Trip to Malaban Elementary School

"BIÑAN, LAGUNA—With classrooms crowded with evacuees and the school grounds still flooded, where could the students go?

A report from the Department of Education in Laguna province on Friday said 51 elementary and high schools were still being used as evacuation centers for typhoon-stricken families, but said all had already resumed classes.

In Biñan town, teachers found a solution to the deluge that was seen to last three to four more months. They volunteered to open their own homes to accommodate the students and resume classes on Oct. 12, two weeks after Tropical Storm “Ondoy” left the town and several others flooded."

Taken from Teachers convert homes to schools
Maricar Cinco
Inquirer Southern Luzon

After reading this article, we decided that Malaban Elementary School would be our next beneficiary. I am really amazed at the teachers' initiative to offer their homes as temporary classrooms :) I can't imagine how it must be to have about 500 kids in your house everyday. Anyway, we headed to Biñan today to assess the situation of the school and to get a more concrete idea of what the students need the most.

some parts of the school are still flooded until now. The classrooms behind have been turned into evacuation centers... note the laundry hanging on the railing dirty stagnant water infront of the rooms. The smell is horrible!a makeshift kitchen with damaged books and notebooks in the background. I'm not sure if they have started using these items for fire... I was very surprised to see a sari sari store in the school! some evacuees are still enterprising!the hallway filled with sludgeclassroom turned into a home for a few familiestemporary classroom for 500 kids

garage turned classroom. look at the jeep parked inside!

we'll be back :)