Teaching STREET KiDS in Manila

Malate is one of the places in Manila where people live in extreme poverty, most girls work in prostitution and many kids live in the streets. Every night they sleep in the street on cardboard, trying to find a rather safe place where nobody bothers them and during the day they beg and play in the streets of Malate.

“Hey you! Money!” is sometimes the only thing they know how to say in English. In general the level of English is very high in the Philippines, as English is taught in school from the very beginning on. Yet all the kids that never went to school or dropped out at some point barely speak English, which obviously minimizes their chances of finding a proper job when they grow up.

After spending a lot of time in Malate while being in the Philippines, I got to know some of the kids and realized that besides the obvious helpful things to learn for kids, such as Math and English they also long for attention and somebody that cares.

This is why we started our little volunteering teaching class. Every morning we spend two hours with the kids, teach them essentials, play with them and help them with life as far as we can. They know where to find us and that they are safe with us. We are always in the same place at the same time and teach them, using cardboards as blackboards and markers for writing. Once per week we are doing arts together, we paint or colour the street with crayons. We are also teaching how to preserve the environment, how to make Malate a nicer place to live and reduce waste in daily life. Even though that’s a luxury problem for these kids...

Our volunteers are very well selected, because we want to make sure, knowing the kids, that for the kids and the volunteers it is a good fit and everyone benefits from the project and has an enjoyable time.

Please apply in case you are interested in volunteering with us, we really do need help!

And of course we love your financial support! Our volunteers teach for free, although we provide them with simple housing and food in Malate, we also need materials for teaching.

Every small amount MAKES A DIFFERENCE!

Pictures: Learning English in Malate is fun!