat set for the playroom

4)   One big plastic box for the toys of the children

5)   3-stack tray for the story books and coloring materials of the children.

6)   4 monobloc chairs for the computer room

Hurray! We got the materials!

I could say that I am honestly satisfied with what we have bought given our limited budget and that we were able to buy the essential materials we needed for the project. It was a tiring yet very fulfilling day, seeing that all our efforts are going to something that is for the benefit of the children.

Creating Another Child Friendly Space Model in Bagong Tuluyan Center

As we are able to finish the Construction of the Child Friendly Space in Barangay 704, our mission and goal does not stop here. We also contacted Ate Jo Trono from COSCA where she openly accommodated our group to create the Child Friendly Spaces in a center-based setting. The Bagong Tuluyan Center for the Street Families is a place where street families can do their household chores--taking a bath, cooking, resting, playing, reading, studying, and eating. The street families being adopted by the center are taught and encouraged on how to live a normal life--where they are safe and are protected against the harms of living in the streets. Upon seeing these people while we were meeting with Ate Jo, I realized how essential it is to have centers like this to be helping out these street families--more especially the children. Perhaps, this may be one of the reasons why we wanted to put up a Child Friendly Facility in the center--to ensure that the children of these families will be given a chance to be a kid and have a childhood they can surely remember and treasure.

The empty tables for the computers in the multi-purpose hall

With Ate Jo (of COSCA) after our meeting with her

With Ate Jo

Ocular Inspection

We met with Ate Jo where we presented our proposal for the project in the Bagong Tuluyan Center and asked for her inputs on the plans of the group. Finally, we were able to reach an agreement and we presented to her our proposed schedule for the implementation of the project. This included the days for the buying of the materials and the dates of the installation. The day we met with Ate Jo was also the day we conducted an ocular in order to check the place and make a list of the materials we will be buying for the Computer Area, day care area and the mini library area. Our meeting with her was fruitful, and we were able to agree on the schedule and dates we will be visiting.