The day they sang ‘God Bless America’ Chelo Banal-Formoso Philippine Daily Inquirer
July 05, 2009
FROM the where the guests have been invited to stand, one can see the perfect lines formed by the girls, perhaps over 3,000 of them. Only discipline can make lines like these.
And then – their voices strong, their hand movements synchronized, looking like they are lit from within – they sing. God bless America, land that I love. Stand beside her and guide her, through the night with the light from above. From the mountains to the prairies, to the ocean white with foam, God bless America, my home sweet home.
A choreography of emotions and amazing grace, the rendition moves Kristie Anne Kenney to tears. Even the non-Americans among the guests are misty-eyed.
“That you chose to welcome me today by learning a special song that honors my country and my heritage, and to do it so brilliantly, is a very wonderful treat,” responds Ms Kenney upon being handed the microphone. “And I know of no other nation in the world that has that kind of kindness and welcoming spirit.”
It isn’t every day that the US ambassador to the Philippines comes a-calling on the Sisters of Mary (SOM) and their wards at the Girlstown complex in Silang, Cavite. And this afternoon, she comes bearing gifts.
“I brought you some books because if you’re like me and you dream of what else is out there, you can do a lot of that through books,” she says to thunderous applause.
The girls are all in uniforms of blue and white. Marian colors. In this live-in high school founded in 1985 by Msgr. Aloysius Schwartz, reading is highly valued, but so is moral and spiritual formation. The girls are taught to live a life of simplicity, charity, gratitude and joy. Marian virtues.
None of these kids is holding an iPod or a Sony Ericsson phone or any such cool gadget for teens these days. That’s because these girls, and their fellow scholars at SOM Boystown (not to be confused with the facility for juvenile delinquents), come from dirt-poor families of Luzon and Palawan (Visayas and Mindanao are served by the SOM schools in Cebu).
At Girlstown and Boystown, they are given free education, room and board, medical and dental services, not to mention heaps of hope. Great opportunity
“You should be very proud of the great opportunity you’re being given here,” continues Ms Kenney, nodding toward Sister Maria Cho, superior of Girlstown, and Sister Elena Belarmino, superior of Boystown, who are seated in the front row with their guests.
Upon entrance at an SOM school, students must be 12 to 15 years old, must have an average of at least 80 percent in sixth grade, and must have passed the school’s written exam and oral interview. They must not have had prior attendance at any high school. A student who has a sibling who has studied or is currently studying in any SOM school does not qualify, and one can see why – the benefits of a free and good Catholic education must be spread to as many needy families as possible.
Besides being residential schools, Girlstown and Boystown are different from other high schools in that they are open year-round and their students receive, for very realistic reasons, intensive vocational training, especially in their senior year when they are allowed specialization in their chosen trades.
“To better prepare them to land good jobs,” points out Sister Amy Luces, principal of Girlstown. “Or, once they’re earning a little more, prepare them for perhaps a small-scale business of their own or as a group.”
Students at Girlstown are taught dressmaking, industrial sewing machine operation, steno-typing and bookkeeping, electronics, advanced dress making, basic computer systems, and the culinary arts.
Those at Boystown are trained in electronics, machine shop and welding, computer technology (CADD), auto mechanics, and driving.
Students who have an interest in agriculture are allowed to raise sundry vegetables for consumption by the school community and to learn greenhouse management, thanks to donations from Dr. Lucio Tan, the Department of Agriculture, and the International Institute for Rural Reconstruction. Start with a dream
“There’s really no substitute for doing your best every day, for working hard,” Ambassador Kenney tells her audience.
While a sizable block of the students’ daily schedule is devoted to academic instruction and vocational training, moments are allotted for prayer throughout the day, from their 6 a.m. wake-up call to their 9:30 p.m. lights out. Little wonder that of 31 sisters in Girlstown and 25 in Boystown, around 75 percent are alumni.
Over the years, Girlstown Cavite and Cebu combined have graduated almost 18,000 students while Boystown, also at both locations, count some 26,000 graduates.
The attrition rate is very low; 95 percent of students who come in as freshmen are able to finish high school.
Graduates get help from the nuns and SOM benefactors in getting either college scholarships or job placements, depending on their needs.
Some are offered employment in the SOM facilities. Of the 71 teachers for the girls and the 53 for the boys, “around 20 percent are our own graduates who came back with their college degrees,” says Sister Amy.
But even higher is the percentage of graduates who stay on as support personnel: approximately 90 percent of Girlstown’s 88 support personnel and Boystown’s 53.
After a short but excellent entertainment program consisting of music from a traditional rondalla, a couple of songs rendered a capella by the Boystown choir, some folk and modern dance numbers, and the stirring “God Bless America,” Ambassador Kenney is invited to afternoon tea and student-baked cakes along with the other guests, including her associates from the US Embassy and USAID.
Also in the party are the SOM benefactors who are the conduits for this ambassadorial visit: Business titan Washington Sycip and Philippine Daily Inquirer chairperson Marixi Prieto and husband Alex who donated recently a state-of-the-art auditorium in honor of their late son Louie. Kindness
“You are so lucky and should be so proud to be Filipinos. And there’s one thing you can be proud of as Filipinos, and that is your kindness,” Ms Kenney stresses, shifting the mike from one hand to the other.
In that, she is spot on. SOM educational institutions do thrive on kindness. As soon as they get jobs, SOM graduates give a percentage of their earnings to help the next batch of students get an education.
Donations from corporate partners come in cash or in kind, such as additional facilities, computers, books, and training. One donor gave plane tickets recently to the students who came from Palawan so they could spend the Christmas holiday with their families.
With over 3,000 students at Girlstown and over 2,000 at Boystown, one can only sigh at the size of the budget requirement, and this is just in Cavite. The Cebu campuses have a total capacity of almost 7,000.
Sister Nory Espulgar, former principal of Boystown in Cavite and now based in Boystown-Cebu, gives a good example of what kind of upkeep the large student population requires. “By the time the barber is done with the last head, it is time again to cut the hair of the first boy,” she says with a laugh. Campus tour
During the campus tour given Ambassador Kenney, the first observation everyone makes is how well the premises are maintained and how every nook and cranny looks so clean. The landscaping is simple yet beautiful. Dormitories and classrooms are housed in three seven-story buildings. For vocational training, there are workshops for culinary arts, sewing and other skills. Physical fitness and athletics are pursued on campus via 29 basketball boards, a semi-Olympic size outdoor swimming pool and a 400-meter running track with a soccer field.
On the whole, the campus gives visitors the impression that these are nuns determined to fulfill their mission. No one who visits Girlstown and the nearby Boystown complex leaves unconvinced that these students have a bright future ahead of them. No one who has the means to contribute toward that goal goes away without so much as a promise of support, if not verbally, at least in their hearts.
“I hope you will never lose your sense of joy, you will never fail to treasure a new beginning, and you will always have a great abundance of hope,” says Kristie Kenney in the end, almost like a prayer. “Thank you so much for letting me come here and letting me be inspired by you.”
For more info: In Cavite, Sisters of Mary Girlstown, tels. (046) 4142575; (02) 5298321; SOM Boystown, tels. (046) 8562546/8652830. In Cebu, SOM Girlstown, tels. (032) 2728628/2723685; SOM Boystown, tels. (032) 2728638/2723686.
