Classrooms and a Room of Mushrooms for Luyungan NHS School during Brigada Eskwela 2019

Brigada Eskwela is an annual activity that aims to prepare a safe environment for learners in schools for the upcoming school year. Most teachers, school officials, Department of Education Employees locally and from different regions, participating Local Government Units and Private Partners gave its effort to repair, restore and beautify the area conducive for learning. Essential Learning materials such as books, pencils, crayons, colored papers, bond papers, notebooks and others were also provided. With no exception Luyungan National High School participated actively. The learners are Indigenous People thus providing an environment free from discrimination. Although not the first of its kind, these schools show equal access to learning and paved way to the importance of providing quality education to all IP youths within the community. It aims to preserve their culture for future generations. The school campus also served as a home for learners as most of them reside on mountains or far flung areas.

Upon seeing the needs of IP Luyungan School, Bukidnon Maragway, a five year old chapter, partnered with Bukidnon Gourmet Mushrooms owned by Christian Paulo Macale aims to provide the school a healthy sustainable source of food while witnessing the major need of students to have adequate daily supply of food. Their first encounter was on 2016 during their School Supplies Drive activity and this event paved way for the Maragways to address the greater needs of Luyungan IP High School Students. The JCI Bukidnon Maragway president, Aileen Raiza Labaria supported the idea of their project head, Maria Angelica C. Mugot, 24, a college instructor at Bukidnon State University to provide a room of mushroom planting bags since it is fast growing, healthy, sustainable, easy to maintain and affordable.

Choosing Luyungan IP High School as a beneficiary for the project was a way of acknowledging the need for our IP learners to grow their own food throughout the school year. Both JCI Bukidnon Maragway and Bukidnon Gourmet Mushrooms aim to empower the young people and promote positive change through attainable goals. Upon giving them a responsibility to grow their own food, we are also giving hope to the learners to lead them towards success through hard work and perseverance. The “Classrooms and a Room of Mushrooms” project is for the students to level up their understanding on the importance of knowing your environment and how we can make use of it to provide for our basic needs with the right amount of care.

Through strengthening our linkages, we will achieve a unified community effort to partly provide support for the basic needs for our IP learners, for educating them about their environment and for instilling the hope that through working hard we can achieve our goals. Indeed, this act is a strong indication of uplifting the IP youth and for aiming for a progressive Malaybalay City.

By Jade Grace C. Cabañelez
Administrative Aide – LGU