DUST AND cobwebs, cluttered chairs, unpolished floors, and vandalized walls on a classroom.

From May 20 to 23, Atenean volunteers participated in Brigada Eskwela, a nationwide effort to clean classrooms, repaint walls, do minor repairs, and provide supplies for public schools before the school year starts.

Answering the question “Paano ba maging bayani?,” volunteers joined the project through the Ateneo Center of Educational Development (ACED), to help with the Department of Education’s National School Maintenance Week.

Modern bayanihan

ACED’s Brigada Eskwela visited four schools this year: Payatas B Elementary School, Payatas B Annex, Bagong Silangan, and Nagkaisang Nayon.

Dirt and clutter was a common sight in the participating schools, but volunteer Dianne May Seva (III AB Eu), still found herself surprised at the mess. “It was dirtier than I thought it would be,” she says.

There was, however, a constant sound of bantering and laughter mixed with the sound of scraping chairs. Strangers worked side by side scrubbing floors. Names and introductions were exchanged, as new friends lugged heavy desks and tables together.

“I realized how important a conducive study environment is,” Seva says, explaining her purpose for volunteering. It is a student’s priority is to help other students, she says.

Another volunteer, Jurmane Lallana (IV BS Mgt), joined the project despite having exams for the week. “It’s nice that we to get a chance to go out of Ateneo and actually help in simple things such as cleaning the classrooms,” she says.

Materials used for cleaning were restricted, however. Only a limited number of brooms, dustpans, and rags were available. Even water was not an abundant resource.

Despite these, there were cleaner walls, fresher paint jobs, and more polished floors at the end of the cleaning day.

“Tinitingnan ko ang [mga] kabataan na ito [at sa] tingin ko, ngayon lang [sila] nakahawak ng walis at basahan, pero nakita ko naman na sincere ang effort (I look at these youth, and it looks to me like it’s their first time to use brooms and rags, but I see their efforts are sincere),” says Payatas B Elementary School Principal Edelmira Barber.

True volunteering

For project head Rafaela Mae David (IV AB PoS) and ACED Communication, Programs, and Marketing Officer Mark Joel Barredo, looking for volunteers had not been a problem. David says there were around 15 to 20 volunteers each day.

Barredo says 20 per day is already a big number for Brigada Eskwela, especially during the summer. “At least we have people who care,” he says.

Other project head Marie Nathalie Ting (IV AB PoS) was surprised by the volunteers. “It’s a happy feeling to be with volunteers who really wanted to come, not just because they expect something in return,” she says in a mix of English and Filipino.

“It [served as] a wakeup call that I should be doing more [for the community] than [is] expected,” Lallana, a volunteer, says.

Money and wish lists

Despite the volunteer turnout, the project still experienced some problems along the way.

The Brigada Eskwela team asked the participating schools for wish lists. According to Barredo, the wishes ranged from repairing furniture, requests for cleaning materials, and painting.

“[The heads] were able to fulfill the wish lists. They did not forget the needs of the schools,” Barredo says in a mix of English and Filipino.

David, however, found some of the requests difficult to accomplish, mentioning a request for a mural. “Kulang kami ng pera, ‘di kami pwede makabili ng paint (We lacked the money, we couldn’t afford to buy paint),” she says.

Money was, for Barredo and David, the prime problem during the organization of the project. “The hardest [challenge was]… getting funding,” Barredo says. Only three of the eight prospective sponsors pushed through, he adds.

“We roamed around to get donations. Even P20 or P5 is already a big help to us,” David says in a mix of English and Filipino.

Barredo also says it was a challenge to connect to the community again. “This will be the first effort of ACED to promote the Ateneo community and the public schools that we help,” he says.

Community effort needed

Payatas B Elementary School teacher Catalina Rigo was very thankful for the ACED Brigada Eskwela’s efforts, though she shares some of her disappointments in the project.

Rigo understands Brigada Eskwela as a collaboration among parents, students, and teachers in cleaning and fixing the schools. “Dapat hindi lang [Ateneo], dapat buong community tumulong (The whole community should help, not only the Ateneo),” she says.

Likewise, David says that Brigada Eskwela was more than cleaning. “That’s what we wanted, our volunteers would interact with the community,” she says in a mix of English and Filipino.

Barredo tries to explain the lack of residents from the community, saying that most of the community members prefer to work. He cited that residents in Payatas still had to go to the dumpsite to scavenge.

Barredo still expects the residents to participate, even though he says he was not disappointed. “I feel that Ateneo is already a part of their community,” he says. “I think that’s the whole essence of Brigada Eskwela.”

All in a day’s work

Although ACED has been involved with Brigada Eskwela for five years, this was the first time that it was headed by students, particularly David and Ting, who were on their on-the-job-training at ACED.

After experiencing numerous sneezing fits and taking home permanently gray rags, the heads and volunteers believe the project was a success. “I believe I can speak for the whole team [in saying that] we’re happy with how it has turned out,” David says.

Beaming, Barredo says, “I think this is one of the most successful Brigada Eskwela projects in years.”