JEDDAH, 18 Sept. — The Ramadan and the Christmas seasons are still weeks away but students of Al-Hekma International School are now into "fasting" and gift-giving under a project called "Gesture of Love."
Formally launched on Saturday, the project involves a fund-raising campaign spearheaded by the school’s Student Council, the proceeds of which will be given to the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) for its humanitarian program.
"We will be allocating donation cans in every classroom and other areas of the school for donations," Sabriya Coderes, a senior and president of the Student Council, told her fellow students during the launching ceremony at the Al-Hekma assembly hall.
"Let us share our blessings to others. In these difficult times the PNRC is appealing to us for help," the young leader added.
What distinguishes this campaign from many others is that the students, instead of adding to the burdens of their parents, are being encouraged to go into a sort of fasting by foregoing a snack or two and donating their baon money to the fund.
While the idea came from friends of the school, it was promptly endorsed to the students by school officials led by the principal, Dr. Belma Regis, who says it is a way of hitting two targets with one shot. Apart from helping the Red Cross, the students will also be actually doing what they are taught in their subject on values, she said.
The students will also have the chance to learn and practice transparency and accountability, lessons that need to be hammered into the mind of every Filipino child if the Philippines is to recover from the stigma of being labeled as one of the most corrupt countries in the world.
Stephen Montoya, vice president of the Student Council, said they will make sure that all their collection will be accounted for before they send their donation to the Red Cross.
At the same time, Montoya said he hopes that the "donations will be handled responsibly (by the Red Cross people) so that it will reach those who are truly in need of help."
For the students who are actively involved, the project in itself may yet become an experience they won’t forget. Many of them participated in preparing the campaign paraphernalia. The donation cans were neatly wrapped with the PNRC logo that they themselves prepared.
"Gesture of Love" is just the first project of the students of Al-Hekma, whose population is now 800 in just four years of operation, making it the fastest growing Philippine school in the Kingdom.
Part of the launching program was the induction of the officers of the Student Council for school year 2002-2003.
The other officers are: Charlene Tuvera, secretary; Yelena Thiam, sub-secretary; Rerlynn Alzate, treasurer; Margaret Wilson, sub-treasurer; Salima Ijiran, auditor; Pauline Naral and Strell Ann dela Cruz, public relations officers; Kathleen Familara, sergeant-at-arms.
Gad Bernette Padua, Michael Baloran, Carmina Ortega, Chinnie Mae Onglatco, and Darrien Rose Garcia, are representatives of 4th, 3rd, 2nd, 1st years, Grade 6 and Grade 5, respectively.
Continuing process
Summing up the reaction of the faculty and parents of Al-Hekma, Dr. Regis said: "I am glad that the PNRC looked beyond (Philippine) shores for help. Helping others is a way of touching base because sometimes we forget that there are those who are less fortunate than us."
After the fund drive, she said, the school’s next campaign would be for students to donate used clothing, toys, and others, and send them to the PNRC for its relief operations in times of calamities at home. She reiterated that "this gesture of love must be a continuing process."
Al-Hekma was the first institution in the Kingdom to respond to the PNRC’s call for help, which Arab News has actively supported since July.
PNRC Secretary-General Lourdes Loyola wrote then Ambassador Rafael Seguis requesting help in relaying the appeal to Filipino organizations and individuals, saying donations from the Red Cross’ traditional sources of funds were declining as a result of the financial crisis and of "donor fatigue."
Loyola’s letter noted that while the Red Cross is the premiere humanitarian agency in the Philippines, it doesn’t receive any funding from the government.
Apart from Al-Hekma, three other schools and a number of organizations have so far responded to the PNRC’s appeal.
Parents, students and the faculty of the Philippine School in Dammam (PSD) have joined hands in launching their own fund drive.
In Riyadh, the Nour Al-Maaref International School (NIS) has entered into an agreement with the Filipino martial arts group Black Python, in which members of the group would teach the school’s students karate and judo for free. In return, the students will conduct a fund drive for the PNRC.
Last weekend, the Philippine Community School in Alkhobar, or Philcosa, also got into the act by launching a fund drive and a used clothes collection campaign for the PNRC.
Adults take the cue
With students setting an example, a number of organizations in the community are now also into the act.
The Riyadh chapter of the Institute of Integrated Electrical Engineer, Philippines, Inc. (IIEE-CRCSA) has raised a seed money of 500-riyals as it launched its own fund drive.
During a tennis tournament of the Ma’aden Club in Riyadh, its mostly Filipino passed the hat around also for the Red Cross.
The Pinoys among the club’s organizers plan to make it a continuing campaign.
In Jeddah, the newly organized Alyansa, an alliance of Filipino cooperatives, civic, professional and other organizations, launched its own campaign to collect relief goods to the Filipinos in Mindanao who were deported from Malaysia.
Alyansa leaders have agreed to send the goods through the PNRC for distribution to the deportees. Donors to the Alyansa campaign are requested to bring their donations to the Tropicana Restaurant along Tahlia Road.