150 Storybooks for Jibolo Elementary School

On 19 October, my mum, Ma. Cristina Brillo Condino, and I donated 150 mixed storybooks to Jibolo Elementary School in the Philippines, as part of the school's own book donation drive.

The goal was modest and specific: to help improve learners' reading comprehension and foundational literacy. Not a programme, not a pledge. Just books, put into the hands of children who might not otherwise have them.

A thank you worth repeating

Jibolo Elementary School was kind enough to thank my mum and Engr. Danny “Boboy” Armada publicly in a Facebook post, describing the donation as part of its effort to inspire learners to read, learn, and dream big.

I keep coming back to that last part. Principal Hector Manejero Jr. and the school's teachers are the ones who will turn a stack of books into something that lasts. The donation is the easy half.

Why it mattered to me

I love reading whenever work and life allow. It is one of the few things that has never asked anything of me in return.

Books taught me to question things, to see past my own corner of the world, and to imagine more than what was in front of me. Growing up between Iloilo and New Zealand, they were often how I made sense of both.

Reading comprehension and foundational literacy are among the quieter struggles in Philippine education. They do not announce themselves. A child who cannot follow a paragraph will struggle quietly through every subject after it, and will rarely be the loudest problem in the room.

On giving

I believe that if you're fortunate enough to give, you should.

That is not an argument about scale. Small contributions can help a child develop a love for reading, broaden their perspective, and imagine possibilities that were not visible a year earlier. A book is a small thing to hand over and a large thing to receive.

Supporting education is one way to contribute to nation-building, and it is available to almost anyone. You don't have to solve the whole education crisis to make a difference. Helping one child get a book is a worthwhile place to start.

With thanks

To my mum, who did this with me. To the teachers of Jibolo Elementary School, whose work this actually is. To Principal Hector Manejero Jr. for the welcome, and to Engr. Danny “Boboy” Armada, credited alongside us.

If you have books on a shelf doing nothing, there is a school near you that would put them to work.