Renu Gidoomal

MUSIC FOR EDUCATION - HOW IT ALL BEGAN IN MANILA, PHILIPPINES

MUSIC FOR EDUCATION was a project I started in 2006 whilst working for a company setting up luxury Spas in Asia. I designed and established the first Urban Medi-Spa in the Philippines (Crystal Asia Spa Award nomination).

A few months after my arrival in Metro Manila (April 2006) I came across a large squatter community living in C5 in the Barangay of Taguig, through a friend, Angie Garcia. She was also a squatter in that area and had dedicated her life to uplifting her community. When I visited Angie for the first time, I saw a stream of little children entering her small home, helping themselves to ice popsicles in the fridge. I asked her who all these children were and she said they were all from the squatter community, who attended her regular free Values and English literacy classes which she ran at home. I could feel such a happy and tranquil atmosphere pervading her home.

CHRISTMAS PARTY

So inspired by her generosity of spirit I asked Angie if I could organise a Christmas party for the children. It was a welcome suggestion and the first Manila Christmas Party with lots of delicious food and refreshments, music, balloons, clowns, face painting and, of course, Father Christmas who brought lots of presents for everyone was a big hit! 

FILLING TUMMIES AT WEEKEND CLASSES

During my Christmas vacation in London, my inner voice kept insisting to start classes for the children in Human Values. When I returned to Manila I enlisted the help of 2 teachers from the Sathya Sai School in Pillila, Rizal.

However, would the children attend class without any other incentive? With the added attraction of a tasty meal after class, the children’s appetites were eager for both kinds of nourishment! The teachers gave up their precious Sundays and travelled a long way every weekend to teach the little ones aged 3 to 12 years old.

We started with 40 children crammed into Angie’s sitting room.  For the meals, my wonderful friends and I provided the ingredients, cooking utensils, gas, plus crockery and cutlery. I am indebted to each of these friends and business owners who unhesitatingly agreed to  support this community endeavour. From 2006 to date, some of them still contribute whenever they are called upon to donate cooking oil, rice, gas, juices, milk and more!

Within a couple of weeks the class size swelled to 70, then 120, then 200!! We had to divide the classes within Angie's home and compound! The tiny tots were in the kitchen, at best a corridor of sorts; the 5-8 year olds were in the sitting room; the 9 - 13 year olds were in the open yard where a makeshift cover of tarpaulin ensured they were not rained upon! The eldest group of 14+ climbed up a rickety wooden ladder onto a tin roof over a shack and enjoyed their classes there, al fresco. 

The squatters were now cooking tirelessly every week for over 200 kids and adults.  Meals were served for the very youngest ones at a very long trestle table. Everyone else ate in the yard or on the roof! 

Across the expressway was another squatter area called Masigasig, which was even poorer than C5! They requested us for a weekly meal. We cooked Lugao (nutritious soup) for 400 residents and delivered it in a cauldron large enough to bathe in! The back-jolting journey in a Jeepney to Masigasig was worth it to see the beaming smiles of hundreds of kids and adults as we arrived with fresh Lugao!

EDUCATION

As classes progressed it became clear there were many children who would benefit from formal classes in literacy, numeracy, language and elocution. Others surprised us with innate talent, not only in Mathematics or Public Speaking skills but also with Choreography and Art. Furthermore, the weekend meals were helping to combat malnutrition. 

The government schools had an average class size of 90-100 pupils! This was the perfect time to organise sponsorships for the children to be enrolled into a nearby private school with smaller class sizes of 25.  About 60 children were in the correct age bracket for enrollment at a nearby private school in Signal Village. Documentation had to be prepared and a special concert was put on for potential sponsors to meet the children, Many students were sponsored. However, many were not selected. 

So I had to put on my thinking cap! Having already recorded 5 Studio albums I decided to repackage them to raise money for sponsorships. Now, all we needed was a project title for the album covers...

Thus, MUSIC FOR EDUCATION was born from the seedling idea to give these beautiful children a memorable Christmas party!