PLAY!

Another month has flown by already! I know I keep saying it, but I can't believe how fast my service has gone! The past month I've been keeping busy with the developmental curriculum that Erin and I wrote. We put the finishing touches on the manual, which we came up with a clever name, PLAY! (Promoting Learning Among Youngsters). The training sessions were written and formatted into a training manual. A venue was located for a training of trainers (TOT) workshop. And then the TOT actually happened this past week, October 25-27 at Social Action Center of Pampanga in San Fernando, Pampanga.

Erin and I were the facilitators for about 20 participants from both of our Reception and Study Centers for Children. We had sessions about the history of child development, how to use the actual curriculum manual, how to do a lesson, practicing lessons, learning songs and games, and avalanching the training back at the centers. One of the ways we illustrated the main components of the curriculum was through a French lesson in which the participants were asked to learn a sentence in which they had never heard or seen before. It was fun to see them struggle through the activity, but eventually every participant learned the sentence and was able to remember it through the end of the workshop.

PLAY! is being piloted in Lubao, Pampanga and La Trinidad, Benguet, as I said, our two centers. The staff will use the curriculum for about 2 or 3 months and then we will submit a report to the Central Office of the DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development--this is the government agency that runs my center) in Manila. Then we will hold national trainings for the rest of the Reception and Study Centers for Children in the Philippines. VERY EXCITING!

Currently I'm in Manila battling some gastrointestinal issues. I hope to head back to site tomorrow, but a super typhoon is threatening to hit the Baguio area so I may be stranded here for a few more days. Hope all is well back states side.