Laja Mensdorff-Pouilly, Jebsen & Jessen (SEA), Singapore
The destination of the second Jebsen & Jessen (SEA) "Meet A Need" trip in 2009 was Bohol, an island in the Philippines. Together with World Vision Singapore, the group of 15 volunteers renovated an elementary school in the south of the island.
Located in the central region of the Philippines, Bohol is the tenth largest island of the country and over 1.2 million people live on 4,000 square kilometres. Bohol is predominately an agricultural province but tourism plays an increasing role in the island's economy.
World Vision has been working in Bohol since 2001. The overall goal of the Bohol Area Development Programme (ADP) is to improve the quality of life for the children, families and communities of selected areas through various integrated development interventions.
A community that benefits from World Vision Singapore's Bohol ADP is Magsaysay, and for one week, the little village became the centre of attention for the Jebsen & Jessen (SEA) "Meet A Need" team.
Far off the touristy mayhem of Tagbilaran, the capital of Bohol, Magsaysay is surrounded by rice fields, palm trees and buffalos. People live in bamboo huts, and concrete streets and electricity are scarce, and fresh water yet to be retrieved from a well.
The Magsaysay Elementary School has about 200 pupils aged between six and 12. One of the three school buildings was in urgent need of a renovation. Termites have damaged most of the ceiling and window frames, the roof was leaking, partition walls decayed and paint was peeling off. A challenging task for the motivated volunteers!
Together with four carpenters, the "Meet A Need" team spent almost one week fixing the ceiling, mounting new partition walls, renovating the windowsills and painting the interiors and exteriors of the building.
On the last working day, the team was proud to leave the building almost completely renovated, with some painting left to be done in one of the classrooms.
A splendid closing event marks the end of the stay in Magsaysay and together with the entire school, the mayor, community leaders, barangay officials, the Philippines National Police and World Vision Philippines, the "Meet A Need" team celebrated a 'cultural afternoon' where the team members from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam performed traditional dances and songs to the great joy of all.
Donated by all Jebsen & Jessen staff members, the team also handed out goody bags to the children, ceiling fans and science equipment to the school.
The following day, the volunteers visited the children sponsored by Jebsen & Jessen (SEA). Through World Vision’s child sponsorship programme, Jebsen & Jessen sponsors 15 children across South East Asia, six of whom are in the Bohol ADP. The “meet-and-greet” in Jollibee with the sponsored children turned out to be a huge success and both the children and their sponsors left the gathering equally happy.
After a visit to the famous Chocolate Mountains, the "Meet A Need" team parted on Saturday morning and the 15-member team returned home. Here are some of their thoughts:
"Doing hard physical labour for a good cause and fooling around with the merry, innocent children has deeply moved me. An enriching, joyful and eye-opening experience none of us shall ever forget." Thuy Phuong Than, Vietnam
"The trip indeed was a wonderful experience. From this trip, I was able to open my eyes and see life in a bigger picture, not just from our minute scale of our daily comfortable life. I was glad to be able to capture the basic expression of simple happiness shown by the children in the mist of all the shortfalls in life." Kevan Tan, Team Photographer, Malaysia.
