Two former sponsored children volunteer to teach Cebuano kids how to read

CEBU— It’s time to pay it forward.

This is what former World Vision-sponsored children, Vincent Matanog and Alexis Albarillo, had in mind when they learned that their firm, Deloitte Philippines, will be partnering with World Vision to help improve the reading skills of grade school kids in Cebu through the Brigada Pagbasa program.

Vincent Matanog, former World Vision sponsored child, volunteers in facilitating activities during the launch of Brigada Pagbasa.

“I told [my colleagues] I knew World Vision because I was part of its program before,” says Vincent, a Cebu-based senior auditor with Deloitte Philippines.

Vincent, who hails from Ozamiz in Mindanao, used to be a child leader in his hometown, “I have a deeper understanding of World Vision’s ministry that’s why I volunteered for this project,” he says.

Alexis Albarillo, former World Vision sponsored child, volunteers in facilitating activities for the child participants during the launch of Brigada Pagbasa.

Alexis, a Certified Public Accountant, recalls how World Vision taught her to play a musical instrument. “I remember learning how to play the tambourine and would play it whenever we had guests.”

Alexis and Vincent joined the recent Brigada Pagbasa launch in Cebu, along with more than 15 of their Deloitte Philippines colleagues, including Financial Advisory Leader, Diane Yap, to kick off the 16 consecutive Saturdays of reading tutorials.

Brigada Pagbasa, led by the Department of Education in partnership with World Vision as co-lead convener is an after-school reading program that aims to bring together partners and community volunteers to contribute to nation-building by promoting the culture of reading to all Filipino children. It also seeks to improve children’s literacy and reading comprehension so they can apply their learnings in meaningful ways.

“I’m happy that we’re able to come together to overcome the challenges and ensure that the children will learn how to read, ” Geomel Jetonzo, World Vision Education Manager and Brigada Pagbasa Program Director, shares.

Diane Yap, one of the partners at Deloitte Philippines, welcomed the students and teachers who joined the event, saying: “You have Deloitte’s commitment to supporting the teachers and the students.”

Deloitte Philippines staff members in Manila and Cebu had a short game with the Grade 2 to 6 students. School bags with workbooks and hygiene kits were also given to each child to close off the event.