Knowing how to read enables people to accumulate knowledge and skills and contribute solutions to society’s problems.

The Storytelling Project (TSP), a non-government organization, aims to raise Filipino kids capable of higher learning through partnerships with other groups, such as the Rotary Club.

In a recent meeting by the Rotary Club of Makati at The Peninsula Manila, TSP executive director Daniel Benito urged club members to support its projects which include teaching, reading, and building libraries and book clubs in poor areas around the country.

Cultivating children’s imagination

“We want to foster a loving and nurturing environment for children where reading can be fun and an engaging activity. We want to cultivate children’s imagination,” he said.

Benito, a graduate and mathematics instructor of the Ateneo de Manila University, said the country has 91 percent learning poverty based on studies by the World Bank.

“This means they could not read or they could read but could not comprehend,” he said.

Unlike the Philippines, Singapore and South Korea have only three percent learning poverty. Indonesia and India also rank higher than the Philippines as they have 53 percent learning poverty.

Benito said reasons for the country’s severe learning poverty include malnutrition among children, their lack of interest in reading, and their low self-esteem.

Bad self-image

He said a story told by his fellow teacher demonstrates how Filipino children develop a bad self-image.

“A friend of mine, who also teaches reading, shared with me that one parent during a session called the kid stupid after struggling with reading a book. Imagine that kind of environment children experience. It will definitely lower their confidence,” Benito said.

Through reading sessions by TSP volunteers and staff, he said children are able to understand oral language structures and develop genuine love for reading, critical thinking, and regular reading habits.

“We curate stories so they are relevant to the children. For example, we tell kids in Laguna stories related to mangroves because they live near those natural areas,” Benito said.

He added that TSP publishes books written by the children themselves which allows them to apply the lessons they have learned with the TSP team.

The Storytelling Project

TSP was created in 2012 by couple Rey and Grace Bufi to make teaching reading more often. As former employees of a telecommunications company, they used to conduct storytelling only every weekend for partner institutions of the company.

‘We want to foster a loving and nurturing environment for children where reading can be fun and an engaging activity. We want to cultivate children’s imagination.’

During the Rotary Club meeting, Benito presented TSP’s proposal to extend story telling activities in Rotary Homes Parañaque. The proposal includes profiling of kids, storytelling workshops to volunteers, twice-a-week storytelling for kids for a total of 12 sessions, and a post-program evaluation and discussions with the parents or guardians.

TSP has partnered with nine schools and communities and donated more than 20,000 storybooks to libraries and Filipino children.

The group also has shared stories with more than 10,000 kids from 30 provinces and has conducted storytelling workshops for more than 10,000 teachers, volunteers, soldiers, and students around the country.