Project BEST is a student- run, nonprofit organization founded on February 2015 by ISM students from the Class of 2018 in the spirit of promoting quality education in the Philippines. Seeking to provide underprivileged children from Buting Elementary School more educational opportunities, Project BEST has implemented a Mentorship Program that has seen all 11 of its students accepted into top local high schools, as well as partnered with Class of 2018's Grade Level service program to give the kids access to fun, supplementary activities that they do not generally experience in their schools, such as Science Experiments and Design Technology. Currently, I'm the Vice President of this said organization.

Activities at Project BEST include but are not limited to:

1. Setting up the library

2. Painting walls

3. Interactive games and board games

4. Storytelling sessions

5. Singing and dancing with the kids

6. Working on the greenhouse

In the past few weeks, our team has visited the Buting Elementary School to conduct the aforementioned activities. It was a really rewarding experience. Project BEST at Buting Elementary School was my first metro site, and it was rewarding in its own way. For most of the trip, I was designated to be part of the manual labor group. Especially revolving around their emerging greenhouse, it ranged from making concrete for the foundation of the walls, to shovelling out soil and back in, to painting the fences, to wheelbarrowing materials around from place to place. It was a physically demanding task and at the end of every thirty minutes or so, we would want to take a break. This taught me the value of hard work and perseverance as in the end, after we compared the before and after pictures taken by another person. The amount of progress that would be evident even in a span of only four days. However, it wasn't only this set of values that was newly learnt. As my previous two provincial service trips mainly revolved around teaching children and environmental rehabilitation, I was already familiar with the SDGs on education and the environment. I was able to apply my previous knowledge to this new site. The collaboration between many different people who came from many different backgrounds was beneficial in order for a good mix of skill sets. After a few days, I realised these skill sets were inextricably interconnected with each other. Once, while working with concrete, a group of the schoolchildren came up and asked all of us what our names were. We got to know each other fairly quickly and we even joked around about ourselves. Through the process of manual labor, we were able to develop friendships with each other. My only regret was that this was on the very last day and that I did something sooner. It comes to show how a slight motivation or trigger would be enough to initiate a long lasting connection. I really admire their confidence. Even if they come from less fortunate backgrounds, they have the courage to take initiative. I noticed that even if the school's infrastructure was subpar, they always had a positive mindset. I strive to use such character traits in my everyday life as this will help me with my studies, my extra curricular, etc. Having a positive mindset is key to doing everything efficiently and successfully.

Check out more of Project Best and our initiatives at this following website: 

http://projectbest.weebly.com/mentorship-program.html