Ms. Teen Philippines outreach program

The beauties with Efren and K2 kids

Ms. Teen Philippines is not just another beauty pageant that was put up to raise funds. From the conceptualization to the implementation, the organizers see to it that their contestants, Filipina Female Teens aged 13 -18, will learn abundantly on the experiences that the pageant will offer to prepare all of them to become future role models.  Ms. Teen Philippines theme for this year is Global readiness through education. That is why in moving on with the pageant the organizers saw to it that they partner with entities that will help the candidates become ready for the educational challenges ahead.  Ms. Teen Philippines partnered with the Department of Education and the National Youth Commission to be able to consistently provide their contestants with valuable inputs from these institutions.

Yours truly with the contestants and Efren

One of the projects done by the Ms. Teen Philippines Contestants is the visit to CNN Hero of the Year 2009 Efren Peñaflorida’s Balik Eskwela event in Cavite City. Balik Eskwela is an annual event of Efren’s Dynamic Teen Company that gives out school supplies to children who are actively involved in the Kariton Klasrum (K4), Learner’s Educational Aid Program (LEAP) and Drop-out and Out-of School Edification Program (DOSE) and other volunteers as well.  The attendees are given school materials that they will be using for the upcoming school year.  The supplies were sponsored by Ms. Teen Philippines Inc.

The STI Mobile School Park outside the venue

Ms. Teen Philippines contestants themselves helped out in distributing the various goodie bags and school items to the kids and teens. ON the other hand, to give additional value to the event, Ms. Teen Philippines also partnered with STI College to bring its STI Mobile School to give the participants added computer knowledge while the event is ongoing.

Inside the mobile school

You can see by the smile of the faces of the kids that the event was an overwhelming success since they not only learned, got goodie bags but also gained adopted sisters as the Ms. Teen Philippines contestants offered not only their beautiful smiles but stories of encouragement to the kids. This event is something worth doing over and over again to give underprivileged kids the thought that in education, they have partners who will guide them and help them succeed. 

Yours truly with STI Mobile School crew,

 Efren Peñaflorida and Ms. Teen organizers

Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul

I got invited by Tammy Mananzan - Dy Liacco

A weekend of fun by giving up some laughter and enjoyment of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul. We visited the home for retired nuns in Paranaque city which was part of the St. Scho Manila High School Batch 1988's initiative to bring happiness to people of service. Pictures below.

One of their motto is caring for each other and helping each other out. Imagine the youngest of the Nuns taking care of them is already 68 years old.

I got to talk to one of the nuns who was already 100 years old. Some of them in their 90s and 80s.

Most of these nuns were former HS Principals and
School Administrators of various schools

St. Scho Manila HS Batch 88

The Older Sisters with the Younger Sisters!

with the Gorgeous Kathy Concepcion-Carag

with the lovely Dra. Lally Lucas-Gogna

STI reaches out to the kids in Payatas

What is the first thing that comes to your mind about the place Payatas? To me it is where garbage turns into gold as a lot of scavengers live there and turn garbage into something they can earn from. Payatas in Quezon City has a lot of sad stories most notably the collapse that happened on the dumpsite several years back. What is most jaw dropping is the fact that a lot of these impoverished scavengers never really did get some education to enable themselves to further improve their way of living. A lot of the people living this area never saw the need to send their kids to school since they themselves never had any education.

STI Alumni Relations Manager Chicky Recheta
togehter with Ms. Letty Reyes & Marie Nucum

In 1982 Letty Reyes "migrated" to the beautiful scenery and landscape which was once known for its greenery, it was the old Payatas. A year later it was turned into a dumpsite of garbage coming from all over the metropolis. Letty later on met with a lot of mothers from payatas and learned about the concern of the mothers about the future fo their children. A lot of the kids who live in this area do not even have birth certificates but are willing to learn and go to school. Letty then went into action as she started to give classes to a group of five kids. When word got out the students became bigger and the numbers grew to 40 and has since grown to have bigger groups and the school came to become a reality in 1989 and it is known now as the school of Humanity.

Sir Stanley giving some pointers

The School of Humanity or "Paaraalang Pantao" has no requirement for uniform or tuition fees because the only requirement is the kid's willingness to learn. The school is located at the foot of the mountain which is almost at the Montalban Rizal area which is at the back of Payatas.

Mam Aime having fun with the kids

The classes are run in a friendly and enjoyable manner which helps create for children the home away from home atmosphere. All the staff encourage the children to uphold their dignity in life and consider the school as a place for them to learn how to prepare themselves with certain things in life.

Sir Jojo Recio assisting his wife Dra. Weng Recio

The STI Alumni Association for that matter saw the need to improve the education of these kids by creating an outreach program which is more of a medical and dental mission. It is believed that if a kid has bad health and suffers from numerous gum and tooth problems which are the primary problem of these kids aged 5-13, then learning will be a hard task to do. Much so these kids and their parents don't have enough earnings to prioritize health related issues. The event was held at the Ynares Covered Courts at the SUburban Subdivision in Montalban Rizal.

Tito Aga sharing some jokes

Yours truly was in awe with the warm reception of the kids when i got to know them. Again I was again the master of ceremonies slash entertainer in making sure that the kids have a lot to do while the medical/dental mission is ongoing. I am quite happy to be involved in this project knowing that there are still people who believe in helping other people live better lives.

The sterilization team

The STI team came with a lot of help from volunteer students from different STI schools namely STI College Fairview, STI College Novaliches and STI College Recto. The STI students helped out in administering blood pressure, sterilizing the instruments, manning the make shift pharmaceutical counter and giving out some goodies.

The makeshift Pharma

The kids were not only received a check up but some goodies, medication and other supplements as well. In return they also gave intermission numbers and ended the event by thanking STI with a song. "..Di ba't ang Pasko ay para sa lahat. "

The giveaways

It is nice to share these things knowing that the company you belong to is in one direction when it comes to helping other people. I hope that I'll be involved in a lot of projects like this in the future. Stay tuned.

The kids having lunch