On October 11, I, also as a volunteer, along with other school volunteers and Seung-Yeon Kang (another Eco-Generation Ambassador of the Philippines) went to Santa Mesa, Philippines to put my thoroughly, well-planned project into effect. The name of my project is "Act for Green". We started planning for this project during the summer and we are really glad that we could finally implement this project.

 

I took a lead in teaching the importance of water, water-related issues, and solutions to prevent the spread of water pollution to the urban underprivileged Filipino children. We used teaching materials sponsored by Tunza Eco-Generation and the Centre for Environmental Education! We also allocated promotional goods provided by Tunza Eco-Generation and school utensils, such as rulers and pencils.

 

There were around 100~150 students. Through this project, I realized that the students were not aware of severity of water pollution. In fact, few of them knew that "water pollution" existed. Few of them knew what "water pollution" meant. They simply defined water as "fluid". However, of course, "water" was more than just "fluid". We drink water, shower and wash using water, use water for industrial purpose, such as irrigation system, and many more. Water is used for many purposes and the word "fluid" cannot just encapsulate the multiple aspects of water. Through this project, I made sure I opened up these students' minds to broader aspects of water.

 

Sometimes I encountered problems when explaining important environmental key terms. One of them, as aforementioned, was"water pollution". Thus, with the guidance of Filipino pastor, he translated what the "water pollution" meant. I also tried my best to use less difficult words. Also, images on the slides that depicted contaminated water not only helped students understand more clearly what "water pollution" meant but also allowed them to realize how severe the water pollution is in our world.

 

Now that I have explained the two crucial aspects of water, which were the importance of water in our lives and the prevalence and severity of water-related problems, I started informing them what are some simple ways we can contribute to conserving water and preventing the spread of water pollution. These are some steps and solutions included in the presentation: 1) Turn the tap off while you brush your teeth. 2) Wash vegetables in a pan or bucket of water rather than under running water.

 

In the conclusion of the presentation, I made a "special quiz" for them in order to check if they were able to fully grasp what I taught them. I gave small treats, promotional goods, and school materials to those who answered the questions correctly. This was not only a great opportunity to see if my teaching project was effective and beneficial but was also a great way to provide them promotional goods and school supplies to enhance their learning environment. Many kids enjoyed learning environmental problems and especially loved receiving promotional goods and school supplies as prizes! I felt really glad that these kids enjoyed this program. At the end of the project, I felt at once relieved and proud of myself for carrying out this project very successfully! I would like to thank the kids who were very involved in learning, pastor who took a great initiative in translating what I said, and of course, Tunza Eco-Generation and Centre for Environmental Education for sponsoring the teaching materials!

 

Here are the pictures that were taken during this teaching program!