Brigada Eskwala is an initiative designed by the Philippine Department of Education (DepEd) and organized by the Head teachers, to clean up and refurbish schools for the beginning of the school year. As part of a nationwide effort to raise the levels of basic education, this project encourages local communities to actively – and practically – support their schools. Students and staff, church groups and local government officials, parents and friends voluntarily come together to repair and repaint, tidy up and improve their schools.
Yesterday I travelled to Tondo High School with a team from the Australian Embassy to see how this project really worked. Tondo – for those of you who have not driven further west than Intramuros – is largely a shanty town. Many dwellings are cobbled together with sheets of cardboard and tin. Even those made of brick or concrete seem precariously balanced. Small children play naked in the road. Chickens peck between packing boxes and fruit stalls. Our large American 4-wheel drive was totally at odds with the bicycles and jeepneys that clog the narrow roads.
On reaching the school, we joined the city of Manila’s Mayor, Mr. Alfredo S. Lim and the school principal Dr. Arnulfo Empleo at the front gates to await the arrival of His Excellency the Ambassador to Australia, Mr. Rod Smith. While we waited in the heat, I talked to several parents, students and volunteers from the Mayor’s office. 
One parent explained that there were around 4,000 children in the school aged from 12-16, with 70 kids per class. The principal later verified that there were currently 4,750 students attending Tondo High. Classes are conducted in shifts between 7am and 7pm each day, to avoid crowding all 70 children into one classroom at the same time. Everyone was keen to talk to me about the conditions here and pose for photos. As the time passed, several parents and embassy volunteers wandered off to man paintbrushes and rollers.
At last the Ambassador arrived to greet the crowd of waiting staff, students and local dignitaries. TV crews and photographers herded the triumvirate of Ambassador, Mayor and Principal (in almost comically descending height: the Ambassador is approximately 6’4” the Principal about 4’6”) through the school. We crocodiled past a brass band hired especially for the occasion (of course the school can’t afford to fit out its own band) and a student dance group practicing near the stage, to an almost bare top floor classroom.
One could easily be a little cynical about the marketable photo opportunity as senior officialdom took up positions with paint rollers and began to paint the back walls. In fact it was a moving display of community solidarity, much appreciated by the parents and staff who gathered to watch and encourage. 
All three men made the effort to paint two main walls while the paparazzi flashed away furiously behind them. Staff dragged chairs out of the way and quips from the Ambassador kept the crowd entertained.
And even that one coat of paint brightened up the basic and rather grim classroom considerably, although there was no escaping the bare walls, concrete floors, barred windows and broken glass. One narrow desk for the teacher, thirty battered wooden chairs, two scratched green boards, and one small ceiling fan completed the furnishings, while the brass band in the playground continued to accompany the workers’ efforts. For those of us who have enjoyed education in Australia and New Zealand, it was humbling to remember how extraordinarily privileged we are.
Eventually the walls were done and the painters duly christened in cream paint. We were then taken downstairs for the formal proceedings in the New Room: a tiled hall complete with air-conditioning. Here merienda had been laid out on two long tables, while a third had been set up for the visiting dignitaries and senior staff. As we settled ourselves around the edges of the hall, two rows of smartly presented student arranged themselves in the centre.
The formal proceedings included speeches from the Principal, the Mayor, the Chairwoman of the Philippines-Australian Alumni Association, Inc. and of course our Ambassador who began and ended his speech in Tagalog to delighted applause. He talked of helping to build schools, the community and the quality of basic education in the Philippines.
In between speeches we were entertained by the school choir, a duet and the group of traditional dancers we had watched practicing earlier. The Head Boy and Girl then invited everyone to share merienda.
Finally, after every group had had its requisite photos taken with the Mayor and Ambassador, I was able to get a quiet moment with Mr. Smith and the AusAid representative Elaine Ward, Counsellor for Development Cooperation. Loud music from the sound system didn’t make this easy, and we were often interrupted by parents and staff keen for a couple more photo opps, but it was sufficient to fill a few large gaps in my knowledge.
The Australian Embassy has been actively participating in the Brigada Eskwala scheme for two years. This week eighty embassy staff members and their families will visit eight schools in Metropolitan Manila, while funding is provided to the tune of Php 2.5 million to support the refurbishment of 50 schools across the country that are in serious need of repair. Each school receives up to Php 70,000 to purchase cleaning products and materials for renovation, and equipment such as electric fans.
The Ambassador also talked fervently about other projects the Embassy is involved in.
I have to admit to being a complete fraud. I had assumed we would all be given a brush and a tin of paint, and I would contribute to freshening up the dingy grey classroom walls. In fact I picked up nothing but my pen. Yesterday, it turned out, was more about publicity than painting. Nonetheless, the message was strong, and the response from the school community was incredibly positive and enthusiastic. 
I was swept up with the Embassy staff and thanked profusely several times over for making the effort to come along and write about the event. I came away feeling utterly humbled by the gratitude that was poured upon us for giving of our time and attention to help them improve their school. It was a very heart-warming, touching experience, and I found I was being equally as effusive and sincere in my thanks to them for having me, and extremely proud of our government’s involvement in improving education in the Philippines.