Books for Love

By: Emma S. Ortega

We finally arrived at Palindan on August 6, 2002. A farm town for growing chickens, pigs and coffee. A town of 5000 people. A town that my son LOVE always returned to whenever he went to the Philippines for vacation from San Francisco. The town where on January 4, 2001 he said goodbye to us and to this world to go to the next stage of his life and that was the start of BOOKS FOR LOVE.

We started to collect used English children’s books here in San Francisco. In 2001, we shipped 2700 books and 15 boxes to Palindan thru the help and support of 78 caring human beings who were family members, friends, and co-workers, and the libraries. Lorena, Arniel, and Gil gave the books directly to 245 school children of Palindan Elementary School on November 2, 2001. Lorena, Arniel, and Gil are Books for Love volunteers who traveled to Palindan, Ibaan, Batangas, Philippines.

Books for Love 2002, 1500 books in 10 boxes were shipped that was used to start the first library of the school and the mini libraries in each classrooms. Myself, Leilani and Arniel were there August 6-9, 2002 and saw how the main library and the mini libraries were set up.

While in Palindan, we discovered during the "getting to know you" town meeting at the school the many problems that they have. Lack of livelihood and education are two of the predominanting ones, aside from the need for medicine (the children had skin and lungs illnesses), safe drinking water, cleanliness of the surroundings, and activities for the school children.

The people want to do something specially for their children. More than 20% of the elementary school children drop out of school and forego studying to take care of their siblings while their parents go to work. There is no sports program for the children who are left to roam around after their task is done at home. Going to school is made difficult because they do not have the needed school supplies. School hours are from 7AM to 5PM and during the two recess periods and lunch, some children have to stand and stare at others eat because they do not have the means to buy their food for that day.



The school does not have any kind of playground. The school property is triangular in shape and is bordered by roads on both sides. The heat is unbearable inside the classrooms. There is an electric fan in each classroom but they do not use it in order to save electricity. The windows are left wide open to allow the air to come in but together with the air come the noise of the passing vehicles, the battalion of flies, and the foul smell from the chicken and pig farms. In this condition, the children, 245 of them, study. It was amazing to see their attention and interest in studying.