Never ordinary!

A grand social status is not a requirement to help those in need. The desire to say, help a street child out of his miserable life, really comes from the heart.

Being a janitor, jeepney driver, or a sidewalk vendor is never an excuse. Being ordinary is not a limit to create change. Didn’t Efren Peñaflorida Jr. proved it true when he won 2009 CNN’s Hero of the Year? After all he is just the son of a tricycle driver and a housewife and the local of the garbage-dump-site-slum-area in Cavite.

The hero

Peñaflorida, or Kuya F, said he himself was saved from the toils of poverty. “Kasi ako ‘yong unang tinulungan. Ako ‘yong pinag-aral [It’s because someone helped me in the beginning. I was sent to school,” Kuya F said in an interview.

Ever since, it has been his mission to give back the kindness he had received as a child. “It’s a calling to help children. It’s my way of paying it forward,” he added.

Kuya F continues to teach children from slum and deprived areas. And he is most recognized with this advocacy. It’s called “Kariton (Pushcart) Classroom.” Using a pushcart, Peñaflorida brought school and learning straight to children.

Kariton klasrum

Kariton Classroom started with Dynamic Teen Co. (DTC), Kuya F as the founder. DTC is a non-profit youth organization that encourages teens to make a difference in the society even in little ways.

Peñaflorida said that when DTC was formed in 1997, many people did not believe them, especially on how they teach children using only a pushcart. However, they were attested wrong when Peñaflorida won as Hero of the Year for CNN in November 2009.

When asked how he inspires children to love education, he shared that he immerses himself in the everyday lives of the children especially those from the slums.

Kuya F said, “When you expose yourself to their everyday lives, mas nakikita mo kung ano ang [you’ll see better what are their] needs nila. Nakikita mo yong dahilan kung bakit sila nawalan ng interes [You’ll find the reasons why they lose the interest]. And then from there you can start on thinking of ways of how you can help them and change their perspective.”

He dares to realize his dream using a pushcart a notch higher. DTC is finishing the construction of Kalingain Batang Mahirap Learning Center, a building in the image of a pushcart.

The center in Cavite City will give basic education to children. It has been DTC’s long-time goal to construct a learning center and Kuya F said that winning as Hero of the Year was a blessing and gave way for the project to materialize.

Kuya F said that the learning center is 80 percent complete and was supposed to be finished by August. However, they lacked of funds and were stopped. DTC needs another P3 million to finally finish the construction and make the center operational.

Donating to DTC for the construction of the kariton learning center already means making change in your own little ways that when united is sure to create something big to the lives of these children.

Peñaflorida said it best, “You are never too ordinary to be a hero.”

You can donate to help the completion of Kalingain Batang Mahirap Learning Center to Bank of the Philippine Islands, Cavite Caridad Branch, account name: DYNAMIC TEEN COMPANY-MAKING A DIFFERENCE INC. For peso donations the account number is 00-1273-1635-02. And for dollar donations the account number is 00-1274-0215-07

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