Turnover Ceremony and Blessings of 5 Temporary Classrooms donated by RAFI

When the two- and three-story buildings were built, I was very happy because we could no longer hold our classes on the stage or under the forest. Our learners would no longer be bullied. But when the 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck our place, I couldn't hold back my tears, knowing the students' learning would be affected. In fact, for almost 4 months, we didn't have classes because face-to-face classes were temporarily suspended. It was only last January that we started our limited face-to-face classes and continued until the school year ended.

So as another school year is about to begin, we are very worried because the government still hasn't responded to the building repair and construction needs. As teachers, we had to decide where to hold classes when the year began. If possible, we don't want to use a modular approach, but we want a full return to face-to-face classes. Fortunately, we were blessed to have an NGO that was very generous and built 5 temporary learning spaces with Edukahon, a complete package of school facilities for teachers and students, supporting teaching and learning delivery as well as safety. This agency is none other than the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI).

After 1 and a half months of construction, it was finally done. On May 11, we held a turnover, ribbon cutting, and blessings. As the overall chairman or coordinator of the event, I created various committees so all teachers had assigned tasks to follow, ensuring the event would be successful and memorable.

The turnover ceremony began with registration, followed by the formal opening and the program proper. The event was graced by the Municipal Administrator, Division representative, barangay official, PTA official, and, of course, the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Team. After the turnover ceremony, the ribbon cutting took place at the venue where the temporary learning shelter was built. After the ribbon cutting, our parish priest blessed the 5 Temporary Learning Spaces. Following the blessing was the get-together lunch. We're very thankful to RAFI because without their support, our face-to-face classes for this school year wouldn't be possible.

That's all for this blog. Thank you for all your support.