Learning at their fingertips

Halfway around the world, six volunteers from Flagler and Volusia counties learned what learned what it’s like to achieve celebrity status.
The six, from the Joy and Care Giving Foundation and Flagler County Schools’ Make It- Take It Program, were mobbed by cheering students when they visited schools last month in the Philippines.
“I said this must be how a rock star feels.” Said Michael King, 47, of Palm Coast.
But Palm Coast residents Josie Garcia 60, a Filipino American and founder of the Joy and Care Giving Foundation, didn’t take her group to the Philippines to make music for the students.
She brought the volunteers to her hometown of Bulacan for the grand opening of St. Anthony’s Development and Training Center, where they installed computers donated by Make It-Take It program. The group also set up computers at four other schools in neighboring cities.
St. Anthony’s was the first school built by the foundation, but the plans for another are under way. Through the Joy and Care Giving Foundation, that she began last year, Garcia wants to raise money to continue building, because she knows the Philippines’ needed more schools.
In the island nation, King explained, it is a privilege. At some schools, children are not allowed to attend classes if their parents cannot afford to buy uniforms. St. Anthony’s will provide uniforms to students who need them.
But almost all schools are overcrowded. “They’re bursting at the seams. A lot of schools just can’t take anymore children.” King said. “ Building more schools is critical to helping their education system, which is critical for straightening out the country’s infrastructure. I think as a culture and a people, they’re trying to turn that around, to rise up out of their Third World status. If they can get their kids and education, they can make that happen.”
Jennifer Surgent of South Daytona, a photography student in Daytona Beach Community College, was the only participant who doesn’t live in Palm Coast. As she photographed the trip, she noticed the schools overcrowded conditions.
Surgent, 37, recalled seeing some classes conducted in hallways and stairwells, and student-teacher ratios as high as 45 to one. Classes have to be held in shifts, she said, with some students attending school in the morning and some in the afternoon. And some young Filipino children don’t leave school till 8:30 in the evening.
Yet students stayed on their best behavior in the most inhospitable circumstances, impressing the visitors with their dedication.
Veronica Maggs, 56, a Flagler Adult Education teacher, worked with students and teachers at several schools.
She taught them how to use 10 computers donated by Make It –Take It, which rebuilds unwanted computers for families that otherwise cannot afford it. Maggs said the pupils are eager to learn. “ Most of them had never seen computers before,” she said.
In December, Maggs hopes to return to Bulacan with Garcia to deliver 20 more computers.
King will continue working with the foundation by writing a book about St. Anthony’s, which he hopes will bring more donations.
The other members of the group, Ray Houston, 55, and Allison Lynch, 16, also want to stay involved.
Lynch would like to persuade her school St. Joseph’s Academy in St. Augustine, to participate in an upcoming vitamin drive for children in Bulacan and at Bethany Orphanage, which the group also visited.
Surgent explained the need or the vitamin drive. “ I thought the vitamin drive because one lady we worked with, a nurse took me to a house where she had just helped a little baby who was so hungry he ate piece of charcoal. I gave the family $10- the equivalent of a week’s salary (for the family),” she said “ And they wanted me to know they used some of the money to buy vitamins.”
As for Surgent, she said her hearts with the Philippines. “ I plan to go back next year, and the year after that, and the year after. We want to build a school a year for the next 10 years. Every day I’m still waking up and praying for all the kids. They’re all in my heart.” This first trip was a success Garcia said., thanks in part to financial partners such as the Flagler County Rotary Club and Outback Steakhouse. “We’re able to help the Filipino people.” She said. “building one school at a time.”
Anyone interested in donating to the vitamin drive or learning more about the Joy and Care Giving Foundation can contact Garcia at (386) 447-1138 or (386) 447-9773.